CHICAGO
(Reuters) - Chicago public school teachers
began voting on Tuesday on whether to ratify an agreement with Mayor
Rahm Emanuel that
suspended a strike in the third-largest U.S. school district.
The Chicago
Teachers Union has
urged its 29,000 members to ratify the proposed contract, which calls for an
average 17.6 percent pay raise for teachers over four years and some
improvements in benefits.
Union
President Karen Lewis declined
to say whether members would ratify the deal. "I don't have a crystal
ball," she said.
Approval of
the deal, by a simple majority vote, would officially end the teachers' strike,
which was suspended on September 18 after seven school days.
However, the
deal could be costly to the school district and the financial consequences
already are being felt.
Fitch
Ratings downgraded the Chicago Board of Education's debt
rating, citing the school system's increased budget pressures in the wake of a
tentative agreement. This followed a downgrade by Moody's Investors Services
last week and could mean the district pays higher interest rates on any debt
issues.
In a
statement responding to Fitch, the school district said it sees a $3 billion
deficit over the next three fiscal years.
"Chicago
Public Schools is facing both an educational and financial crisis after years
of revenue losses and misplaced priorities," it said.
The pay
increases would cost an extra $74 million a year, it said. Chicago
teachers make an average
of about $76,000 annually, according to the school district.
Kristine
Mayle, the union's financial secretary, said voting would take place before and
after classes on Tuesday at more than 600 schools and other facilities across
the city. Results are expected late Wednesday night or Thursday morning, she
said.
"We
have couriers going out to pick up the materials and we'll be counting as fast
as they bring them (votes) back to us," Mayle said.
Teachers are
expected to ratify the deal, Mayle said. Last month, about 800 union delegates
overwhelmingly decided to suspend the strike after reviewing the contract.
U.S. Education
Secretary Arne Duncan, a former chief executive of
Chicago Public Schools, said both sides won in the agreement. "Despite the
tough acrimony, at the end of the day they got to a contract that I think was
very fair," he told reporters in Washington.
The strike
placed Duncan and President Barack Obama in a tough spot because it pitted
Emanuel, Obama's former White House chief of staff, against a major labor union
that supports Obama.
CULMINATION
OF LONG SHOWDOWN
The
teachers' walkout on September 10, which canceled classes for 350,000 students,
was the culmination of a long showdown with Emanuel, who had pushed for
sweeping education reforms.
The strike was
the first by Chicago teachers in 25 years and focused attention on a national
debate over how to improve failing schools.
Emanuel,
backed by a powerful reform movement, believes poorly performing schools should
be closed and that parents should have more choices among public
schools, including "charter" schools that often are non-union
and run by private groups.
Union leader
Lewis spoke in front of Dyett High School, on the city's south side, which was
slated for closure and criticized the district for not listening to the
community.
"It was
clear that when this school was put on the hit list that the voices of the
community and the parents and the children were not heard - or were heard and
ignored - which is, I think, even worse," Lewis said.
Dyett, which
has fewer than 200 students, has been on probation for seven years, according
to the district, and fewer than 10 percent of its juniors met state standards
in a two-day standardized test taken by all high school juniors in Illinois.
Teachers
want more resources put into neighborhood public schools to help them succeed.
They say many of their students live in poor and crime-ridden areas and this
affects their learning. More than 80 percent of public
school students
qualify for free meals based on low family incomes.
Emanuel
secured a new teacher evaluation system based in part on student standardized
test scores, but he compromised on the weight given to the test scores. He also
got new flexibility for principals to hire teachers.
Teachers won
some job security for colleagues laid off when schools are closed. Union
teachers will be the first hired when the district adds teachers.
In
downgrading the Chicago Board of Education's debt last week, Moody's said other
contributing factors included district plans to spend its reserves to fund
operations in fiscal 2013, an "impending spike" in pension payments
for retired teachers and continued delays in securing state aid.
(Additional
reporting by Susan Heavey and Karen Pierog; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing
by Greg McCune and Christopher Wilson)
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