Governor Rauner vetoed a $215 million payment to CPS earmarked for earned pensions.
The Mayor through his surrogate CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has threatened to close schools two weeks early and called four furlough days costing students valuable instructional time and a ten percent cut in pay for teachers.
The Chicago Teachers Union has responded by considering a one-day strike on May 1st and calling on teachers to work to their contract time and not a minute more.
Teachers work an average of 58 hours per week during the school year, according to a 2012 study conducted by Professor Robert Bruno of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
That includes nine hours per day at school on average — even though students are in session for no more than seven hours — and two hours at home during the evening, according to the study.
On weekends, teachers spend an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes on work, and 12 days during schools’ summer break, according to the study.
American schools are funded in large part by the free time of teachers working off the clock and by our out of pocket spending for books and supplies.
Teachers are professionals but tactics of @CTULocal1 undermine their own members. Fight the real enemy: @GovRauner https://t.co/8i0V8GUHCC
— Peter Cunningham (@PCunningham57) March 14, 2017
Who is the real enemy Peter? Rauner or Rahm? It is a Hobson’s Choice.
A personal memory: When our Park Ridge teachers union was engaged in difficult bargaining we too asked our members to work their contractual hours. It was the hardest thing they had to do. We would gather in the parking lot before school with coffee and muffins from Costco or Jewel and at the exact moment our contractual day began we all walked in together.
At the end of the day a bunch of us would walk through the halls and stop in on classrooms to remind colleagues it was time to go.
It was tough on folks. Some were nearly in tears.
Solidarity can be tough sometimes.
But solidarity is what we had.
And that year a strike was avoided.
Management installed the punch clocks. They bargained the contractual hours.
It always struck me odd that when we talked about being treated as professionals, they pointed to the contract and when we pointed to the contract they said we should act like professionals.
Download the podcast. Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers.
Fred Klonsky 
You’ve had some great posts over the years Fred and as of today I think this one is my favorite. It will be a great share with my colleagues as we head into our work to rule campaign.
I’m considering getting a poster made with this quote:
“It always struck me odd that when we talked about being treated as professionals, they pointed to the contract and when we pointed to the contract they said we should act like professionals.”
What is odd is that the public is told teachers are salaried employees. But the paycheck shows we are hourly employees.
Yes. And not only are teachers hourly employees, they are per diem employees. No paid holidays and no paid vacations.