Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012
It’s poised to match the length of Chicago’s famous 2012 public school teacher strike.
It’s quickly become the longest charter teacher strike ever.
And there’s no end in sight.
Wrapping up the sixth day of picketing at four campuses across the city, Chicago International Charter School teachers marched to the Loop office of Kwame Raoul Tuesday afternoon to urge the Illinois attorney general to investigate the charter network’s finances.
“Six days. We are beyond offended at the need for us to continue to get up every single morning, [in temperatures] below freezing, on a picket line, because we’re asking for enforceable class-size limits. Because we’re asking for counselors. They should be ashamed of themselves,” Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said.
“The end is in sight when [CICS CEO] Elizabeth Shaw takes a seat at the table.”
CTU VIce President Stacy Davis Gates speaks Tuesday at a rally outside the Thompson Center. | Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times
CTU leaders accuse the CICS management firm Civitas Education Partners and its web of three subsidiary organizations of siphoning off $36 million in public money to line executives’ pockets instead of bringing teacher salaries up to scale with their Chicago Public Schools counterparts.
The charter operator has defended their reserve funds as fiscally responsible and insist teacher evaluations and compensation are the sticking points holding up a deal, despite the operator’s offer CONTINUE READING: Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012 | Chicago Sun-Times