By: Mark Glennon*
Do it, Ms. Jackson. Fire them if they won’t work.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson warned last week that teachers without preexisting conditions who don’t show up to schools when they open will be fired.
The damage inflicted by school shut-downs on Chicago’s youth, particularly minority youth, is already horrifying. Despite no meaningful risk whatsoever, the Chicago Teachers Union is now seeking an injunction against reopening. Nothing could be more just – and better for Chicago students in the long run – than canning teachers who are ducking their obligation.
Remote learning is an abysmal failure. ‘F’ grades are 2.6 times higher than last year in Chicago elementary schools and worse for minority and homeless students. Almost a quarter of kids haven’t logged in even once. It’s much worse for minority and homeless students.
Many get no square meal and no adult guidance outside of school. They are being robbed of not just an education but of the only structure in their lives.
Yet the CTU said “the push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny.” That tweet, shown here, was later deleted but the perfidy to which the CTU will stoop was there for all to see.
What’s the CTU’s real problem with going back to work? Everything, which is pretty much their usual answer. “Everything about what they are doing is wrong,” said CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates. Most everything about the schools, Chicago and America is rotten, they routinely say in contract negotiations and elsewhere, so they want everything changed.
So they’re now seeking an injunction against opening Chicago schools. Their demands are based on supposed safety issues. They want safety protocols, personal protective equipment, COVID-19 screening, testing, contact tracing, vaccination, a nurse in every school, smaller classes that allow for social distancing, social and emotional supports for traumatized students, and upgrades to make ventilation safe.
That’s pointless hogwash. The risk to teachers is infinitesimal. Even if one gets infected with coronavirus, the chances of survival are 99.98% according to the Center for Disease Control for those under age 60, which is almost all Chicago teachers. Seventy-seven percent of them, in fact, are under 50. Those who are older or have known comorbidities would be allowed to teach remotely or given another accommodation, which is common for schools that have reopened.
And for students, the risk is near zero — 99.9997% survival rate for those under age 20, if they get infected. Four have died from the virus in Chicago.
“At no time has the CDC suggested school should be closed,” said CDC director Robert Redfield last month. “…All school should remain open. It is the safest place for children to be,” he said. “It’s safe to keep schools open,” said Dr. Daniel Johnson, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago Medical Center. And “the vast majority of public and private schools in the Chicago area that have reopened in some capacity this fall have had little confirmed exposure to the coronavirus in the past month,” according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state data.
There’s only one challenging circumstance, and that’s where students live in an extended family with elderly relatives who face serious risk. But school could be used to educate children in those families about how to reduce that risk, and those children are probably exposing those families with or without school. That education has been lacking in messaging from health authorities, and fixing that is part of the “focused protection” advocated by a growing number of experts, which we’ve written often about.
What, instead of the virus, is killing kids? Homicide has killed 25-times more Chicago youth since the start of the pandemic. And fifteen suicides — nearly four times the number killed by the virus. Instead of being in school, kids are on the street and sinking deeper into despair.
It’s all falling most heavily on minorities.
Remember above all else that not all Chicago teachers support the CTU, though a majority apparently do. Those that don’t include many who are living saints. But those who stand in the schoolhouse door should be gone.
Fire them.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Read more about COVID-19 in Illinois:
- 25 times more Chicago youth have died from homicide than from COVID
- Illinois still fails its elderly, veterans as COVID deaths hit record highs
- Support for school reopenings grows across the political spectrum
- The right COVID policy for Illinois? Obsess about the elderly and infirm.
- Every Illinois school parent, teacher should know these COVID-19 facts
- Illinois’ own COVID-19 data reveals the state’s coronavirus policy is upside down
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
I left the city years ago and sent my children to the local suburban public schools. My son has a handicap and all the schools he attended were marvelous. All of his chronic problems remained confidential and he is now nearing 40 yrs old and has been working 20 yrs for a major U.S. company. The kicker is I was once a CPS teacher, realized the futility of the job and quit shortly he was born. I left in 1988 because of the absolute chaos at my high school. Back then, 60% of my colleagues couldn’t pass the Brother Rice… Read more »
That part about your son sure made my day.
There is an interesting video on you tube entitled “Stupid in America 5-6-12” John Stossel. A different perspective on the public education system and the power the unions have.. It is about 40 minutes long. Would be interested on anyone’s thought on this.
I’ve not seen this video so I may be wrong here, but I’d bet the general thrust of the story is that “the unions” described are the ones representing the truly large cities in America, the ones where the city population is at least a million people, I’d guess. Yes, in general I’d agree that they are something of a disaster as most middle and upper class Americans would view them in that their students are not academic successful in the usual test-taking meaning of that term. If Stossel is talking about smaller cities the story is often very different… Read more »
You are right that this represents the larger school districts like Newark,Washington DC. There are more videos like Stupid in America John Stossel ABC 2/3 and 3/3 which are shorter ones and another one which is a rebuttal of sorts from teachers not too happy with the 5-6-12 broadcast. I will have to check them out later but they are interesting. He shows in I think 2/3 page after page of flowchart regulations on how to fire a bad teacher with little success due to hundreds of pages of union rules.
I have watched several of his shows and enjoyed them. But, I guess he had low ratings. All I know is that he’s not had that series of shows for a long time–maybe a half-dozen years at least. I liked his aggressive, but polite style, but I can easily understand that he had his enemies because of it.
I just checked. John Stossel is on you tube. Mostly 5 min long More free stuff and Stocking stuffer’s are good. John tries to get a gun permit is real good. He is definitely a Libertarian.
People in Chicago were ‘made to be ruled’. Kneel Plebes! Kneel to your Zod!!!
Chicago is getting the education it deserves. They voted for this. I do not feel sorry watching their entire city disintegrate.
This CTU has held the city and state ransom for decades – They contribute about 2% to their pensions while firemen and police contribute 9-10-11%. They hold out for taxpayer funds to pay their raises every year and now they wont teach.
FIRE THEM!
Would you say lawyers do work only when they are actively representing their client in front of a judge? I suppose you’d not say that but agree that there is lots of preparatory thought, investigation and consulations that occur prior to any such personal appearance by the lawyer. You and others fail to think of teachers in much the same way, apparently thining they totally “wing it” from beginning to end in their jobs. Maybe that seems reasonable to you, but really would you want to do your job in front of other people without having giving thought–and LOTS of… Read more »
9 months of the year….
Lots of people work far less than nine months a year and even do so without inheritances being the reason for it. Now, do think about all of them not working 40-hour works all year long? If not, what should we think of them? Maybe they should be paid minimum wage. Clearly all people and all careers cannot be judged by the same set of compensation standards.
Point taken. I know of an airline pilot that gets 15 days off per month. Plus he makes a lot more money than any teacher.
Yes, and that’s but one example. There are others. Again, those who want to think about the work and the financial compensation of others where they’ve not had experience doing someone else’s kind of work can’t begin to understand the reasons for such things being compensated differently than what the complainer does for a living, can they? Well, inevitably there are reasons for it even if they aren’t always all that transparent to the outsider. Generally it comes down to a combination of supply and demand, personal leverage of one kind or antoher as well as giving powerful arguments where… Read more »
The main reason for it is that teachers unions have a stranglehold on the politicians who control the purse strings. Get out the vote, reap the financial benefits. Maybe those of us who haven’t taught don’t understand all that goes into it, but let’s not ignore the political elephant in the room. Always good to be able to choose the people you are “bargaining” with at contract time.
I agree with your entire comment. But, that wasn’t the issue at hand by the commenter who prompted my response. We all have to deal with the reality of life rather than only seeing it as we might prefer.
Perhaps it would be better if we try to improve the situation rather than just accepting the current reality.
Public teachers are not employed as a function of supply and demand, they are granted a monpoly and a monopsony by an incestuous collusive government industry.
Have you ever heard of the general shortage of math and science teachers? Supply and demand applies there. That’s why off-certificate teachers are teaching so many of those kinds of classes. Its not unheard of that when a shortage applies in such cases an authoritarian P. E. teacher will be assigned there on a “temporary” bases. When his/her inattention to gaining such certification eventually becomes undeniable another such teacher is placed there “temporarily.” The state requires such classes for students expecting to graduate, so they have to be “taught” by someone fully qualified or not.
He provides a more worthy service.
your sophistry ignores the apples-to-apples correlation available: hourly compensation rate.
Teachers and public school administrators are compensated significantly higher hourly total compensation than nurses and doctors.
Why do you continue to equate these two professions? They are similar in some ways but different in some ways, too. One obvious way is that nurses generally don’t have to do anything continually for their job off the clock. Teachers do! Face time with students is, perhaps, something like 60% of their daily work effort with maybe half of the remainder done off the clock. Not all do it that way nor does any teacher do it that way each day, but that’s a reasonable year-around average for teachers as a whole. You may cite some types of nursing… Read more »
“ One obvious way is that nurses generally don’t have to do anything continually for their job off the clock.”
Anybody who thinks this is not a nurse and probably doesn’t have one in the family.
A stupid statement.
Well, they don’t generally do work “off the clock” as far as I know. I’m sure there must be exceptions. But, before you feel so self emoowered as to labal me stupid you might point out cases where they do such work off site, and I’m not talking here about stress brought home. Many workers do that, and teachers do for sure.
Listening to these teachers would make one think there are 25 hours in a day, 8 days in a week and 13 months in a year.
You seem oblivious to your own savage indifference toward the taxpayers whom you exploit— and whom you demand serve and service you professionally without allowed rights of “denial of service attacks ” like your self- entitled strikes.
Nurses make far lower total compensation than teachers and can say the same (and more) unpaid professional prep time necessary .
Doctors make lower compensation than school administrators and can say they must spend MUCH more uncompensated time on professional prep AND chasing reimbursement from third-party payers.
You also fail to mention that teachers contract demands several NON-CLASSROOM hours compensated every day to perform tasks you seem to consider as some altruistic sacrifice.
The non-classroom hours to which you refer are for extra duties as assigned during the contracted work time and NOT to be used as part of the teacher’s job management matters in terms of preparing teaching materials, tests and evaluation of individual student progress. The daily work of preparing for what’s to be taught, how to do it and evaluation of it mostly is done beyond the contracted working hours. There simply isn’t time at work to do most of those daily management jobs of the teaching job itself. If you don’t understand that, then you’ve never been a teacher… Read more »
Apparently you assume that I was responding as a person associated with the Chicago school system. That’s not the case and never has been. So, your argument about the contactual language there vs. my comments is seriously flawed. Other school systems in IL have their own contracts, and I have no knowledge as to those who work contractually for the shorter hours specified for CPS teachers. But, keep in mind that CPS is a K-12 district, meaning their work hours are skewed to the majority of their students, those in K-12. Most of the high school districts I know have… Read more »
What sophistry to generalize about “extra” work put in on “one’s own time”, when the “workday” required by contract is only 5.2 hours. CPS contract calls for 188* work days, max 7 hour days. A workday is max 7 hours, with only 5.2 hours of work duty demanded (the rest is lunch and free preparation time). *(By comparison, a 49- week, 5- day- a- week worker works 245 days, rather than 188). 4-1.Regular School DayThe regular school day for early childhood and elementary school teachers shall not exceed seven hours with a continuous lunch period of forty-five minutes with no… Read more »
Teachers should not be thought of as other professionals.
For starters, it has been proven that education majors have the lowest SAT/ACT scores.
Public school teachers average about a quarter of a standard deviation below average college graduates.
Other professions don’t have a state mandated customer base.
Teachers have not earned nor should ever be given the leeway other, more noble professions.
I have a great idea for all here who want to low-ball teacher pay and retirement income. It also will appeal to some who think, like you, that the majority of teachers are dolts and unqualified mentally to have that as a career. Let’s get rid of public education as such at all levels or at least for grades 9-12. The latter is a waste of money in cases where a good percentage of the “students” are simply marking time mentally as does a prisoner rather than bothering to fully participate in what’s offered. “You can lead a horse to… Read more »
Nobody is lowballing teachers. They are currently way overpaid, based on their qualifications and abilities.
The beginning (beginning!!!) CPS teacher makes $66,000. Laughable. For people that finish below their collegiate peers test scores.
Your victim playing is nothing more than gaslighting.
So, what would you call the concept of presuming you’ll find superior job applicants for less money if not “low-balling”? Doesn’t it strike you as odd/insane/hilarious that the whole idea of presuming you can get more for less when the number of people in IL and certainly nationwide needed to take up that offer for an entire career is absolutely huge? You might find a few to do it initially for whatever altruistic motives they may have, but to stick with it for a career is laughable for the numbers of teachers needed. Nearly every young person wants to have… Read more »
If you want to give credit where it’s due then you should accept the massive failures teachers have made of education as well.
I would rather have a janitor as a family member than a grifter like modern teachers have become.
James, if teachers are so smart and deserve the moon, why can’t we find a math teacher to balance the budget. I’d settle for any teacher that will say that the budget of Illinois is less than projected revenue. Or how about a teacher that understands the constitution. Instead what are teachers worried about? Bu bu buuut my pension!
How many of these teachers are actually remote teaching from their home in Chicago?? Are any of them in another state – a nice warm locale perhaps?? They don’t want to have to give up their extended vacation to work IN school??
From what i read, the latest proposed fed covid relief package for $908 billion includes $85 billion for schools ( the full HEROS ACT covid relief bill for $2.2 trillion was going to include $225 billion for schools). So, im sure ctu’s end game is to cash in on that big fat covid relief pay day $$$ however big it ends up being. Probably in the form of some kind of hazard pay bs deal while also negotiating some claims about covid safety , etc to not make them look to gready…for thier majority white upper income selfs who don’t… Read more »
Many students, especially at the elementary level, who have extended periods of remote learning, are not receiving an adequate education. This is unprecedented and includes some CPS students. Here’s one aspect of what has occurred and continues to occur. Many students lose knowledge just over the summer, largely because they don’t do much reading or academic work over the summer. They come back rusty in the fall. It might take weeks or months to regain what was “lost” over the summer. Adding remote learning before and after a rusty summer is a disaster. Call that extended rust. It will be… Read more »
Disband the Department of Education to start with.
What do they do with a $68 billion budget and 4,600 employees anyway — at the federal level.
It’s all outlined where it is spent. It’s just a way to take money from Illinois taxpayers and then only give back Illinois pennies on the dollar. Illinois could sure use that money.
https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget21/summary/21summary.pdf
That $68B is spent at the US Dept of Education and is not flow through money to States and Local School Districts?
Maybe someone would like to take a look at the data.
https://www2.ed.gov/about/landing.jhtml
$68B is roughly two annual State of Illinois budgets.
It began with Jimmy Carter in 1979.
Education was and still is a local issue, via city or town or village and state.
The remote learning of Kindergarten – 12th Grade public education combined with the proposed ISBE DLRT CTRL standards are a disaster. The ISBE DLRT website tells a different story about the proposed CRTL standards than reading the proposed standards as published in the Illinois Register. That discrepancy, the lack of transparency in developing the standards, and the lack of public input in developing the standards, are three major reasons why the “State Board” of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) should vote against the CRTL standards on December 16, 2020. This from the ISBE DLRT website: “Educator Licensure. Diverse… Read more »
Regardless of circumstances, kids of any race, ethnicity, gender, etc. can learn from any teacher of any race, ethnicity, gender, etc.
All that’s really needed is dedication from the teacher and student.
I agree wholeheartedly. Other things may help, buy you’ve hit the heart of it. Too many complainers look excuses. There are really few limits to what a willing mind can do when its properly motivated.
And you can bet the farm that a majority of those CPS Teachers who have school aged children, are enrolled in private schools!
Keep allowing unions to control this state and this is exactly what you get! Overpriced lazy workers who are so selfish that they would prefer to see an entire generation of morons than do the job they signed up for.
Who’s going to replace the fired teachers? There’s never enough substitutes either.
Parents are suppose to feed, clothe and shelter kids, not CPS.
I have always wondered how many college educated Moms of young children would like to teach, but do not have the teaching credits and certificates required. A mother of young children might appreciate having the same schedule as the kids. In the younger grades especially, would it be possible that CPS could at least give that a try while looking for a more permanent solution? If they really do end up firing teachers, they will probably need to think outside the normal education-establishment box at least for a while.
Has anyone taken a look at how the Catholic schools are doing in Chicago? It might be worth a look and a article on how they are handling the pandemic and how their students and teachers are doing? Something tells me the Chicago teachers union would be pissed at this article.
Catholic grade school were I live has been open since day one with in class learning, as a matter of fact the are at capacity and doing well while the public school district remains shutdown since day 1 and the taxpayers are getting milked.
Cath schools don’t have the resources to do remote learning but they are managing fine in-person. FIRE THEM ALL
Some Catholic schools in Chicago and suburbia are or were remote.
Did we expect anything different? To all of the parents of children who are negatively impacted by the influence of CTU: YOU DESERVE IT. Every time they complain about their contracts, their benefits, etc. you IDIOTS are out with signs in your hands advocating on behalf of your teachers – what you simply fail to understand is that this is a ZERO SUM GAME! CPS doesn’t make any money – every nickel they waste in dealing with the unions comes out of the technology budget – every nickel they waste subsidizing under utilized, under performing schools comes out of the… Read more »
The teachers are selfish, non-caring and money hungry but don’t want to work for it! If everyone wears masks and they put other safety guidelines in place, no reason kids can’t attend in person (it’s working in other parts of state!) Put Plexiglas in front of teachers it works for retail workers why not teachers! Time the teachers union quits running the state!
Schools have been used to replace the family’s place moral training. They have become the place for meals and child care. Now they want to use what they have developed as a weapon against the parents and taxpayers.
They should have been fried years ago and government union outlawed.
And fired. Though, looking at many of them, frying could be tasty!
They have stuffed Chicago in a bag during this “scamdemic” and it will come back to bite them all in the butt. Rise up oh men of God, be done with lesser things!
To put this teachers) threatened professional denial of service attack into perspective, imagine public reaction to threatened denial of service attacks by nurses? Nurses earn less per hour than teachers in Illinois, have 6.2% mandatory payroll deduction for retirement benefits (Compared to zero -to-rarely 2% for teachers) that cannot begin until age 62 or 65 (Compared to retirement benefits beginning age 55 300%-600% of nurses’ benefit amounts for teachers), and pay more for their own crappy Healthcare insurance which stops when nurses stop paying premiums (Compared to age 55 FREE FREE FREE platinum health insurance benefits for teachers). Nurses are… Read more »
A nurse can save your life.
“Eventually they run out of other people’s money!”…Margaret Thatcher.
Famous ctu quote that weve all heard a million times-“but its for the children”!!!!!
If the citizens and parents keep voting in the democratic fools they deserve this!
Want change then vote for change
If I ever ran for office in Illinois, breaking the public employee unions would be my single biggest goal. Once you neuter them, reforms would be possible, and they would be quickly possible at that. I’m not talking about depriving any worker of decent wages or benefits, but I am talking about bringing them in line with the private sector, getting 401ks instead of pensions, and eliminating the obscene protections they have for job performance and time off. Of course, I would need a full protection detail, and my family would never forgive me, because they would be sure to… Read more »
Run!
KEEP THOSE RED INDOCTRINATION CENTERS CLOSED…
4EVA!!!!
Showdown!
CPS students are not going back to the classroom this school year. The classroom environment is never going to get to an acceptable level of “safe” for CTU. They will find something. Then teachers will either complain they should be prioritized for vaccination if they have to wait or complain they’re being used as guinea pigs if they are prioritized. The next Secretary of Education will most likely be a teacher union president who will set some vague re-opening goals that will appear to empower local school districts to open but passive-aggressively empower the unions to keep them shut. And… Read more »
I hope the teachers are prioritized for vaccination. There are no long term studies on the vaccines and someone has to be the guinea pig…why not a teacher because either way it goes it will serve public good.
In DuPage County teachers are priority 1b along with police/firefighters/other essential workers. They are behind LTCF patients and health care workers but ahead of high risk patients and over 65 patients. DuPage County clearly trying to get their teachers back to work. Will cook do the same?
https://www.nctv17.com/news/dchds-distribution-plan-for-covid-19-vaccines/amp/
Let them eat cake. What they fail to realize is that their kids – who are NOT receiving an education will never work their way out of mediocrity. They will struggle to get into even a mediocre university, and will struggle to make ends meet the remainder of their lives… At some point, those of us who understand this, will tire of the constant fight – tire of the politicization of everything, and simply no longer engage – it is our responsibility to try to help, to try again to help, but if YOU, folks who line up for CTU,… Read more »
Yep, might as well write off two full years of education for these pupils and recognize that the Chinese kids got another year or two smarter. Thank you Chicago for putting our kids back two years.
the teachers have gotten very used to staying at home collecting full pay and benefits for only a few hours of running a couple zoom sessions a day. Its like semi retirement, the requirement to run a few zoom sessions is way easier than putting in a full day. This is seen as a benefit. And they are not about to let a good pandemic go to waste as a form of extortion.
The number of students in CPS will continue to decline, perhaps precipitously. There is a real unknown factor with the COVID. Many students simply don’t show up in a remote environment, or, if they make an effort to sign in, don’t really participate (my jurisdiction is one of the higher performing systems in the US, and they have just announced an unprecedented and huge increase in the number of F grades). Throw in the fact that some schools are fantastically underutilized, and that CPS has the worst finances in the country, I don’t see how CPS has a future. The… Read more »
Noise. If Republicans were as ruthless as Democrats they would break all public employee unions in states they controlled.
Agreed. No more games.
Time to make bold plays. Reagan-esque with PATCO.
Amen to that. We figured out how to run airports after the air traffic controllers were fired. Surely CPS can figure out how to run schools without the teachers union. CPS needs to take back control of the schools, and the union needs to learn who pays their salaries and benefits.
Plan for this. Fire them all and then re-start the hiring process. Only hire the good one’s and only restaff the performing schools. Use the excess funds for tech, comp for the good teachers and admin, and subsidy to help the kids who need to travel further, get to school.
Yes! And while they’re at it, throw out the nonsense that any kind of advanced degree gets extra pay, especially at the elementary school level. No reason to pay more for degrees that are worthless and not needed.
Or paying for a masters degree to teach drivers ed. No kidding. Over $100K for a masters degree to teach flippin drivers ed. unbelievable.