Longer School Day Deal Reached Between Chicago Public Schools And Teachers Union (VIDEO)

Updated story

After a very long, public battle, the Chicago Teachers Union announced Friday that they have come to an agreement with the mayor's office and Chicago Public Schools on the length of Chicago's school day.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office says she met recently with the CTU and city officials, responding to a complaint the union filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board voicing their concerns about extending the school day without increasing pay for teachers, Fox Chicago reports. The union filed its second complaint this week, alleging an exam that screens applicants was being used to filter out potential hires who would object to extending the school day.

The CTU had previously filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the city for financially incentivizing teachers and schools to neglect their negotiated contracts and adopt the longer school day, which had led 13 schools to abandon the union and agree to a longer day. Madigan, who represented the union, was prepared to file an injunction, but NBC Chicago reports that an agreement was reached between both parties and the CTU will drop its lawsuit.

The mayor's office and CPS have reportedly agreed to stop courting schools for early implementation of the longer day and instead focus on using those 13 schools to see what works and what doesn't, NBC Chicago reports.

"I think it's a huge victory for us and a huge victory for the students," Lewis said Friday, according to NBC Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel had been working with CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard to advocate for a 90 minute extension to the school day without raising teacher pay, but CTU President Karen Lewis accused the mayor and CPS of leaving teachers out of the conversation. Both parties hope the deal can lead to a better classroom experience for Chicago kids.

"A dispute over the decision of these schools to spend 90 more minutes in the classroom would have accomplished nothing for our children," Emanuel said in a statement. "We must focus our efforts on the classroom – not the courtroom. As we make plans for all schools to begin a longer school day next year, collaboration between leaders of CPS and CTU will become even more important to the success of our students in the classroom and in the workforce for the future. Above all, our students must come first."

Comments

[UNLVGOP]

04:49 AM on 11/07/2011

Why don't we focus on the quality of our education rather than the quantity?

Investing more/less money, spending more/less time in the classroom is not going to lead to any changes in our crappy school systems.

We need to consider major changes to how we educate people first, then discuss the other stuff. Paying teachers more doesn't change anything. All that does is bring in more teachers...but what if training is a problem....you'll just have more bad teachers. Let's double our funding...but what if your resources aren't being used efficiently right now? It's just going to get worse and you might be able to achieve more with less.

It's just a mess.

[ian0000]

10:44 PM on 11/06/2011

why do americans love their short school day and year. in australia we have no study hall, no gym , no health , just 8 40 min periods on core subjects every day for 205 days a year.this is the same for all asian and european schools, yet all you here about this in america is that lengthening the school day and year will have no positive effect , like somehow americans know more about education than asian and european countries.

[UNLVGOP]

04:53 AM on 11/07/2011

Lengthening the day and year doesn't automatically lead to positive results. What if they're in a classroom with a bad teacher? What if resources aren't being used correctly and more money is pumped and wasted in the system?

[mrskorn]

10:27 PM on 11/06/2011

Kids will be hungry, need to use the bathroom and just basically tired with the extra 90 minutes. Won't help at all. Just another stupid reform that is created by someone who knows nothing about teaching and learning.

[Debbie Benjamin-Koller]

10:41 AM on 11/06/2011

Just adding 90 minutes to the day doesn't improve education. It is actually the quality of the education you provide. I like the analogy I have heard where you could have a good three hour movie like Ghandi or Schindler's List, or you could end up with King Kong or Big Momma's house 2. Quality over quantity needs to be the focus. Plus if you look at the recent Raise Your Hand survey of parents over 80 percent of parents would rather have a 6.5 hour day rather than a7.5 day. , Chicago needs to stop looking at the system in one size fits all policies. Schools that are performing should have the option for adding recess and another period to make a 6.5 hour day.

Some questions for the board to consider:

Will students be up all night doing homework because they will not be getting home until after 5pm?

What will schools do about hungry children? most kids will have eaten lunch around noon or before and will be starving come 3 and 4pm.

I am a parent of 2 CPS students and would like to extend the day for recess and another period, but am concerned about my children being parented by a system that does not seem to understand them or the need for family.

[morbius]

02:26 PM on 11/06/2011

I agree. Just adding minutes to the school day does not equal more educated students. It is the quality of the teaching and adding accountability for students that matters.

[Insanity rules]

08:20 AM on 11/06/2011

Basically the government considers the schools to be all inclusive day cares for citizens from 9-5. Since we have already collected them in one centralized location let's add all the other services also along with indoctrination of whatever social policy of the week is being taught.

We spend more time in school going from classroom to classroom, taking attendance, settling the students in then in actual "learning" situations. Basically in a 50 minute classroom the students are getting 20 minutes of instruction presentation and if lucky 10 minutes work time. That's why you have homework!!!!
The demands that we are putting on our teachers and schools need to be reviewed, the thinking and process of how we educate needs to change and all we do is fuss around the edges because we won't re-evaluate our middle class thinking on education.

[morbius]

02:29 PM on 11/06/2011

I really think the Khan academy model should be given a serious look. It basically reverses the role of the classroom and homework... and I think could really work if it were done correctly.

[eceresa]

07:51 AM on 11/07/2011

While I'm usually skeptical of people who bring up the Khan academy, the model of having the kids do the reading or watch a presentation of the material at home, then doing the "homework" in school, where the teacher's there to help, that model COULD work, and very well.

Of course, it requires some buy-in from the students, and there are places where you won't get it. And it requires homes where there's an Internet connection and parents who will let the kids use it for learning, and will provide a relatively quiet place and time for them do that. You won't always get that, either.

[JFaye]

06:34 PM on 11/05/2011

The students did not win with this agreement ... status quo for CTU.

[madcityy]

01:55 PM on 11/05/2011

THE TEACHERS HAVE NO CHANCE WITH BAD PARENTING.........................

[acumenguy]

08:59 PM on 11/04/2011

The article offers scant details:
"The mayor's office and CPS have reportedly agreed to stop courting schools for early implementation of the longer day and instead focus on using those 13 schools to see what works and what doesn't,"

Does that mean the 13 schools will continue to have extended days WITHOUT paying the teachers extra? Is this a lab-rat type expeirement?
Anyone have the inside information?

[PalaceOfWisdom]

04:23 PM on 11/04/2011

"Above all, our students must come first."

What a crock. I attended a CPS and was consistently a year above grade level in reading, and two years above in math. This is like an extended jail sentence for smart kids who will simply come to associate education with tedium. It's also a huge step forward for taxpayer-funded daycare. Most of all, it is a way to condition children to spend many hours doing something they dislike, to prepare them for the 60-hour work weeks in their future.

[elgeezr]

02:18 PM on 11/04/2011

It wont make a difference. The children will still graduate semi-literate. The union grasp on the quality of education is the U.S. schools has to be destroyed. Teachers should not be unionized. History has demonstrated this fact over & over. Until the teachers become fearful of losing their jobs because of poor performance as measured by testing, nothing will change.

[eceresa]

02:57 PM on 11/04/2011

If you actually start comparing unionized schools to non-union ones, you're more likely to come to the conclusion that teachers SHOULD be unionized. But the facts get in the way of your irrational belief, so I can see why you'd like to ignore them.

[PalaceOfWisdom]

04:17 PM on 11/04/2011

Just read elgeezr's mini-bio; his/her maturity level is obvious.

[corwin]

10:20 PM on 11/04/2011

And in the parents' way. They've been tricked by the Smart People to think their kids deserve an education.It's plain to see the CPS teachers can't even afford enough to eat.

[multiplicity2]

08:52 PM on 11/04/2011

Are you a teacher? Do you have any idea what the life of a teacher is like?

[Mafdet]

12:48 PM on 11/05/2011

Do you have any idea what the life of a barber, a waiter, a lawyer and accountant is like? Let me tell you: We use all of our suplemental income on augmenting our children's poor public school education. We work more than 35 hours weeks to do that. We work more than 9 months out of the year to do that. We often work more than one job to do that. But please, tell us what the life of a teacher is like.