CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson prepare austerity contract for Chicago teachers
Teachers must reject the illusions peddled by CTU bureaucracy about the supposed “transformative” contract.
•Alexander Fangmann
Chicago teachers struggle
Explosive anger mounts against Acero school closures in Chicago: “We are not items to be counted as dollar signs!”
At a board meeting on Wednesday night, educators, parents and students in Chicago exploded in anger against the proposed plans to close seven charter schools.
•Joe Raymond
Acero teachers, parents, students speak out against school closures in Chicago: “I will not stand by and watch this happen to my children”
Opposition is growing among educators and working class and immigrant families against the closure of 7 of 15 charter schools by the charter schools operator.
•Joe Raymond
CPS teachers must fight for real raises! Stop school closures at Acero and CPS!
Chicago educators are at a critical juncture with the CTU bureaucracy sanctioning below-inflation raises and school closures
•Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Committee
Opposition builds among Chicago educators to school closures and signs of another CTU sellout contract
Teacher anger over paltry raises and the closure of Acero schools is reaching a boiling point.
•Joe Raymond
Parents and teachers protest closure of Acero charter schools in Chicago: “2,000 of our students will be displaced”
Parents at Fuentes Elementary organized a demonstration to protest the closure of their children’s school. Acero, the charter network, is closing seven schools this year, impacting 2,000 students and 250 jobs in primarily working class communities.
•Kristina Betinis, George Marlowe, Joe Raymond
Stop Acero’s school closures in Chicago! For a unified struggle of teachers and workers against all budget cuts and school closures!
The closures at Acero are just the beginning in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools faces a $1 billion budgetary shortfall for this year and next.
•Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Committee
“An act of social arson”
Chicago charter operator Acero to close seven schools heralding future attacks on CPS
The announcement by the Acero board of the closure of seven charter schools heralds future attacks on schools which must be opposed by rank-and-file teachers.
•Joe Raymond, Alexander Fangmann
The Political issues in the Fight to Defend Public Education in the US: A new pamphlet from Mehring Books
The Biden/Harris administration’s decision to end schools’ federal COVID funding relief and prioritize war spending has created a massive fiscal cliff across the US. Class battles over the right to public education are set to occur, but require a new political perspective and the formation of independent rank-and-file committees of educators, parents and students.
•Nancy Hanover
Mass school closures revealed as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson works with CTU to suppress opposition
CEO Pedro Martinez has refused to resign and his position has become a flashpoint for divisions in the ruling class over how to handle the district’s upcoming fiscal cliff and suppress the wage demands of teachers and other educators.
•Alexander Fangmann, Joe Raymond
As teachers start the school year with no contract
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson demands “sacrifices” to pay for $1.2 billion school budget gap
The Democratic Party is overseeing a historic assault on public education in the nation’s third largest school district.
•Kristina Betinis
Chicago Teachers Union uses “public bargaining” charade as cover for austerity contract
The “talks” are dragging out in order to conceal from teachers the fact that massive cuts are on the way to close a $500 million deficit.
•Alexander Fangmann, Joe Raymond
Billionaire Illinois governor Pritzker refuses extra funding for Chicago schools, setting stage for huge cuts
Chicago Mayor Johnson and Chicago Teachers Union leaders had called for the state to increase funding, knowing full well it would not, in order to give themselves cover for the next sellout teachers contract.
•Alexander Fangmann, Joe Raymond
Chicago teachers: Organize rank-and-file committees to fight another sellout contract!
Behind closed doors, a conspiracy is being hatched against 25,000 Chicago school teachers. The Chicago Teachers Union is working with the city administration of Brandon Johnson to impose cuts in a new contract and block a strike during a politically explosive election year.
•Educators Rank-and-File Committee
Chicago Teachers Union keeps educators in the dark during talks to impose new sellout contract: “I can’t keep up with inflation”
The union and Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson hope to avoid the possibility of over 25,000 Chicago teachers on strike during the convention.
•Alexander Fangmann
As contract expiration nears, Chicago teachers need a strategy to defeat another sellout
Rank-and-file committees must form the basis for teachers to link up with the growing movement against war, and with other educators facing massive cuts to school budgets.
•Alexander Fangmann
Chicago Public Schools kept open without power, heat or running water during snowstorm and bitter cold
Teachers directed their anger at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, formerly a county commissioner and lobbyist for the Chicago Teachers Union.
•Joe Raymond
Chicago Teachers Union scuttles strike at ChiArts High School and helps keep students and teachers in sweltering classrooms during a dangerous heatwave
Both the ChiArts agreement and the decision to force students into schools during a dangerous heatwave underscore the need for teachers to build the Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Committee to take control over negotiations and safety out of the hands of union officials.
•Joe Raymond
“It just takes the weakest link in the chain to break the whole system”
New York City teacher speaks out following announcement of sellout contract ratification
The World Socialist Web Site spoke with a New York City teacher, who details the impact of the just-ratified agreement.
•Jesse Thomas
10 years since the Chicago school closings: The legacy of the CTU’s CORE faction
The real legacy of CORE is the continued decimation of public education, highlighted by the closure of 50 schools following the defeat of the 2012 teachers strike, with this June marking the 10-year anniversary of those closures.
•Alexander Fangmann