Chicago Teachers Union contract demands are totally divorced from reality – Wirepoints
May 8, 2024
40 Comments
Details emerging about Chicago Teachers Union’s upcoming contract show just how divorced its demands, both extreme and expensive, are from the reality at Chicago schools. It’s not just about massive salary increases, but also about money for migrant students, climate initiatives, abortions and gender-affirming care. About blocking parental notification. Count on CTU’s demands to veer further from reality until the public finally says no.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 5/4/2024.
Gov. JB Pritzker calls it “ethics” reform.
It’s rare to see city leaders in Chicago take an open, unabashed stance on the collapse of literacy. To complain is deemed as too political, too racist or too anti-public schools. So it’s refreshing to see Willie Wilson, a successful businessman and leader of the black community, call for a literacy initiative “with the goal of getting 100% of Black students reading at grade level.”
You know how students have their school year extended for make-up days, like when schools are closed for a snowstorm?
We could solve the chronic teacher absenteeism problem simply by having the CTU members make-up their sick days by returning to their school classrooms in the summer for as many days they took off during the school year. They could write lesson plans, clean classrooms, or just stare out the window for all I care. But the absenteeism problem would stop instantly if the CTU member’s summer vacations were interrupted. People respond to incentives, even union members.
Or we could treat them like human beings that get sick or have family members that fall ill or have a death in the family or any number of other issues that can arise. I love comments like yours because it highlights the truth, that you simply don’t like them and want them to suffer in any way possible. They can negotiate for fair wages and working conditions and that drives the haters nuts.
How come whenever you hear about no-show jobs, it’s always a Democrat that’s not showing up? The “tell” in all of your posts, and I do enjoy reading them, is that they’re all one-sided for the teachers. Fair wages, working conditions, they get sick, treat them like human beings, blah, blah, blah. By always ignoring the plight of students, you reduce them to widgets just traveling down the CTU conveyor belt, and at the end of the CTU manufacturing process, they’re just dumped into the basket of deplorables. I would have some respect for CTU members if they addressed what… Read more »
Maybe you didn’t read the article. 43% chronically absent. You prefer to imply that we are just haters who refuse to treat teachers as human beings. Do you never tire of your pity party?
I don’t know how being absent works in the mind of of every worker everywhere, but as for for me my days of absence over a very lengthy career we’re VERY low, something around 3-4% overall even including sickness and one hospitalization. There were multiple reasons: having exceptionally good health, trying to be dedicated to my job and my employer, having few really compelling ongoing interests other than my job, and realizing that planned absences required extra work in preparing that day for another person as well as follow-up afterwards in terms of checking the quality of what had been… Read more »
I think many in our generation agree with you, James. My husband has worked 50 years and took very few sick days. It was a point of pride.
It’s hard to read of people clearly taking advantage of an overly generous sick policy. It’s also hard to be accused of being haters who don’t want to treat others as human because we call out chronic absenteeism.
“My husband has worked 50 years and took very few sick days. It was a point of pride”
The younger generations don’t see the advantage in that and they have no intention of slaving away for an employer while they are sick. Times change.
How do you know they are taking advantage? Why do you instantly assume the worst instead of having an ounce of intellectual curiosity?
You do realize that teachers were forced to miss at least 5 to 10 days if they tested positive for COVID. When they reported a positive test they had to be cleared by a district employee as to when they could return. These were district policies and teachers had zero discretion to return even if they felt better.
Pity party? I’m not the one that complains about teachers on this website each and every day. They make too much money, they have too many sick days, they get a pension and I don’t, and on and on and on…the whining and tears from you is not stop. Yes I read the article about chronic absenteeism but I have no way of knowing whether those days are justified or not. We don’t even know the definition of “chronic” based on the article. Teachers are allowed to take sick days. They have things that come up in their life that… Read more »
You sound more shrill with each post. And it always comes down to the sacred contract, doesn’t it?
Did you have any sense of right and wrong before you had a union contract to guide you? Apparently not. Pretty sad.
It’s not my contract. I do however believe that when parties agree to a contract they should abide by the terms.
What do think of all the student loans that Biden is forgiving? Those are also contracts. When the student/parent signed the contract everything was spelled out. Amount borrowed/interest rate/term length/first payment due/monthly amount/late fees. Then they signed the legal binding contract but now they are being forgiven because it seems to be a hardship like they had no clue as to what they were signing. Unless interest rates changed or terms were changed without their knowledge then maybe it could be reworked but not forgiven.
I don’t agree with forgiving student loans. I have never written anything supporting it so not sure why you would think I would agree with it. I don’t take sides based on left or right but rather what is legal and fair. Those students/parents signed those loans and they should pay them back. Just as the legislature approved pensions within Illinois and knew the debt they were taking on would have to be paid at a future date. With that said, the US government covering the costs for loan forgiveness is well within their wheel house to appropriate money towards… Read more »
I know you haven’t. Just asking your thoughts on it. Forgiving student loans is not fair to those that paid off their loans with hard work or even other loans which will not be paid by the government. I’m sure down the road depending on who becomes president that unfunded pensions will be reduced by the Feds. The $$$ amount is at least $1.3T for unfunded pension liabilities. But in the meantime taxing will continue but there is a limit to how much. That is why our pols are in no hurry to make any type of reforms. Why reform… Read more »
Student loan forgiveness isn’t meant to be fair. Biden looted the treasury to make a gift to Democrat voters to get reelected. If it was about fairness, I’d be refunded for my student loans I paid off, or, I’d be given a tax credit for payments I made in the past. But it’s only a gift to those people who’ve never made any attempts at repaying their loans.
Both of us made assumptions, because we don’t have complete information.
I assumed that some teachers were taking advantage of sick leave policy, to get more time off.
You assumed that anybody who thought teachers were taking advantage must hate teachers and want to treat them as less than human.
Does one of these assumptions seem more likely than the other?
Why can’t the chronically absent teachers teach from home via Zoom? They wouldn’t even have to roll out of bed.
Apparently CTU are big fans of Zoom, except when they’re not.
All Chicago problems have simple solutions, every single one.
Simple, yes, but for the average kid it won’t work for the simple reason that machines have no physical/emotional interaction as a motivator.
So a teacher that’s sick needs to work remotely? Your unfair hatred for teachers is noted.
If we assume that the CTU member is really sick, your argument has some validity.
How about to ensure that the CTU member is really sick, the CPS hires truancy officers, but these new truancy officers will only visit absent CTU members and not students? This makes perfect sense, as a sick CTU member affects many students with their absence, and burdens other CTU members.
If the CTU member is really sick, they shouldn’t mind having a truancy officer doing a wellness check. You know, because the CTU is all about keeping the public’s trust.
Your idea is absolutely ludicrous. No, we don’t need truancy officers to determine if someone is sick. You don’t get to have that kind of control over other human beings. I wouldn’t work for any employer that was that distrusting and I certainly wouldn’t tolerate someone coming to my house when I’m sick. You’re nuts if you think anyone would put up with something like that.
Let’s get out the dictionary, good sir.
One of the definitions of truancy is “neglect of work or duty”, so it appears that if the CTU members have an epidemic of “neglect of work or duty”, we definitely need truancy officers.
I think the lefty argument is “If the CTU member has nothing to hide, what’s the big deal if the truant officer stops by”. Did I get that right?
And please, call my idea nuts, but not me. A downvote would be sufficient. Thanks
They are not truant, good sir. They are taking their sick time as allowed and in some cases forced upon them. Also, I will call anyone nuts that thinks their employer should have truancy officers to come by their home for when they call in sick. You may want a nanny state from your employer but normal people don’t.
I appreciate your civility. Thanks.
You seem to be a very trusting person, which is a fine and admirable quality, albeit a quality where one could be taken advantage of.
A great man once said “Trust, but verify”.
When 43% of CTU members don’t show up for work, we have moved beyond the “trust” phase and into the “verify” phase. Like many a teacher has said to a recalcitrant student “We are doing this for your own good”. The circle of life in action.
Then go ahead and verify. That’s exactly what should be done with this data. Why are they missing so many day? Was the increase caused by the required 5 day minimum off before returning to work when diagnosed with COVID? I know a few teachers that were forced to stay out longer than needed because of the CDC requirements. Was it an uptick in mental health days that many legislatures across the land started embracing for both students and teachers? Are we counting days for professional development where teachers are out of the classroom but are assigned work elsewhere? I… Read more »
For what they earn they can at least show up
Earning a fair wage doesn’t mean you never get sick or need time off from work.
“Earning” a “fair wage” doesn’t mean you never get “sick” or need “time off” from “work”.
Fixed it.
Let’s remember that Covid 19 entered the CPS from a school employee returning from a mid-semester holiday in Asia.
The pension for Major League Baseball has a factor for game day availability. This keeps the pension for the high paid starting pitcher, available once every 3 or 4 days, in line with the one for the utility infielder who rides the bench at a minimum salary. Maybe the CPS pension fund calculations need an adjustment to account for excessive absence?
Old Joe’s nuns in the 1960s had perfect attendance and never went on strike. We didn’t have snow days either as the convent was right next to the school.
How far we’ve fallen….and we didn’t waste time with CRT, preferred pronouns or active shooting drills. Our school resource officer was Sister Mary Knuckles!
Oops, I dont remember any nuns taking maternity leave!
Yes. If only these modern teachers would give up their own personal life and never have kids. They should also take a vow of poverty that way I can save on my tax bill. How dare these teachers ever get sick or expect to earn a living. The nerve.
Canard. We all know most teacher-absences are not due to maternity leave, but rather abuse of extremely lenient personal day and sick day allowances..
How do you know such a thing? Just making things up again? Are the teachers violating their contract by taking such days?
What we know is that many commenters here don’t like teachers and will complain about anything they do. Including taking maternity leave or a sick day. They really hate it when they negotiate for their pay and benefits. Joe has made his preference for nuns teaching many times on this site to the point it’s spam. At least he’s honest. He just wants as close to free labor as possible with people that will have no private life.
A through audit needs to be conducted, redact the names, but every detail needs to be categorized. Pathetic.
For those of us with work ethics, that’s a surreal and staggeringly depressing statistic.
Obviously far too lenient sick-time policy, and far too large personal-time allowance. No wonder CPS students perform so miserably on standardized tests; their teachers are absent nearly HALF their school days. This is truly scandalous. Appears there’s no credible accountability standards for CTU teachers. They are earning very generous salary packages, yet too often cause very little academic achievement by their students. Half teachers are absent from classroom for nearly half the academic school year, and parents know that “substitute teacher” is literally classroom babysitter presiding over zero educational activity. Mayor should be extremely disappointed in CTU teachers, but all… Read more »
They’re just a particularly sickly bunch, I guess. Or they could be allergic to work, to use an old phrase. Yes, I refuse to let these wonderful, old phrases fade away.
Parents should move their children from Illinois to states that fund school vouchers and education savings accounts and achieve better classroom results. Edchoice.org provides resources to help parents learn which states offer which benefits. Illinois is heading toward financial insolvency with no federal bankruptcy option. That’s a grim future for today’s children.
Sounds like teachers are extremely valuable when it comes to student performance. Better start ensuring that teachers are supported so they don’t miss days at work. Otherwise, burnout and more missed days and lower student performance.
Let’s give teachers more money and that will surely solve the problem, right? Right?
Teachers are allowed to take sick days. Not sure what problem you are referring to. This is just another data point that shows the value of teachers.
But since you brought up paying them more, maybe offer some type of attendance bonus when sick days are not used over the course of the year? Maybe smaller class room sizes? Maybe more support staff? More money couldn’t hurt.
Given how much CPS spends per student, more money doesn’t seem like it would help either!
Maybe CPS teacher absenteeism isn’t any worse than other school districts by however being absent is defined?? Maybe the bigger issue for CPS dopey parents & Chicago dopey taxpayer/ homeowners to measure how incompetently their hard earned tax $ are being spent for such crappy outcomes would be: what is average # of classroom days a CPS teacher is in classroom vrs not out of 176 day school year vrs other school dist? what does CPS spend on substitute teachers per year vrs other school dist on a per student basis? How many teacher classroom days are filled with substitute… Read more »
Hot off the ctu web site….minor, but the zillionth + 1 contractual way for teachers not to be in classroom, flex day agreement: https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/flex-day-agreement-2024-06. Does this qualify as teacher absenteeism? Obviouly CPS/ CTU will say no while your kid is stuck with additional substitue classroom days.
Sounds like teachers should be fired and charged with extortion and forfeit their pensions and benefits.
while we’re at it let’s include doctors whose lives weren’t saved, lawyers who got criminal charges wrongly dismissed, etc. Let’s include everyone who didn’t do their job to my satisfaction!
Doctors who lose too many patients and lawyers who lose too many cases soon lose their practice. They may try explaining over and over again to prospective clients how tough their job is, and they shouldn’t be expected to produce results. But their excuses will fall on deaf ears, as clients find other doctors and lawyers who can succeed.
Teachers, on the other hand…
Close to 70 percent of the US population is overweight or obese. Using your logic this is the fault of the medical community and since doctors see these patients it’s their fault. Where are these other doctors that people are switching to that have better outcomes? Perhaps just like reading and math, those people don’t care that they are obese? It’s not up to the doctor to get these people to lose weight but up to the patient. No different than students/parents when it comes to school outcomes.
That’s the part the general public doesn’t get at their gut-level of complaints: you can take a horse to water, but…..”. The person receiving such services as to be an active, willing participant, or the effort is likely doomed. You find the same issue when trying to “rehabilitate” prisoners. The prisoner’s mindset will largely determine whether resources spent will have a desirable outcome or not.
Yes, obesity is a problem. Yet doctors treat these patients anyway. They aren’t allowed to simply die, with doctors shrugging and pointing to obesity as the problem. As you point out, 70% of the population is obese. Medicine works to find a way to manage the health of these patients, even if they can’t make everyone lose weight.
Yes, reading and math is a problem. Yet, teachers still attempt to teach these students. It’s the same.
Doctor, I see that 80% of the patients under your care become incapacitated in the first 3 years. I want to find a doctor who takes a different approach to medicine.
I told you, they are obese! Nobody can save them! Here is my contract, that pays me more each year no matter what happens to my patients. It’s protected by the constitution! Now shut up and pay!
Yes, teachers are just like doctors.
How many obese patients that seek treatment actually lose weight and keep it off long term? Do the doctors still get paid for services rendered?
Also, where did teachers state they wouldn’t keep attempting to help students with their learning? You have concocted some conversation in your head that has never happened.
You’re blaming teachers for the outcome of reading and math but don’t blame doctors for the outcome in our massive obesity problem. It’s the same thing but you’re too stubborn to recognize it because of your hatred for teachers.
You refuse to recognize that the basic issue here is that people are free to change doctors if they don’t have confidence in the doctor’s care. They are not free to find other teachers.
You seem to believe that teachers have a sacred right to the job, no matter the outcome. Anything less is somehow construed as the public picking on the poor teachers. It’s in the constitution, so that means it’s right.
I recognize that people can change doctors and people can change schools/teachers. In both cases there may be additional costs. A doctor may be out of network and moving to a new school requires moving ones home or choosing private school. Also, people aren’t leaving teachers when they choose a new school. They are leaving fellow students who don’t take school seriously and make for an awful environment. Where have I ever said teachers deserve a job no matter what? You consistently make things up in your mind that never happened. The school districts are the ones who rate the… Read more »
Your last sentence is a strawman. The chronic truism in this article is about teacher absenteeism, not student absenteeism. Teachers certainly bear some, but not all, of the responsibility for little johnny being illiterate. The are in the classroom teaching. They are told what they have to teach, and these days, little time is spent actually teaching the 3R’s, and too much time on SEL therapy nonsense and other globohomo indoctrination. And there’s clearly a lot going on outside the classroom where parents don’t value education. BUT, I’d give teachers the benefit of the doubt if they weren’t so danged… Read more »
“BUT, I’d give teachers the benefit of the doubt if they weren’t so danged liberal themselves” Thank you for your honesty debtsor. This has been my point all along. You and others like PP, are willing to blame teachers for an outcome that you won’t for other professions because as a larger group, teachers vote differently than you. Teachers teach what curriculum they are told to teach. If you have a problem with it take it up with your school board and stop blaming the front line worker. The problem is your neighbors who vote don’t agree with you otherwise… Read more »
You left out the rest which says that teachers willingly and wholeheartedly participate in the lack of teaching, and many of them infuse liberal biases and nonsense into their curriculum. Like the time my son’s class was forced to watch/celebrate Biden’s inauguration, when four years earlier, they refused to do the same for Trump. Or like I said, the weaving of transnonsense and other progressive craziness into every lesson plan even when it’s not required. It happens all the time, and every 3rd party is in on it too. Several years back my kid came home with a 3rd party… Read more »
Spoon feed them 5000 calories a day of White Racist Oppression. Follow it with a rich dessert of Gender Confusion.
Assure us the problem is that these students refuse to follow the teacher attempting to lead them on a vigorous walk around the block.
This is a stupid argument with poor comparisons. There are few medical ‘cures’ for obesity other than surgery and now those weight-loss drugs. No one goes to the doctor expecting a miracle because no miracles exist. Poor diet and lack of exercise is the ‘root’ cause of obesity. However, we expect children to read, write and do math at grade level, because teaching a kid to read doesn’t require a miracle, or even 1/100th of the effort it takes for an obese adult to lose significant weight. Doctors don’t really even treat obesity, they mostly treat the side-effects of it… Read more »
Neither requires a miracle but rather effort from the participant. Doctors and teachers provide education and guidance but it’s ultimately up to the individual. We don’t blame doctors when patients refuse to educate themselves and change their behaviors but you and others want to blame teachers.
It’s a perfect comparison but you don’t want to acknowledge your bias and hatred for teachers so you ignore it.
It’s a terrible comparison. The ‘children’ who can’t read are mostly black and hispanic, and you’re telling me that it’s the individual child’s fault he can’t read and follow the teacher’s guidance. This is complete and utter nonsense and you know it. You’re just spewing the ridiculous party line. You’re smarter than this, PPF
Despicably shocking!!!……as CTU “negotiates” with itself for $$$giant$$$ new gold plated contract deal. Complete moral bankruptcy!!!