Niles North teachers and the Niles Township Federation of Teachers (NTFT) demonstrated their support of the Chicago Public Schools teacher strike with a “solidarity day” on Wednesday, Sept. 12.
Many teachers wore red shirts, the color of the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU). “[They] feel the need to support their teaching brothers and sisters,” Pankaj Sharma, social studies teacher and NTFT president, said. Teachers gathered before school to pose for a photo that was sent to their Chicago colleagues. Both CTU and NTFT are members of the American Federation of Teachers union.
Support went beyond wardrobe choices, however. English teacher and NTFT officer Ann Goethals has encouraged NTFT members to show their support by providing Chicago strikers with coffee and donuts and motivational words. Other teachers joined CTU rallies in the city.
Teachers, parents and city officials hope that the strike, which started Monday, Sept. 10, will end soon and that a settlement will be reached so that 350,000 Chicago public school students can return to their classrooms on Monday, Sept. 17.
Contract negotiations are occurring closer to home. Teachers in Lake Forest went on strike last week and Evanston’s District 65 ratified a new contract only days ago, at the 11th hour.
District 219 teachers (NTFT) and support staff (NTSS) have been working without a contract since the first day of school. Union representatives have been in negotiations with the D219 administration and School Board since March. Those negotiations continue, with several sessions being held this past week.
The CTU strike is also affecting Niles North students. Some athletic competitions have had to be cancelled or rescheduled since Chicago student athletes cannot currently compete. “It is kind of frustrating how our Varsity Quad had to be canceled due to the strike,” junior Irene Cho, a varsity tennis player, said. “We have been preparing for it so much.”
Despite reaching a “framework agreement” on Sept. 14, the agreement was not approved by delegates from the CTU. As the strike goes into its second week, negotiations continue with the goal of getting students back in the classroom. The earliest that could happen would be Wednesday, with a union vote slated for Tuesday afternoon. In the meantime, the city of Chicago has gone to court to seek an injunction forcing the teachers back to work. A judge will not hear the case until Wednesday morning, so its effect could be moot.
UPDATE: CTU rank and file representatives voted on Tuesday, Sept. 18, to accept the contract offered by CPS. Classes resume Wednesday, Sept. 19.
In other news, high school teachers in lake Forest have also accepted a new contract and will return to work on Wednesday.
