Illinois Federation of Teachers passes unanimous resolutions against Race to the Top, charters

Hannah Bell

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Sat Oct-23-10 03:23 AM
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Illinois Federation of Teachers passes unanimous resolutions against Race to the Top, charters

Edited on Sat Oct-23-10 03:39 AM by Hannah Bell

The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) hit hard at President Obama's educational agenda by passing a resolution that rejected Race to the Top at the IFT convention in St. Louis October 15-16. Unlike last year when the IFT, under the direction of the American Federation of Teachers and Randi Weingarten, refused to oppose Obama's education plan that calls for more charter schools and merit pay for teachers, this year marked a complete reversal, thanks to the newly elected leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union.

"We helped elect Obama and we need to let him know he made a mistake," said IFT delegate Joey McDermott, who was the delegate at Crane High School and now is working on aldermanic outreach for the Chicago Teachers Union.

McDermott made an impassioned speech on Race to the Top, tracing its roots to the Renaissance 2010 plan and how it was implemented to destroy public education in Chicago. McDermott told his fellow delegates how Crane High School was once filled with over 1,200 kids until four charter schools opened up in their area and an attack on public schools began. Today Crane has only 500 students, McDermott said, and is ripe for a turnaround or closure under a plan that went national when then Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan left Chicago to force this radical privatization plan nationally as Obama's education secretary.

McDermott added that Race to the Top is an unfunded mandate in which only five states will get the money, but the 45 other states that are denied the money will still implement damaging reforms to public education by expanding charter schools and increasing an emphasize on standardized test scores to judge public school students, teachers and schools...

The resolution passed unanimously. The next important CTU resolution that passed was a call to end the proliferation of charter schools...All six CTU resolutions that were brought to the IFT convention passed...

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1734�ion=Article

The power of real organizing. From a handful of Chicago teachers sitting around a kitchen table, to a caucus inside the Chicago union, to control of the Chicago union, to getting out the word at the state level -- in a matter of a year or so. Inspiring.

Karen Lewis, head of the chicago teachers' union, was elected Executive VP of the state union.

Also inspiring: "The CTU leadership told delegates recently that the newly elected union officers will reduce their salaries by tying their pay to what they would earn as teachers, but be compensated for a full year. This earned a loud round of applause from the delegates."

Lewis' predecessor had gotten $350K in her combined roles. Lewis is rejecting that model of "leadership" for a rank-&-file democratic one.