Brizard should give up 4% of pay
June 24, 2011 10:16:00
During a radio interview recently, new Chicago Public Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard suggested his $250,000 salary was actually quite low and that he needs this lofty pay because he has “a family to feed” and he has to “be able to pay the mortgage.”
I wonder if he considered the children and mortgages of the 1,200 teachers who were laid off and the expenses all CPS teachers face when he revoked their negotiated salary increases.
I hope Brizard will at least lead by example and return 4 percent or $10,000 dollars of his own salary.
We know it would be tough to run a household on only $240,000 but we all have to sacrifice to balance the CPS budget!
Chris Salus, Edison Park
while I believe the decision to recind the 4% pay increases for chicago public school teachers was made by the CPD Board of Directors, and not Brizzard, I do believe he could lead by example in this case.
ReplyDeleteWhat really irks me about taking away the 4% pay increase/cost of living is the fact that the CPS Board of Directors squandered and wasted $880,000 on parties, trips, travel, gifts, etc... and no one had to pay it back. No accountability at all.
Lastly, why isn't there a union member on CPS Board of Directors?
omg- I love this letter. I hope Chris is a CPS teacher who instills this type of actionism/activism in his/her students. 4% pay halt needs to be across the board and to include CPS admin!
ReplyDeleteWhy are teachers all of a sudden in the cross hairs?
ReplyDeleteSpot on. Let's see some real leadership.
ReplyDeletemost large urban school boards and european school boards have union representation on them. Chicago went from one dictator (Daley) to another(Rahm).. The city council should show some spine/backbone and push through legislation stating that there must be a union rep on the school board. The teachers matter. And, if you aren't going to pay them what they are worth, at least value their expertese!
ReplyDeleteI'm a CPS teacher and I sincerely hope the new alderman will speak up for CPS teachers in this crisis. I don't mind longer school days, home visits etc, because I do believe these things benefit the children. But I do expect a basic cost of living raise because it has gotten very expensive to live in Chicago and I am required to! My property taxes have gone up, parking has gone up, gas etc... lets get real and give CPS teachers what was contractually promised.
ReplyDeleteHow come the CPS budget hasn't been made public?
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear from our new alderman on this issue. Throughout the campaign she promised to be the voice for the 41st on education - and I believed her. This is a very serious issue. It greatly effects teachers that have been teaching for over 15 years, what they are trying to do overall is push experience teachers out. Most of the teachers in the 41st are experienced teachers with master degrees and national board certification - they cost more so Rahm wants them to go. Our schools are very good - if we see a change over like they are pushing for, all that we have accomplished will be at risk. We NEED experienced teachers. I am a teacher in the 41st. I LOVE working here. It's not so much about the 4%, it's the bigger picture that is not being reported. It has not been mentioned once that the cost of the teachers benefits have gone way up. Also, teachers that are receiving lane change raises do so because they have completed on going college education that they must pay out of pocket for - it's the only way to really make more money. The teachers that are making $70,000 have gone back to school, and have been working for years. They have earned it. Teachers are not in the profession for the money! We NEED an experienced educator on the board. I hope that O'Connor speaks up to Rahm Emanuel! We will be paying attention.
ReplyDeleteYou won't hear anything of any substance from our alderman it is business as usual in the 41st ward. Just a different group of Irish getting all the perks. I want to know why Devon Ave was done 3 years ago and now redone again? Does the queen want it to look nice in front of her business?
ReplyDeleteMeet the new CPS board members
ReplyDeleteApril 18, 2011
Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel tapped a new team to lead the embattled Chicago Public Schools on Monday, including seven new members to fill the Chicago Board of Education. The stewards of the nation's third-largest school system include:
David Vitale: A CPS parent and Harvard University graduate, he is the executive chairman of Urban Partnership Bank, which was created in the aftermath of ShoreBank, a South Side community lender that failed last year. Vitale also chairs the Academy of Urban School Leadership board. He served as chief administrative officer for the city school system under CEO Arne Duncan. Vitale will serve as board president.
Jesse Ruiz: The Illinois State Board of Education chairman plans to step down from his state post in May as he takes on his new position as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education. A Chicago attorney, Ruiz also serves on the U.S. Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission.
Henry Bienen: A political scientist and author, Bienen served as Northwestern University president from 1995 until 2009, one of the Evanston institution's longest-serving stewards.
Mahalia Hines: The veteran educator worked as a CPS principal and teacher for more than three decades. She now works with her son, Common — a hip-hop artist from the South Side — in the Common Ground Foundation.
Penny Pritzker: A businesswoman and philanthropist, Pritzker supports public schools as board chair of the Chicago Public Education Fund and co-director of the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation, which invests in education and health for city children. She served as national finance chairwoman of President Barack Obama's 2008 presidential bid.
Rod Sierra: A parent of three CPS students, Sierra is the chief marketing officer of Johnson Publishing Co. and a former deputy press secretary to Mayor Richard Daley.
Andrea Zopp: The president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League also is a CPS parent and a former local school council member of Clissold Elementary School on the Far South Side. She previously served as general counsel for companies including Exelon Corp. and Sears Holdings Corp.
Source: Rahm Emanuel's transition team
Rahm wants to:
ReplyDelete1. Bust the Chicago Teacher's Union
2. Invest only in Charter Schools.
3. Get rid of costlier experienced teachers
4. Continue with political appointees for the Chicago School Board
We need an elected school board
ReplyDeleteI agree with the CPS teachers who have commented. If I were a new teacher right out of school, NO WAY would I look at CPS system to work in - pay uncertain, few experienced teachers for mentoring purposes, and a school board that lacks professional teaching experience. Who needs those headaches.
ReplyDelete1000 teachers laid off this week due to school closings and declining enrollment. This has been all over the news,but no one provides the actual numbers.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is my kids school is filled to the rafters and classes are conducted in the hallways,the stairs, the library, the gym and other non-classroom areas because the school is busting at the seams with students. Maybe CPS should re-allocate or re-distribute teachers based on school needs.
On the Northwest side, we have great schools, just not enought space and teachers! Send the teachers over here!
Why is the local media not questioning Rahm's decision to send his children to exclusive private schools? Yesterday the national media widely reported New Jersey Gov. Christies response when a parent asked why he cut funding to her childs' school system, while sending his own children to private schools. Christie growled that it was "none of her business."
ReplyDeleteRahm also defunds CPS when he allows charter schools to open. Rahm seemed to take great joy denying CTU teachers their contractually mandated pay raises. Rahm is Christies' skinny clone.
Anonymous
I would love to try and survive on 250,000.00 a year
ReplyDelete