Chicago's CORE hits the ground running: Chicago BOE resolution violation of contract, state law

[Hannah Bell]

Press Release: Chicago BOE proposes resolution that violates the CTU contract; possibly state law.

CORE: The Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 23, 2010



CHICAGO — “Today’s proposed Board of Education resolution to lay off teachers according to their evaluations instead of seniority not only violates the contract the Board signed with the Chicago Teachers Union, it may contradict state law. Illinois School Code Section 24-12 states: the order of dismissal of teachers for budgetary reasons must be done according to tenure unless another method is established in conjunction with the union,” said Karen Lewis, President-elect of the Chicago Teachers Union. “But if history repeats itself, they will pass it today without pause.”

“The CTU has not agreed to any change in the contract’s or school code’s lay-off policy. Today’s move by the Board is unnecessarily confrontational, belligerent, and possibly illegal. In addition, the Illinois School Code states that the Board must notify each teacher `… at least 60 days before the end of the school term’ and that clearly has not happened,” said Jackson Potter, Co-chair of CORE, the Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators.

“Our members will not bear the brunt of the Chicago Board of Education’s decisions that have exacerbated the impact of this economic crisis on our schools’ budget. There is not one educator on the Board of Education, the body that has been appointed by the Mayor for the last 15 years. The Board has no credibility or legal basis for this action,” said Lewis.

According to Potter, “If the Board of Education wants to fire someone with tenure, they can go right to the 5th floor of City Hall and serve Mayor Daley his walking papers. It also might make sense for all of us to demand that instead of bailing out the Mayor’s real estate and banking pals with TIF dollars, he should put the $250 million in TIFs taken from schools back into the schools where they belong. The Mayor is systematically under-funding schools by not raising property taxes and selling off our city’s public assets, worsening the city’s structural deficit and making Chicago unlivable for most of its citizens.”

“If teachers, parents and community members were represented on the Board of Education, rather than banking and real estate interests, perhaps `Education First’ would mean something — and the misappropriation of funds, scapegoating of educators and leaving all children behind could be avoided,” said Lewis.

http://coreteachers.com/


Mods, please note: this is a press release, no copyright violation.