Darryl Grant
Chicago Political Buzz Examiner
In the latest tug of war between Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and the city Chicago, he announced at a press conference on Tuesday that he was prepared to give state control of Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school system, and the he had directed the State Board of Education to begin looking for an interim superintendent.
Against the background of a press conference, where he announced in a change of the the Illinois procurement process, he said, “The state’s going to be ready to step in and take action.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Rauner said, “I asked our administration. I believe it’s coming. I believe a state takeover is appropriate,” also noted that, “The teachers union on Monday unanimously voted to reject a four-year contract offer, citing a lack of trust and concerns about long-term school funding. The union’s decision to reject the agreement is likely to affect Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attempts to salvage an $875 million borrowing plan announced last week.”
Drawing Mayor Rahm Emanuel into the fray, Rauner remarked, “I hope the rejection by the Chicago Teachers Union is a wake up call for the mayor and the taxpayers in Chicago and around the state. The mayor proposed an unaffordable contract. It was unaffordable. It was more kicking the can and just getting by and he was pushing off the day of reckoning and the teacher’s union still rejected that.” Observers suggest that Rauner feels that he can do a better job at the contract negotiations, than Emanuel and CPS can.
Adding to the contract rejection was an announcement from CPS chief, Forrest Claypool, who The Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday saying, that “the district will unilaterally institute a key provision in the offer and stop picking up pension contributions for teachers,” and and that further administrative cuts of by $100 million, affecting support staff, will also begin. In his letter, also dated Tuesday, Claypool states that these steps are being taken,“for the financial health of the district, and are being implemented because we no longer have a choice but to implement them.”
In swift response, the Chicago Teacher’s Union, practically within minutes of Claypool’s announcement, said that they will file an unfair labor practice complaint. And, the Tribune also reported CTU President Karen Lewis saying that “the district's moves represented its ‘latest act of war,’” and furthermore that “union members would take to the streets this week to protest.”
“We are certain everyone who works in our public schools is facing a clear and present danger,” Lewis remarked, and also said that the news from Claypool was “forcing someone to agree to a bad deal by threatening them, we're not going to be bullied.”
In an emailed statement, the CTU said, “The Governor’s fantasy that he will invade the Chicago Public School system is a distraction from the real issues facing teachers and the students they serve. Mr. Rauner is unable to maintain control of the state’s fiscal health, let alone, take over a school district with severe revenue problems of its own making.Does he plan on sending in the Illinois National Guard to teach our children, take the chalk away from teachers and prepare school lunches? His idea is ridiculous and doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Hovering in the background are the financial moves that Emanuel and CPS say must happen before further cuts, and according to Crain’s Chicago will continue “as early as tomorrow with plans to sell as much as $875 million of bonds after the deal was postponed last week by investors asking for more time to evaluate the securities. "We have good momentum with our investors," Claypool said.
On the legislative side, there are no plans, or even existing legal provisions, by the Illinois General Assembly, for a takeover of CPS and according to the local CBS affiliate, CBS Chicago, “Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan already have made it clear Rauner’s plan is going nowhere with the Democratic-controlled legislature. Cullerton said the governor’s CPS takeover plan “is not going to happen,” and Madigan said it is “not the path we want to follow in Illinois.”
The contract negotiations rejected by the larger CTU bargaining group, and not Lewis’ executive negotiating group, were based on a cited lack of trust, are not in and of itself, unknown in contract negotiations. Yet, the ensuing drama, consistent with Rauner’s anti-union stance are seen, by some, as political theater, with Lewis saying as much, in Tuesday’s news conference: “Please don’t pay any attention to the ravings of a madman because that’s what he is.”
ABOVE IS FROM; http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-chicago/darryl-grant
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