FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2012
Contact: [email protected]
Parents, Students and Community Groups Condemn Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s
Decision to File an Injunction Against Striking Teachers
Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign Holds City Hall Press Conference to
Voice Opposition to Mayor Emanuel, Community Support for Teachers
CHICAGO—Today at noon, the Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign held a press conference to voice support for the Chicago Teachers Union and condemn Mayor Emanuel’s continued campaign to demonize hardworking teachers. The media event came shortly after news reports surfaced that a judge had refused to expedite the injunction filed by the Mayor earlier this morning asking the state court to force striking teachers to return to work without a contract.
The press conference, which took place outside the Mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall, featured representatives of parent and community organizations including Parents 4 Teachers, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), the Pilsen Alliance, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), National Nurses United (NNU) and National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 825.
“From the get-go, Mayor Emanuel has tried to bully and intimidate our teachers, and this injunction is just another thinly veiled attempt at union busting. Instead of disrespecting our teachers, maybe the mayor should consider filing an injunction against any more school closures,” said Bill Schorsch, Vice President of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 825 in Oak Park. “The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign is proud to stand with parents, students and other community groups in support of CTU, since teachers are the ones who are truly fighting for what’s best for our children.”
Upon filing an injunction against the CTU, Mayor Emanuel stated that the teachers strike "endangers the health and safety of our children," a claim that members of the Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign describe as disingenuous. “If the mayor were truly concerned about the health and safety of Chicago's children, he would not allow classrooms without air conditioning, schools without full-time nurses, social workers with caseloads of over 1,000 students, and classrooms with over 40 students” said Steven Ashby Professor of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, after speaking at today’s press conference.
Under the proposed CPS budget, the Mayor slashed money for neighborhood schools in the while simultaneously allocating an additional $75 million for privately owned charter schools; during his 2011 campaign for mayor, Emanuel received significant donations from charter school and “education reform” advocates. The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign pointed to this as another example of why it is not Mayor Emanuel but rather the teachers who are truly fighting for what is best for students and for the future of public education.
“CPS now stands for ‘Closing Public Schools,’” said Jitu Brown of Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization after today’s press conference. “The responsibility of the school district is not to broker the responsibility of educating our children to private interests. They’ve become used school salespeople and they have to be stopped.”
Parents and community leaders also used the press conference as an opportunity to refute the Mayor’s claims that the strike is illegal because it allegedly concerns “ issues that are deemed by state law to be non-strikable." Because compensation and other "legally strikable" issues are still part of the negotiations, the CTU strike is fully within the scope of what is permitted legally. However, CTU has been fighting to include health and safety issues in the contract because they consider this to be the only means of holding Chicago Public Schools and the mayor accountable.
According to Maria Torres, an Local School Council member from Galileo Elementary and a member of the Pilsen Alliance, reaching a fair contract that helps teachers do their jobs and provides resources for all CPS students is well worth extending the strike a few more days. “If saving public education has to wait a day or two, so be it,” said Torres. “It’s about time someone really cared about our kids’ education.”
The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign is a diverse coalition of local community organizations, labor activists, parents and students who support the Chicago Teachers Union in their fight for quality education.
The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign believes that teachers' working conditions are our students learning conditions--and that educators must be justly compensated for their work. The campaign also supports the CTU's call for a fully funded education system, smaller class sizes and an enriched curriculum with art and music, as well as wraparound social services.
September 17, 2012
Contact: [email protected]
Parents, Students and Community Groups Condemn Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s
Decision to File an Injunction Against Striking Teachers
Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign Holds City Hall Press Conference to
Voice Opposition to Mayor Emanuel, Community Support for Teachers
CHICAGO—Today at noon, the Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign held a press conference to voice support for the Chicago Teachers Union and condemn Mayor Emanuel’s continued campaign to demonize hardworking teachers. The media event came shortly after news reports surfaced that a judge had refused to expedite the injunction filed by the Mayor earlier this morning asking the state court to force striking teachers to return to work without a contract.
The press conference, which took place outside the Mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall, featured representatives of parent and community organizations including Parents 4 Teachers, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), the Pilsen Alliance, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), National Nurses United (NNU) and National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 825.
“From the get-go, Mayor Emanuel has tried to bully and intimidate our teachers, and this injunction is just another thinly veiled attempt at union busting. Instead of disrespecting our teachers, maybe the mayor should consider filing an injunction against any more school closures,” said Bill Schorsch, Vice President of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 825 in Oak Park. “The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign is proud to stand with parents, students and other community groups in support of CTU, since teachers are the ones who are truly fighting for what’s best for our children.”
Upon filing an injunction against the CTU, Mayor Emanuel stated that the teachers strike "endangers the health and safety of our children," a claim that members of the Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign describe as disingenuous. “If the mayor were truly concerned about the health and safety of Chicago's children, he would not allow classrooms without air conditioning, schools without full-time nurses, social workers with caseloads of over 1,000 students, and classrooms with over 40 students” said Steven Ashby Professor of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, after speaking at today’s press conference.
Under the proposed CPS budget, the Mayor slashed money for neighborhood schools in the while simultaneously allocating an additional $75 million for privately owned charter schools; during his 2011 campaign for mayor, Emanuel received significant donations from charter school and “education reform” advocates. The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign pointed to this as another example of why it is not Mayor Emanuel but rather the teachers who are truly fighting for what is best for students and for the future of public education.
“CPS now stands for ‘Closing Public Schools,’” said Jitu Brown of Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization after today’s press conference. “The responsibility of the school district is not to broker the responsibility of educating our children to private interests. They’ve become used school salespeople and they have to be stopped.”
Parents and community leaders also used the press conference as an opportunity to refute the Mayor’s claims that the strike is illegal because it allegedly concerns “ issues that are deemed by state law to be non-strikable." Because compensation and other "legally strikable" issues are still part of the negotiations, the CTU strike is fully within the scope of what is permitted legally. However, CTU has been fighting to include health and safety issues in the contract because they consider this to be the only means of holding Chicago Public Schools and the mayor accountable.
According to Maria Torres, an Local School Council member from Galileo Elementary and a member of the Pilsen Alliance, reaching a fair contract that helps teachers do their jobs and provides resources for all CPS students is well worth extending the strike a few more days. “If saving public education has to wait a day or two, so be it,” said Torres. “It’s about time someone really cared about our kids’ education.”
The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign is a diverse coalition of local community organizations, labor activists, parents and students who support the Chicago Teachers Union in their fight for quality education.
The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign believes that teachers' working conditions are our students learning conditions--and that educators must be justly compensated for their work. The campaign also supports the CTU's call for a fully funded education system, smaller class sizes and an enriched curriculum with art and music, as well as wraparound social services.