The CTU overwhelming yes vote is a stinging rebuke of Rahm and Brizard. But not only them.

IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin bullied the CTU leadership. But teachers don’t like bullies.

After a weekend of unofficial reports, CTU President Karen Lewis officially announced the results Monday of the strike authorization vote taken last Wednesday through Friday.

Not only did almost 90% of the CTU members vote yes.

73% percent of the members voted yes the first day.

In spite of large sums of money spent of radio ads attacking the union along with other unfair labor practices, the Chicago teachers demonstrated as solid a front as one could expect in support of their leadership’s negotiations with the Mayor and his hand-picked CEO and school board.

Not only is this a rebuke of the Mayor, the CEO Brizard and the wealthy corporate types that fill the seats at school board meetings. It is a rebuke of some others.

Let me name them.

There’s Jonah Edelman, the too-cool-for-school head of Stand for Children. The arrogant dope came into Illinois throwing dollars around like they were candy mints to members of the Illinois legislature. He swore to an audience at an Aspen conference, caught by us on video tape, that his data had proven that no union could get more than 75% of members to vote for a strike. He was convinced that including the 75% yes threshold was the same as SB7 having no-strike language.

He was wrong. So much for his data.

Then there’s IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin and former IEA President Ken Swanson. These two sad excuses for union leadership were sent to pressure the CTU into accepting the  Edelman language. They treated the newly elected reform president of the CTU like the new kid at school. They acted like bullies, plain and simple.

Teachers don’t like bullies.

And this week Chicago teachers demonstrated that fact again.