The Chicago Teachers Union has rejected an offer made by Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard to extend the school day while offering almost no additional compensation for teachers. According to the terms of the offer, teachers would be required to work 29 percent longer throughout the year with only a 2 percent increase in pay.
Brizard described the offer as a “great compromise,” but in reality it is a continuation of an offensive against teachers by the ruling class here. Just last June, teachers were forced to give up a scheduled pay raise by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his hand-selected school board.
As CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin put it: “The board has taken away teachers’ 4 percent pay increase and then they turn around and call for a longer work day. It comes out to a 25 percent reduction in pay. That needs to be put on the table for negotiations—teachers need to be paid for the work they do.” (Chicago Tribune, Aug. 17)
Brizard was appointed by Emanuel, who has been a supporter of extending the school day and year since campaigning for office. Emanuel claims that increasing children’s time in the classroom will improve the quality of their education. CTU President Karen Lewis pointed to the absurdity of this line of thinking: “We haven’t developed a broad curriculum that allows students to start doing better. So we’re just going to have them do the same thing for longer? That is almost the definition of insanity.” (ABC Ch. 7, Chicago)
Emanuel, Brizard and others in the ruling-class establishment are attempting to force teachers to sacrifice in order to fix an educational and budgetary crisis that is rooted in the very profit-driven system they defend. Under capitalism, the rights workers have secured through struggle are always in danger of being taken away. We must join teachers in defending their right to fair compensation, while placing the blame for the state of the country’s educational system where it really belongs—on the capitalist class and its politicians.
