IT’S ‘LUNACY’
“Lunacy” prevailed in the second day of a teachers’ strike, as Chicago Public Schools officials continued to state the two sides were close to a deal, while the head of the teachers union suggested they remained “kilometers apart.”
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel suggested there were only two major issues remaining to work out, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis noted they had agreed on only six of nearly 50 issues.
“To say that the contract will be settled today is lunacy,” she said while at a rally that brought thousands of teachers to the downtown streets Tuesday afternoon. She later said she was “extremely frustrated” when a news reporter commented that it didn’t appear likely that the strike would be resolved even by the end of the day Wednesday.
Board of Education President David Vitale later fired back, saying that other comments that Lewis made while at the rally suggesting she had to return to the “silly part” of her day negotiating with Vitale and encouraging teachers “to have fun” were an insult.
“This is not the behavior of a group of people who are serious about the interests of our children,” Vitale said as negotiations ended Tuesday night. “It’s time for us to get serious.”
Vitale said the board also agreed to freeze health care rates for teachers, something the union had pushed for.
But he agreed the two sides could not come to terms on a new teacher evaluation system despite negotiating on it for most of the day.
“I would not say we came to an agreement on the fundamentals,” Vitale said. He said the district gave teachers a written proposal — one that Lewis was not present to receive — but said he would return to the table “when we receive a written response or a written proposal” from CTU.
CTU officials later said the two sides plan to meet at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The dueling statements from leaders on both sides came as the district said the hours of 147 contingency schools open for half days during the strike would be extended by two more hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., starting Thursday, to meet parent demand. So far, attendance at those schools — which teachers have picketed in force — has been much lower than expected.
Although some parents expressed frustration over missing work for a second consecutive day as the vast majority of schools remained closed, a new poll suggested registered voters, by a 47 to 39 percent margin, supported the strike — a poll city officials dismissed. In addition, Chicago Talent Development Charter High School, said it would be closed this week because it shares Crane High School’s building at 2245 West Jackson and officials said they want to “maximize the potential for a productive and positive working relationship among all adults in the building.”