Chicago Teachers Union to teachers: Get ready for long strike

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The Chicago Teachers Union told its members on Monday to start saving money for a possible “protracted strike,” saying the union will take a test strike vote by the end of the week.

That was after Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool pushed back until after Christmas the timeline on when thousands of teachers could get pink-slips if legislators and the governor fail to serve up the $480 million still lacking in CPS’ current budget.

“We are asking teachers, paraprofessionals and clinicians in our bargaining unit to save at least 25 percent of their pay in preparation for a possible strike,” said CTU President Karen Lewis, who led her members out on an historic strike in 2012. “With the uncertainty in Springfield, the continued chaos at the Board of Education and the constant threats to our classrooms, we have to be prepared. Our families will depend on us being able to weather what could be a protracted strike.”

The struggles of Blue America! It's long past time to admit schooling by coercive financing doesn't work: certainly in big school districts.