Submitted by arlenegloria on Fri, 06/04/2010 - 21:04

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Chicago Teachers Try to Shake Up Their Union

Pictured: Karen Lewis, CORE candidate for CTU president

by Matt Muchowski

School administrators across the United States should beware.

Teachers in Chicago are leading an uprising against the the 'Chicago plan' of charter and turnaround schools, the policies that Arne Duncan created as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system and is now implementing nationwide as President Obama's Secretary of Education.

One week ago, nearly 20,000 of the Chicago Teachers Union's 30,000 members voted on new leadership. Incumbent President Marilyn Stewart and her United Progressive Caucus barely beat the militant Caucus of Rank and File (CORE) Educators. CORE did so well, in fact, that there will be a run-off election on June 11. With recent endorsements from other caucuses in the union, CORE candidates look poised to become the new leaders of the union.

The success of the rank-and-file caucus highlights a growing anger among teachers at charter schools, which use public funds but are managed by private companies and hire non-union teachers. In Chicago, some charter schools have taken over the buildings that public schools used to occupy and have been a main reason why the union has lost 6,000 members.

Please visit In These Times to Read More: http://inthesetimes.org/working/entry/6046/on_the_defensive_chicago