Mr. Beat asks "Why do we work 40 hours per week?"

 

[VIDEO] We go from hunter/gatherers to farming to the Industrial Revolution. And the Industrial Revolution was definitely a difficult era long hours to manufacture goods and products in a factory. Mr. Beat talks about the creation of unions and how we eventually get weekends and more manageable work schedules.

Of course he seems to editorialize and discusses in what ways do school teachers not have it easy workwise. And how employers get leverage to treat their employees like "crap". And we do get a picture how during the heat of the Industrial Revolution how harsh conditions were.

Children and wives were forced to work when the men or husbands of the house weren't able to work due to a workplace related injuries. There weren't a lot of safety nets nor any workman's compensation once upon a time. And yet in our society you still got to keep a roof over your head and most important you still have to eat.

There is a Chicago connection to Mr. Beat's lesson. He discusses the Haymarket affair. You can visit the site near Randolph and Jefferson where there is a memorial to this incident in 1886. In this incident seven people were killed when a bomb was set off, it's also considered a very deadly day for Chicago Police even to this day. We still don't know who set off the bomb however a number of people were executed for their role in this incident.

As an aside, Marathon Pundit recently discussed a memorial that was originally in the Haymarket area until 1972. It's really a memorial to the police officers who were killed in that incident and according to John Ruberry it's considered endangered. The memorial itself is said to be located at the new police headquarters at 35th & State.

A student with a ZERO GPA...

 

[VIDEO] When I was at Harlan I saw an article it was possibly in the Chicago Sun-Times or perhaps another lesser known newspaper, however, I saw in that article that in another high school in the city - possibly somewhere on the north and west sides if I recall - showed me something unusual. I thought it was a scandal at the time that this high school's valedictorian and salutatorian GPA didn't even break 3.0 they were still within the 2.0 range and if I recall correctly may not have even reached 2.5....

Now in this case dude isn't at a 1.0 and he didn't half want to come to class. Mother had no real idea where he was in school. And this is a systemic problem students aren't learning, they're not coming to class. In a school over 400 students only two were proficient in Math and English. Perhaps at that Chicago high school long ago this was the same situation.

I reiterate what I said over a month ago about plans by NYC's public schools to eventually eliminate their top programs for the best students. These are what public education needs to fulfill their mission, and as for these other schools that aren't able to do the job something has to be done with them. The idea of compulsory education isn't going away soon, but it makes no sense to have our young people sent to schools where they're woefully unprepared for the real world.

Anthony Brian Logan will get very upset at the school and the mother of this child that's failing at school and he really can't contain his temper.

CapFax: CTU slammed for “clearly racist” tweet

I found out about this tweet from the Chicago Teacher's Union at Capitol Fax today. He's noted what if Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police had tweeted this out. And I'm guessing the police would be universally condemned for this.

Y’all too much sometimes. 😂😂💀#DefundthePolice #PoliceFreeSchools #CopsOutCPS (IG: @electricstripe) pic.twitter.com/I4ryy3vOvM

— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) June 18, 2020

EDIT 7:53 PM: That tweet has since been taken down so therefore I was prepared with this below screencap. 

Decline in Black teachers?

I suppose I could be part of the solution. The next question becomes why are these less Black teachers in 2000 vs 2020? The graphic you see below is from the Chicago Teachers Union on ig

View this post on Instagram

Many CPS students of color today will never have a single Black teacher during their time in public school, despite research showing that both Black and white students benefit from having Black teachers. Black history, Black teachers, Black futures? #blackhistorymonth

A post shared by Chicago Teachers Union (@ctulocal1) on Feb 10, 2020 at 6:51pm PST

CapFax: More of this, please

More of what? Well a solution to a special education teacher shortage. Perhaps in general a teacher's shortage in this state whether in rural, suburban, or even urban areas like Chicago. Via Rich Miller.

More of this, please https://t.co/URqKUP5m5Y

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 16, 2020

Springfield's response to the Chicago teacher's strike #twill

It's interesting to not only see some news about negotiation, especially about trying to negotiation issues that don't belong in a collective bargaining contract. However, the all powerful speaker of the state house of representatives is demonstrating that while he support CTU he won't attempt to advance any bills for them during this strike. Via Capitol Fax

Madigan defers consideration of CTU-backed bills until spring session https://t.co/fOlMBzNKzM

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 30, 2019

BTW, I do have to add I had no idea the mayor opposes an elected school board. It was noted in the post linked above.

Meanwhile today marks 10 days out of school for CPS students.

Capitol Fax: Must-see CPS strike videos

[VIDEO] The first video you see above was shared Friday on CapFax is of strike teacher's mocking Michael Jackson's thriller. I' giving them credit for making this strike entertaining at least. That video among other teacher's strike fun.

Must-see CPS strike videos https://t.co/T1IP3tuIXz

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 25, 2019

Chicago Teacher's strike updates

I haven't done a great job at keeping up with the strike so far on this blog. Classes have been cancelled all week for CPS students due to this impasse between the city and the teacher's union. Here are some items that might interest you from during the week via CapFax.

No resolution to the teacher's strike yet...

Rich Miller shares a quick response to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's attempt to end the strike and get teachers back in classrooms.

CTU to Lightfoot: Nope https://t.co/Ahlx0zDSOw

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 21, 2019

Teacher's strike started on Thursday

[VIDEO] I shot this video wating for a bus in front of CPS HQ on Thursday morning when the strike started. It's amazing that the crowd grew as the day went on from this small group to shutting down Madison Street on that day. I'll share an IG post of this.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Oct 17, 2019 at 12:56pm PDT

Teacher's strike: Small number of Chicago voters oppose strike

I'm posting this now although this is a late 9:00 AM post because it's important. Rich Miller posted about a poll with regards to whether or not Chicagoans oppose a teacher's strike. Only 38% oppose a teacher's strike.

Poll: Just 38 percent of Chicago voters oppose CTU strike https://t.co/A14GZCDUq4

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 15, 2019

How does Lori Lightfoot as Mayor of Chicago settle this?

Tribune: Mayor says CTU ‘refusing to negotiate in good faith;' union calls city offer ‘half-baked’

The latest update about the talks between Chicago's teachers and the city. The final offer by the city was rejected by the teachers union. Ugh...

WTTW: What’s Next in Lead-Up to a Chicago Teachers Strike?

Still some more news as we head to an October 17th deadline for a teacher's strike. This is a portion of what's next from Chicago Tonight:

The Chicago Teachers Union has set a strike date of Oct. 17, but the deadline for the city to come to a deal with the 25,000-member union may be sooner.

This year, the union’s 700-member House of Delegates – which represents teachers across the city – passed a resolution requiring CTU leadership to bring any tentative deals back to an emergency meeting of those delegates. Those members would then decide whether to call off a strike.

Theoretically, this means even if a contract deal is reached at the 11th hour, teachers could be on the picket lines Oct. 17, and remain there until delegates have reviewed the contract and decided whether to accept the city’s offer.

Sources in CTU say members were angered when, in 2016, union leadership called off a strike after reaching a deal right around the midnight deadline. Some teachers woke up and went to the classroom – instead of the picket line – without knowing the terms of the deal; others were angered at the content of the deal and the fact that CTU had called off the strike without their input.

Very interesting. I still hope there will be no strike.

Chicago's teachers: What are the issues?

I know I've kept on eye on this strike talk for at least the past month. WBEZ has a page that let's you know what the issues are between the city and the Chicago Teachers Union. Perhaps in the posts I've published so far perhaps you've seen some discussion on them.

Mr. Beat presents Plessy v. Ferguson...

[VIDEO] This recent video from Mr. Beat talks about the landmark 1896 case of Plessy vs. Ferguson which establishes the principle of "separate but equal". The decision in this case essentially upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation. This case is over racial accomodations on a train. This case has been referred to as one of the worst decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Until watching this video I was woefully ignorant of this case. It's interesting that a man named Plessy in addition to a conductor and a police detective knew that Plessy was "colored". They knew what law to pick to arrest him as he wasn't in the appropriate accommodations for those who are "colored" or Black. It's also interesting that the railroad didn't really want to spend money to provide separate accommodations on their trains between Blacks and whites. Ahhh I see what's going on, this was "civil disobedience" the arrest of Plessy was staged to provoke a court case.

Another interesting piece of trivia with regards to this case, the lone dissenter in this case is a Justice of SCOTUS named John Marshall Harlan. He's the namesake of a certain high school in Chicago's 9th Ward - GO FALCONS!

If you decide to study pol. sci. you might have to take constitutional law as a course or perhaps even as a requirement for your degree. Who knows you may have to study this case...

Before the strike news...

[VIDEO] The video above is from this past saturday showing CTU paraprofessionals rallying at Rainbow Push claiming they don't make enough to comfortably live in the city.

Meanwhile as negotiations more forward ahead of the set October 17th deadline according to the Tribune:

The CTU has set an Oct. 17 deadline for CPS and teachers to reach a deal on a new contract. If not, they can go on strike, disrupting the school year for thousands of public school pupils across the city.

Lightfoot said she wants to reach an agreement that would prevent that from happening, but she’s concerned that the city has not received a detailed formal response to its proposal.

“We can’t bargain against ourselves,” Lightfoot said. “We need to have them at the table with a comprehensive counteroffer. … If we do that we can get there.”

The teachers union fired back on Twitter, saying: “We were showing urgency about a fair contract before the mayor was mayor. City Hall and CPS didn’t show urgency until 94% of our membership voted to strike.”

The teachers could pick a strike day today

[VIDEO] Now that the Chicago Teacher's Union have chosen a strike date, now they need to choose when to go on strike. According to this report the earliest they can go on strike is next Monday. Of course if the teacher's go on strike, hopefully the feeds below will be updated accordingly.

CPS daring the teacher's union to strike?

This was over at the Capitol Fax yesterday. That aforementioned law may be something that the teacher's union have a problem with, however, the law is specific over what the Chicago Teacher's Union can strike over.

There’s a reason why CPS appears to be “daring” CTU to strike over certain issues https://t.co/K2ce6SQWgx

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 30, 2019

Does this open the door to the possibility of a deal between CPS and the union before there is a strike this month?

Chicago Teachers authorize a strike

Sorry to have missed this from CapFax yesterday. The teacher's union authorized a strike in a vote that concluded late Thursday.

Of course in sharing this news, Rich Miller made sure to remind of us a state law that requires the Chicago Teachers Union getting 75% of all teachers to vote for a strike. He also notes that such a law didn't stop CTU in 2012 with 90% of teachers cast ballots. This time around it was 94% who cast ballots. Read about it at Capitol Fax.

State strike law is 0 for 2 https://t.co/sfxscoSaw2

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 27, 2019

I must also add as I blogged about during the past week the attention Chicago teachers have received from Democrat presidential candidates.

Sun-Times: Take the deal, CPS teachers. You’ve won

An editorial from the Sun-Times on Wednesday. I wonder what the results of that strike vote from CTU will be?

They should accept the latest contract offer from the Board of Education, a sweet deal that most Chicagoans would just love to get.

They should vote against authorizing a strike. Given our city’s dire financial condition, taxpayers wouldn’t rally around them.

And let’s not forget the 296,752 schoolchildren who’d be sitting at home learning nothing if the teachers walk out.

That’s a locked-in raise every year of 3% to 3.5%, more than what most workers are getting — if they’re getting raises at all.What employee, in any job, would turn down a 16% raise over five years?

Then add in the pay hikes to which teachers would be entitled based on seniority and level of education. With those “step” and “lane” raises, the average teacher would pull in almost $100,000 a year — up from about $79,000 now — by the end of the five-year contract.

But don’t stop there. Consider, as well, how little more teachers will be asked to contribute to their health care. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s negotiating team is asking CTU members to pay a modest 0.75% more over the entire five years.