Teachers for UNO, the United Neighborhood Association, charter schools voted to unionize today; allowing the American Federation of Teachers' (IFT) Chicago Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS) to represent them.
Through a public information request, the Chicago Tribuneobtained Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s daily calendar between January and August of 2012. The Tribune’s focus on the hundreds of pages of documents is almost identical to the Chicago Reader, which did a two-part review of Emanuel’s public schedule between January and November of 2011. In a nutshell, the publications noted that Emanuel meets a lot with business leaders.
Emanuel’s ties with business are important given his policy record of ramming the Infrastructure Trust
through city council in April, a nebulous effort to use private money
for public projects, and expanding his own role as chairman of World Business Chicago, which coordinated the NATO summit in May.
But perusing through the calendar, available on the Tribune Web
site, reveals other elements of Emanuel’s tenure including his national
profile and approach to the Chicago Teachers Union labor dispute. Read more »
With the Chicago Teachers Union strike spilling into its second week,
Gov. Pat Quinn skipped across state lines today for a meeting of
the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association in Minneapolis. The meeting involved
Japanese business leaders “strengthening economic ties to Illinois,”
according to a press release.
Despite signing into law major
education bills integral to the labor standoff, Quinn has been on the
sidelines for the first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years. Asked last
week what the governor thought of the dispute, Quinn spokeswoman Brooke
Anderson e-mailed that, “We want the parties to negotiate in good faith
and reach a resolution quickly that puts the students first.” Read more »
In an unfolding dispute that reflects the larger issues surrounding charter schools and teachers unions in Chicago, a South Side charter, whose teachers were told their school was closing one day after they voted to unionize, will stay open for now.
At a meeting today of the Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) board, a network of 24 alternative high schools in Chicago, board members postponed a vote on a plan to close or restructure Youth Connection Leadership Academy (YCLA) in the Bronzeville neighborhood. The board pledged to hold the vote in their meeting next month. Read more »
Through a public information request, the Chicago Tribune 
With the Chicago Teachers Union strike spilling into its second week,
Gov. Pat Quinn skipped across state lines today for a meeting of
the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association in Minneapolis. The meeting involved
Japanese business leaders “strengthening economic ties to Illinois,”
according to a press release.
In an unfolding dispute that reflects the larger issues surrounding charter schools and teachers unions in Chicago, a South Side charter, whose teachers were told their school was closing one day after they voted to unionize, will stay open for now.