By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

CHICAGO – The so-called teachers of Chicago may be 10 days away from abandoning the students they claim they care so much about.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis plans to file a 10-day strike notice with the district today, according to a story published by the Chicago Tribune. That means a strike could begin just a week after students start the new academic year.

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What a sick, self-centered thing to do, but how typical of the radical CTU.

A strike has seemed inevitable for months, since the CTU asked for an outrageous 30 percent pay raise for teachers in a district with a budget deficit approaching $1 billion. The union later rejected a fact-finder’s recommendation for a still absurdly large 18 percent raise.

While union contract negotiations continue, the two sides remain far apart on a number of items, including salary, raises based on experience, a re-hiring policy for laid off teachers and performance evaluations, according to the Tribune.

The union originally sought a raise based on the district’s insistence on increasing the length of the school day. The district finally agreed to recall more than 400 laid off teachers to help staff the schools, so the current teachers wouldn’t have to put in any more time in the classroom.

But the union is still not happy.  Its leaders appear intent on walking out, no matter how accommodating the district tries to be.

Ironically, the strike may prove to be a black eye for the union-loving Democratic Party during its convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mike Klonsky, a retired Illinois teacher and Marxist blogger, reports that “the Democrats’ convention … could very well take place against the backdrop of raging union battles in the streets of Democrat-run Chicago.”

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Klonsky also writes that some strikers may take their protest all the way to Charlotte during the convention, where Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is scheduled to speak.

If the teachers walk out, it could be a long time before they return, according to Klonsky.

“From my vantage point, it’s clear that the union has enough support from its teachers and well as from many parents and community activists who are already organizing in support of the teachers and options for their own children in the event of a strike, to sustain a long strike if necessary,” Klonsky wrote.

We believe Illinois law should be altered so that teacher strikes are illegal and any teacher who walks out is automatically fired.

Chicago Public Schools exist to educate children, period. Those children need teachers who will be there when school starts every day, without exception. Collective bargaining is for factory workers.

If the teachers of Chicago want to be considered professional educators, they will be at work when they’re supposed to. If they walk out, it’s further proof that there’s nothing professional about them at all.