Latest news with #IllinoisFederationofTeachers
Chicago Tribune
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Is CTU's playbook coming to a school district near you, Illinoisans?
Most Illinoisans think CTU-style teachers union tactics are limited to Chicago. But will that stay the case? In an estimated 52 school districts across Illinois, contracts with unions affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers are expiring this year. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates serves as executive vice president at the IFT. So is there reason to worry that other IFT affiliates will adopt Chicago's aggressive 'bargaining for the common good' model? Here's some background. Local teachers unions fall under the umbrella of state- and national-level unions. For example, CTU Local 1 is an affiliate of IFT. IFT is the state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, which is one of the two major national teachers unions, the other being the National Education Association. While both are aligned with Democratic causes, AFT is generally more progressive and politically aggressive. Its longtime president, Randi Weingarten, is a political lightning rod. IFT has affiliates all over the state, including Chicago, Quincy, East St. Louis and Peoria, as well as a number of Chicago suburbs. IFT doesn't run local contract negotiations but heavily influences them by providing legal, financial, tactical and ideological support. The Illinois Policy Institute, which analyzed districts' affiliations and negotiation schedules, has argued these districts should be prepared for aggressive negotiation tactics. That's a reasonable concern. After all, we just lived through the most recent CTU contract negotiation, which featured repeated CTU-encouraged attempts by Mayor Brandon Johnson, former CTU organizer and staunch union ally, to fire the CEO of Chicago Public Schools. That CEO, Pedro Martinez, had the temerity to refuse to give in to every one of the union's demands. We still haven't forgotten the tensions that arose from previous negotiations, especially in 2012 when this militant version of the CTU first emerged, waging a prolonged, large-scale strike that saw teachers and CTU supporters take en masse to the streets. More recently, as the latest contract negotiations were just beginning, Davis Gates half-jokingly informed a March 2024 City Club of Chicago audience that the city's moneyed interests ought to be prepared to pony up '$50 billion and 3 cents' to pay for the union's demands. It struck us as poignant that Davis Gates returned to the City Club Monday making similar statements, albeit with somewhat less bravado. What a difference a year makes. The CTU president's extreme message increasingly is falling on deaf ears. The mayor she played such an important role in electing in 2023 is unpopular and struggling to wrangle the City Council to support his priorities. Chicagoans last year elected their own school board members for the first time ever, and CTU's endorsed candidates fared poorly. In short, a union that turned itself into a political machine is itself unpopular and significantly weakened. Teachers unions once could count on majority support from the public. CTU's favorables are well under water, testifying to just how much the union has overreached. On Monday, Davis Gates didn't do herself or her cause any favors with provocative messaging about how Chicago's children are CTU's kids, too. That sort of rhetoric might land better coming from a more traditional teachers union focused mainly on the classroom, but not from this messianic group of ultra-leftists. She also showed a continued disregard for CPS' dismal fiscal situation, pushing once again for reckless borrowing to plug a $529 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. 'These are not math problems,' she said. Actually, they are math problems. And the union's refusal to face hard numbers contributes to the district's ongoing fiscal strain, which ultimately affects classroom conditions. CTU's 'bargaining for the common good' approach extends well beyond wages and benefits. The union's recent demands included climate initiatives like solar panels and electric buses, 10,000 affordable housing units, police-free schools and limits on charter schools — a sweeping political agenda inappropriately sought through union negotiations. In the end — in no small part due to the Chicago voters' rejection of CTU's agenda via the November school board elections — CPS teachers ratified a contract that largely mirrored what CPS leadership had offered for months. Union members' unfortunate reelection a few months ago of Davis Gates as their president only makes it highly likely we'll revisit this radical agenda four years from now in yet another fraught contract negotiation. So here's where we differ with the Illinois Policy argument. We just can't imagine the CTU agenda playing with either school boards or the broader communities in the suburbs and downstate. Time will tell. What will bargaining for the common good look like in downstate Joppa, where an IFT affiliate represents local teachers? That district sits in Massac County, along the Kentucky state line, where 74% of votes cast in 2024 went to President Donald Trump. Or Quincy School District 172, where Trump won nearly 73% of the 2024 vote. 'Trump has picked his side. … He is here to win the relitigation of the Civil War and finish the work of the Confederacy,' Davis Gates said Monday. Equating support for Trump with Confederate sympathizing is inflammatory and likely to alienate residents in the very communities where IFT affiliates will be bargaining. The point we're making is that there's a mismatch between IFT's modus operandi and the politics of many of the suburban and downstate districts where they'll be negotiating soon. Still, in many conservative areas, schools are among the largest employers, making it likelier that, at least on the wages and benefits side of contract negotiations, IFT's influence could mean significant costs for suburban and downstate taxpayers. Downstate teachers aren't nearly as well compensated as Chicago teachers. The median CPS teacher will be paid $98,000 next year. So as these negotiations begin in places politically and culturally distinct from Chicago, local taxpayers and school boards would be wise to pay attention. Attend school board meetings. Ask questions. And learn from Chicago's example.
Chicago Tribune
29-03-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Assistant teachers, library assistants at Francis W. Parker School unionize
A majority of assistant teachers and library assistants at Francis W. Parker School announced their intention to unionize this week. Eighty percent of the 30 assistant teachers and library assistants on staff filed paperwork expressing their intent to form a union with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, according to Lucy Wainger, an assistant teacher in a fifth grade classroom at Parker. The Lincoln Park-based school recognized the effort on Thursday. The school administration was notified with the hope that there would be a voluntary recognition of the union effort in order to proceed to collective bargaining, said Amy Excell, a spokesperson for the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Nicole Tetreault, an assistant teacher in senior kindergarten, said a smaller group began working on this effort about six months ago before going public this week. 'We're super excited that the school recognized our union willingly, and we're super excited to work with everybody and talk about ways that we can make this the best for our students and make sure that the conditions are great for the rest of the assistant teachers and library assistants,' Tetreault said. Daniel Frank, principal of Francis Parker, said in an email to the Tribune on Thursday, 'Francis W. Parker School has enjoyed a good working relationship with the Illinois Federation of Teachers Union for the past 45 years and we have agreed with the Union to take steps towards voluntarily recognizing the IFT for our assistant teachers. We look forward to our ongoing collegial relationship with this group of educators.' The faculty at Parker, about 110 teachers, has had longstanding union representation with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and Wainger said assistant teachers and library assistants at the school decided to organize to 'allow our voices to be heard as well.' Wainger added that those in the assistant union are 'looking forward to serving as a sister union to the faculty association.' 'They've been really wonderful and supportive of our efforts, so we see ourselves as very much existing alongside them,' Wainger said. As for the next steps, Tetreault said the hope is to soon have 'open, honest, collaborative and positive dialog with the school' about the needs of assistant teachers and library assistants and how those needs can be met. Some topics to be discussed at the bargaining table include better compensation and benefits and having 'clearer, more explicit guidelines around our specific job responsibilities,' Wainger said. 'It's really just all of the things that make it possible for us to fully show up each day for our kids,' Wainger said. 'We love these jobs, and we want to keep the, and we want them to be sustainable. We want to be able to be our best selves as we are coming to work every day.'
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UIS faculty, admin reach tentative agreement; temporarily avert strike
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Non-tenure track faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield have reached a tentative deal with the university administration, temporarily averting a strike that could have started this week. The Illinois Federation of Teachers announced Thursday morning that the two parties agreed upon a tentative contract the previous night. It happened after two full days of bargaining on Tuesday and Wednesday. UPDATE: Illinois homeschool bill passes; hundreds gather at State Capitol in protest 'Our union negotiating team is glad to announce that we were able to reach a tentative contract agreement with Chancellor Gooch and her team,' said Scott Fenton, an English instructor and a member of the union negotiating team. 'It has been a long and challenging road to secure this first agreement, but we are pleased that they worked with us in the end so we can stay in the classroom with our students. That is where we want to be.' Details of the agreement will not be released until union members and UIS leaders approve it. However, the union did say it will be in effect for three years. 'Though it does not go far enough in some important areas, this tentative agreement includes basic improvements in workload and salary that better align our faculty's working conditions with those of our colleagues on other U of I campuses,' Fenton added. 'We see it is a stepping stone to critical future improvements for our members and the students we are so proud to teach. We are grateful to them both for their incredible support throughout the process.' The agreement at least delays a strike that the union filed notice for on March 7. WCIA previously reported that negotiations on a new contract have been going on for the last year, with 20 previous meetings and 11 tentative agreements on approximately 20 contract articles being negotiated. The strike could have begun on Monday, but two days later, the parties have come to an agreement. Union members are expected to vote on the proposed contract by the end of the month. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pritzker targeting phone usage in school
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Illinois public school students may no longer have their cell phones on them when they start school in 2026. At the State of the State, Governor J.B. Pritzker said he is championing a bill to ban cellphone usage in classrooms. Party leaders react to State of the State for FY 2026 'In conversations with educators and parents around the state – there is one thing they commonly cite as an impediment to learning in the classroom: cell phones,' Pritzker said in his speech Wednesday. 'Furthermore, cyber bullying has expanded at alarming rates, and it's time for Illinois to take measures to protect our kids.' Momentum to separate students from their cell phones grew last summer with several large school districts across the nation adopting new policies. Some school districts in Central Illinois that changed their phone usage rules in the classroom last summer include Decatur and Springfield. 'A revitalization of inquisitiveness': Decatur School District finds success after first week of phone ban Leaders who represent teachers and paraprofessionals appreciate the governor embracing the issue. 'Tackling student cell phone use in schools is crucial to improved student learning,' Illinois Federation of Teachers president Dan Montgomery said. 'While some districts have their own policies, statewide guidance would provide much-needed consistency.' Illinois could offer bachelor degrees at community colleges with new bill The bill allows school districts time to implement a plan, as it would not go into effect until the 2026-2027 school year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
