Chicago board of education choose to continue firing teachers rather than cut waste

[Hannah Bell]

Chicago Board of Education officials, lawyers tell union 'None of your business' when CTU leaders propose finding budget waste to offset firing of teachers and increase in high school class sizes


Representatives of the Chicago Board of Education and the Board's outside labor relations counsel, attorney James Franczek, basically told Chicago Teachers Union representatives to "buzz off" when union leaders offered to find waste and fraud in the massive (roughly $7 billion) annual budget. In a heated exchange during the first day of discussions between the new leadership of the 30,000-member teachers union and the Board on July 23, 2010, the city's position became clear. Teachers and other citizens who question the Board of Education's spending priorities or identify savings that can save teachers' jobs are being told "None of your business."

According to information published on the union's website (www.ctunet.com) on the morning of July 24, 2010, the day after the unprecedented meeting, the union reported the following:


Board refuses to change direction on staff cuts, even if CTU finds waste (7-24-2010)

Yesterday's budget talks between the Board of Education and the CTU leadership with the 34-member rank-and-file negotiating team left many questions unanswered. However, the Board made one thing clear: no matter how much waste the CTU finds in the CPS budget, they don't want to hear about it. They are too invested in keeping the status quo with their non-classroom spending habits that they are willing to raise class sizes and cut off services for our students.

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1560§ion=Article



See, it's not about the money. Same thing in NYC. It's about firing teachers & busting the union. Money is the cover story.