Chicago schools battle closely studied across country
by Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah and Joel Hood
Chicago Tribune
June 1, 2012
Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s star power within the Democratic Party has put a national spotlight on the fight over the future of public schools in Chicago and attracted support from education reform groups eager to see how much change can be effected in a pro-labor city.
“The headlines from Chicago are emailed around to mayors and policymakers every morning,” said Joe Williams, head of Washington,D.C.-based Democrats for Education Reform, a group started by Wall Street hedge fund managers. “I think people want to see what’s possible, both politically and on the ground in schools and in communities.”
Democrats for Education Reform and another major education organization, Oregon-based Stand for Children, have each established themselves in Chicago and are working to build backing for Emanuel’s education agenda.
Last year, Stand for Children raised nearly $3.5 million to drive through groundbreaking education reform legislation in Illinois. Now, the group is using sophisticated telemarketing techniques and advertising to build a strong base of parental support for many of the changes sought by Chicago Public Schools.
Democrats for Education Reform came to town about four months ago to convince Democratic politicians to get behind educational reform, even if it runs counter to their traditional allegiance to labor.
The two reform groups are playing a role in an increasingly heated fray, and last week held a joint news conference to lambaste the Chicago Teachers Union for threatening a strike while talks are ongoing. The same day, 5,000 teachers rallied in and around the Auditorium Theatre, shouting “fight” and “strike” and booing every mention of Emanuel before taking to the streets in a march led by CTU President Karen Lewis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
While a Tribune/WGN poll released last month showed a majority of Chicago voters, especially CPS parents, side with the union over the mayor on overall attempts to improve education, the union’s organized opposition is formidable.
Stand for Children’s local efforts are being bankrolled by wealthy and politically powerful Chicagoans, many of whom have influence within the district. For example, Bruce Rauner, a venture capitalist who played a key role in bringing Stand for Children to Chicago, met with CPS officials 13 times over nine months as new chief Jean-Claude Brizard‘s team was shaping policy, CPS records show.
Efforts to advance the growth of charter schools or attack teacher tenure have gone further in other cities, but what draws national interest to Chicago is that the moves are being led by Emanuel, President Barack Obama‘s former chief of staff, education experts said.
“The mayor’s candid disdain for the current teacher union contracts is attractive to most reformers, and they equate tough talk with tough action,” said Jeanne Allen, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform.
“He’s been clear that notions like ironclad tenure and seniority should not be a proxy for a teacher’s performance,” Allen said. “Obviously the unions around the country don’t want to believe one of their own has turned on them and might actually challenge their power.”
Stand for Children, which claims to have a roster of more than 4,300 parents backing its agenda, hosted telephonic town hall meetings with Brizard in January and March. Organizers said more than 13,000 people participated.
Both groups are using petitions, advertising and articles in newspaper op-ed pages to push their proposals.
The CTU isn’t without allies as it fights to hold on to gains from years past regarding class size, pay and benefits. For the union, as for the reformers, Emanuel’s ties to Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan give the struggle national significance. The CTU’s rally last week was attended by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Daniel Montgomery.
“Whatever (CTU President Lewis) needs, we’re going to do our best to make sure she gets it,” said Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington D.C. Teachers Union. “If she needs people, we’ll send people. If she needs bullets, we’ll send bullets.”
Officials at the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largesteducation labor union, and its state and local affiliates in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and elsewhere are watching and wondering how far a Democratic mayor will push against labor, Saunders said.
So far, the CTU has appeared significantly outmaneuvered, losing much of its leverage through state laws signed by the governor in 2010 and 2011.
With contract talks grinding along, the union recently took the first step toward a strike by requesting a three-member panel to review proposals for both sides. Lewis, who has been threatening a walkout since last summer, acknowledged the forces arrayed against the union.
“I wouldn’t consider it leveling the playing field at all,” Lewis said. “It’s not leveling the playing field because they have way more money than we ever thought about having. We don’t have money to hire 10 well-heeled lobbyists to pass that ignominious law last year in Springfield.”
