Chicago Teachers Lose Lawsuit

It looks like even tenure is not going to be enough to save schoolteachers from layoffs in the city of Chicago. Some of you may recall that back in 2010 hundred of teachers who have gained tenure were laid off because of serious budget problems. Some of you may also recall that the Chicago Public Schools teachers who were laid off decided to fight back by suing the school district in order to get their jobs back. Recently, these suits were brought to a head and the Illinois Supreme Court made its ruling last Friday.  The Illinois Supreme Court come to a decision that the teachers and other employees do not have the right be get their jobs back.

Other teachers who have been laid off have the right to be rehired by the school district, these teachers will not have the right to a preferential re-hiring. The decision was made not on the basis of the union contract, but instead on the basis of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. That act gives school principals in the city of Chicago a great deal of freedom to hire or get rid of staff.

A lawyer for the Chicago Public Schools told the following to a reporter for the South Town Star about the decision, “The Illinois Supreme Court in this decision essentially upheld the right of (a CPS) principal to decide who is going to fill a vacancy.’’ Of course, the union sees things in a different light. Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union told the following to the same reporter about the ruling,  She said that it, “amplifies Chicago’s separate and unequal practices.” The union has voiced a desire to dispute the ruling. At the current moment nothing has been filed, currently they are looking for the best way to dispute them.

So, it looks like the decision my not be final, if the union can find a way to dispute it and win.

Of course Chicago is not alone in its budget issues. Many cities have been dealing with budget cuts in order to deal with a tight wallet. Here is a look at some of our earlier coverage of the cuts to education jobs.

“It looks like even more bad news is coming to the Philadelphia school system, and that is really the last thing that they needed, as the school system has taken several hits in the recent past.

The current problem is that the city’s school district is in even more debt that they through that they were. A botched budget means that 2,700 service employee members have been given their layoff notices, in order to trim down $61 million from its budget by the beginning of June.

Union President George Richezza told the following toe a reporter for My Fox Philly about the situation, “We are the pulse of the school district. Nothing moves within a school district on the educational side unless we do our jobs – our bus attendants, our drivers pick up children…Every child that goes to school in a public school has a clean, safe, healthy environment that get there, and make sure when they do get there, that the educational process does not stall.”

It is estimated that about 500 workers will not get their scheduled raises this year; they are also being forced to take on furlough days and pay a greater share of their own health care.

In addition any worker who has a salary that is greater than $75,000 will be forced to take a pay cut.”