Chicago teachers are striking over salary because Illiniois made salary the only 'strikeable' issue.

[HiPointDem]

That's right, in Chicago teachers can't strike over anything *but* salary & benefits.

Senate Bill 7 was signed into law in June 2011. It was written by the astroturf education deform outfit, Stand for Children, led by Josh Edelman. Stand for Children is funded by the usual suspects: Gates Foundation ($3+ million in 2010), Walton Foundation ($1+ mill in 2010) & others, including some Bain Capital folks.

(Notice how the liberals (Gates) and the conservatives (Walton) & the financiers (Bain) collude in these things).

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/26_01/26_01_sanchez.shtml

Edelman even bragged that he'd hired a PR firm to keep SB7 out of the news while it was making its way through the Illinois legislature.

Just go back to Edelman’s video. He says he hired — in addition to 11 of the best lobbyists — a fantastic pr firm to keep discussion of SB7 out of the media.

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/

Edelman had already laid the groundwork by passing out money to a few legislators:

In 2010, the story is now widely known, Jonah Edelman, head of a corporate reform group out of Oregon Stand for Children came to Illinois and spent $300,000 on campaign contributions to 9 state legislators, all who won. Immediately, Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, who is also Democratic Party state chairman, established a House Education Reform Committee.

http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/at-the-sos-conference-talking-about-reform/

Rahm Emanuel helped usher SB7 into being:

Shortly after his election, Emanuel went to Springfield to get Senate Bill 7 passed. Touted as education reform, it was really an anti-collective bargaining measure...

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/

What did SB7 do?

SB7 takes away tenure and seniority, ties teacher evaluations to value added measures, created the now infamous 75% threshold for a strike authorization vote by the Chicago Teachers Union and formally removed issues that could be collectively bargained in Chicago that weren’t wages and benefits.

http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/nea-is-still-spinning-senate-bill-7-as-teacher-led-reform/

THE CHICAGO TEACHERS' STRIKE ISN'T ABOUT THE MONEY.

THE SALARY DEMAND IS THE ONLY WAY THE UNION COULD *FORCE* EMANUEL TO THE TABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE OTHER ISSUES, AND IT'S THEIR ONLY BARGAINING CHIP.

if the CTU leadership says okay to the salary and benefits that the board has offered then negotiations are over because the board can refuse to discuss evaluations, job assignments or class size. That’s the law.

http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/jonahs-strike/


So please remember this when you read the lamestream media (& even posters at DU) talking about overpaid, greedy Chicago teachers.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY.

IT'S about the survival of public education.

[FBaggins]

1. Doesn't seem wise to admit that.

"We're not really striking over the only things we can legally strike over" would be an admission that this isn't a legal strike.

[HiPointDem]

2. well, that's an interesting thought. but you'll notice the media isn't entertaining it, because

that would uncover all the rotten crap beneath the rock of education deform.

like how the illinois legislature used an alec-style bill to unilaterally end union bargaining rights and already-bargained benefits like tenure.

like how the same thing happened in half-a-dozen other states already.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. I appreciate what the Gates Foundation has done in 3rd world countries BUT

Bill Gates has his head up his ass when it comes to public education. They guy never went to public schools, EVER. He went to expensive prep schools as a child and then dropped out of Harvard. The "experiments" he funds in education often can't be transferred to wide use in public schools. He's just another person who thinks that our best and brightest should be put in charter schools because they're the only ones that deserve things like computers in classrooms and small class sizes.