Chicago: TEACHERS on STRIKE !

As IF matters are not BAD ENOUGH in Chicago with all the dozens of GANG shootings EVERY SINGLE WEEK (the highest number of any city on earth) ..

... now the Chicago Public School teachers have walked out on 350,000 childern in a huge mega STRIKE.

Which means that GANG crimes will mulitiply with so many VIOLENT TEENS not in school .. and OUT on the STREETS with nothing to do but to make LOTS more TROUBLE.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...0000-students-as-chicago-teachers-strike?lite

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/10/us/illinois-chicago-teachers-strike/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/09/cps-teachers-still-engaged-in-intense-talks-to-avoid-strike/

Why are teachers protesting?

Money what else. It happens all over the US. very convenient to do it right before school starts taking kids hostage for their demands... Although US teachers are definitely underpaid. They should change the whole system and minimize administration. A good chunk of public funds are in paying administrators and not the teachers fairly. Whereas in Europe, I saw a program that compared how administration heavy the US is compared to Europe/rest of the world.

What's the monthly salaray for a teacher in Chicagoland?

Their average annual salary is about $75K (not including benefits). They were offered a 16% increase but they are protesting the new teacher performance measures and longer school days and a longer school year.

A teacher in Bulgaria earns $300 a month. That's $3,600 a year. What are these people protesting for the world has gone insane.

Wow I didn't know the average has gone up to 75K. Crazy! Last I heard just a few years ago, the average was around 30K. They have nothing to complain about then, considering the poor economy...

Meatpie said:

A teacher in Bulgaria earns $300 a month. That's $3,600 a year. What are these people protesting for the world has gone insane.

Click to expand...

Hiya Pie and all yous guys ...

Straight here from Chicago, the facts.

Here's info on how much Chicago Public school teachers make ...

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/06/12/how-much-do-chicago-public-school-teachers-make/

Here's info on the key issues why Chicago Public school teachers are striking ...

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/10/chicago-teachers-strike-key-issues/

Day THREE now of the strike. What do yous guys think?

Fire them all and hire the unemployed qualified teachers who would KILL to get salaries like that!

Looks like it's over. The teachers will get a 16% raise over the next 4 years (plus 2% cost of living increase every year) and the new teacher evaluation plan has been punted. A new plan will be developed with input from both the teachers and the school board. All in all, looks like the teachers won more than they lost.

When the economy is bad, and most everyone is taking a pay cut on much lower salaries than those listed above, there is less and less sympathy for these teachers who always use the tactic of going on strike and taking kids hostage just before school starts

Teachers don't get social security. that comes from their pension, which the state and the city have been taking a break at paying. Schools are now being closed with teachers close to retirement who WONT get their pensions because of that issue. Schools are being sold off and reopened as business owned charter schools. Like many things in the state being sold off to private business. Oddly enough, our taxes haven't decreased, but have gone up. BY the way the teachers have had to fight for everything they've gotten, and that contract was ILLEGALLY thrown out before negotiations even started, meaning the teachers not only got screwed, but ended up with LESS than they had before the strike started. Even taking the whole political strike situation off the board. Lets toss another question out there. Charter schools are run by a business. and a business' first priority is to make a profit. Public schools in Chicago are already receiving the kids the charter schools reject.

A few hundred years ago, only the rich and the clergy were educated. What will be the excuse when people have no choice but to pay for school. Parents will now have to save tuition, and possibly even go into debt to send their kids to a "good" high school. I don't think a business should decide whats profitable for my children to learn.

Deadliest city in the US

For those of you who think all there is to teaching is standing in a classroom lecturing and getting 2 months off, Just a little perspective. Teaching is 12+ hrs a day for ten months straight, (who do you think GRADES 150 assignments a day?) and teachers DON'T get paid for those 2 months. As for the 75K, the only way to get a pay raise is to SPEND the money on classes to upgrade your degree (many CPS teachers have master's degrees) and KEEP your teaching credentials. This is a CPS requirement, something the cheaper, money-hungry charter schools don't seem to make an issue of. CPS teachers are required to teach everyone. Charter schools can kick the problem students out and hand them over to the public schools without handing over the voucher money that came with them. The CPS teachers don't fight their battles in the press, which is also why you don't hear the counter-arguments while the papers, controlled by the city spend columns besmirching the people who teach, council and hold the hand of every child who comes their way.

The charter schools treat teaching as a job, CPS teachers treat it as a calling and they've gotten stomped for their work. The reason Chicago is closing public schools is to get out of their obligation of paying into the teacher's retirement fund which they've been neglecting for more than a decade. Imagine what would happen if you could just kill off master card and end your debt?

Keep in mind, everything you are today began with a teacher. Now imagine what you'd be if that teacher said he or she didn't have time for you because it was "quitting time"

American teachers seem to have little to complain about compared with their u.k.counterparts. Here the salaries are far less, an experienced teacher probably lucky to get £30k, the hours equally excessive, and political interference goes with the job. And annual pay increases limited to 1%