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Friday, June 17, 2011

Teachers Union Facing Crucial Decisions - Chicago News Cooperative

Teachers Union Facing Crucial Decisions - Chicago News Cooperative

Teachers Union Facing Crucial Decisions

Teachers Union Facing Crucial Decisions
Jose More
Hundreds of teachers, union employees and community organizations marched in protest of big business.

The newly seated Chicago Board of Education may have won the first battle with Chicago teachers this week when it rescinded a 4 percent pay raise, but it may also have ended a relatively peaceful era in labor relations and created a more pugnacious adversary.

The Chicago Teachers Union has absorbed a number of recent setbacks. On Monday, a sweeping education bill that reformed teacher tenure and limited teachers’ ability to strike was signed into law. And on Wednesday, the board unanimously nullified raises that would have cost nearly $100 million.