Rahm's school budget assault
Facing a contract showdown with teachers, Chicago school officials announced a budget that targets the CTU while draining schools of resources, reports .
FACED WITH demands for a pay increase for teachers and a call to fully fund its planned longer school day, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officialsresponded with a budget that calls for educators to work longer for less, funnels money from neighborhood schools to charters, and includes no money for the major increase in the school day.
"It's a war budget," one official at the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) said of the proposal.
Claiming it is facing a $665 million deficit, CPS has budgeted for a 2 percent pay raise for teachers who will be forced to work 20 percent longer with the extended school day--even as the teachers union calls for restoration of a canceled 4 percent raise plus additional compensation for more time in the classroom. The budget also cancels scheduled individual teacher raises tied to seniority
