CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Negotiations between the Chicago Teacher's Union and Chicago Public Schools are set to continue Tuesday at 11 a.m. following strike authorization vote results released Monday.
CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey gave FOX Chicago News an updated figure Tuesday morning, saying 98 percent of those who voted approved strike authorization. According to the union website, 91.55 percent of the total union membership cast their ballots and 89.73 percent of the total membership favors a strike.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called the results an indictment of the relationship between CPS management and its labor force.
"We want a contract that gives Chicago students the schools they deserve," Lewis said. "So we call on CPS to take this process seriously and negotiate with us in good faith with our eye on the real prize, our children."
Jean-Claude Brizard, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, has worked to make public appearances aimed towards trying to tell teachers to hold off and let the process take its course.
"I was disappointed that they would push to make a decision with a strike organization," Brizard said. "We agree more than we disagree. All we're pushing is that we can't afford 29 percent in terms of an increase, but in terms of supporting teachers and getting a raise and doing work that has to be done, we completely agree with that."
Sharkey said that violence and pressure comes into the schools - and teachers have to deal with that reality in addition to preparing these kids for their academic future.
Having constant "political leaders" saying "schools are failing, schools are failing," when teachers feel they do not have enough resources to do their jobs, creates more frustration.
"We're being asked to do a lot in society right now," Sharkey said, "and being accused of failure a lot. That's something that has produced anger and frustration."
He said the vote results represent that frustration among teachers and hope their message comes across clearly. Sharkey looks forward to working with CPS.
"This is about getting to a negotiated settlement and a contract," Sharkey continued. "We're very serious about that and look forward to having productive negotiations."
CTU also seeks a 29 percent raise over the next 2 years – 24 percent in the first year – in response to CPS' plan to radically re-shape the school day.
Those changes include 20 percent more instructional time, an evaluation system where teachers are rated based on test scores of their students and a new core curriculum. The CTU wants to know how much all of these changes are going to cost.
"There are some things that we need in order to do our jobs and we're trying to make a message about that," Sharkey said. He thinks the 98 percent affirmative vote may be a signal that the Board of Education is asking for too much change too fast.
The law was recently changed requiring the vote needed to authorize a strike from 50 percent to 75 percent of the total union membership - a number a lot of people thought was too high to get that kind of agreement. Final results showed a total of about 90 percent.
"I'm not surprised in the numbers because there's a level of anxiety and anger amongst educators and teachers about being blamed for everything and being asked to do everything without always getting the support they need to be successful," Brizard said.
The union indicates this authorization, though it doesn't necessarily mean a strike is eminent. They simply said this gives them leverage for negotiation.
Brizard said they were not on the same page with SCIU and United Local One when the process began, but still came to a conclusion over a contract and he believes that could happen here as well.
The main concern is if educators are going to go on strike, or wait for a resolution to be reached.
"As long as both parties and the city are willing to keep negotiating then I'm confident we'll come to a resolution," Brizard said. "Given our recent momentum on graduation rate the last thing we need is children not being in school come August or September."
Negotiations are expected to continue through the summer, until school begins again in the fall.
