Pres. Obama's appointed NLRB has ruled that teachers at a Chicago charter school are now subject to private-sector labor laws, rather than state laws governing public workers.
WBEZ reports:
The ruling made by the National Labor Relations Board last month, said the Chicago Math and Science Academy is a “private entity” and therefore covered under the federal law governing the private sector. The decision overrules a vote taken by teachers last year to form a union in accordance with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. At the time, two-thirds of teachers at the school approved the union and it became official under state law.Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) describes itself as a "public charter school". But CMSA, Inc. is actually a private, nonprofit corporation established under the Illinois General Not-for-Profit Corporation Act of 1986 for the purpose of operating a charter school. CMSA's affairs are conducted by a board of directors, which selects its members, and no public officials or government entities are involved in the selection or removal of members of the board of directors.
CMSA is managed by Concept Schools, a private, NFP based in Des Plaines, Illinois connected with something called the Gulen Movement, run and financed by recluse Turkish billionaire guru, Fethullah Gulen.
Illinois charter law already prevents any Chicago teacher from joining the CTU. That's why CMSA teachers weren't allowed to join the strike by their CPS colleagues in September.
The fact is there's nothing public about CMSA other than the funding it gets from Illinois taxpayers. Another good reason for school districts and teachers to oppose that funding and expansion of privately-run charters.
Nothing public about CMSA other than the funding? What about the students and teachers there? Criticism of CMSA admin and related entities is fair, but all of us that care about public education need to always make it clear that the students and teachers that put the school in charter school are part of our public education system, and our brothers and sisters in struggling for a democratic voice in education.
ReplyDeleteI'll give Anon the benefit of the doubt regarding being concerned about CMSA teachers, even though Anon says noting in defense of their collective bargaining rights. With concerned friends like that...
ReplyDeleteI certainly never said anything negative about the Academy's teachers or staff. Quite the opposite. It's the teachers who bear the brunt of the NLRB decision, which frees the private operators from laws and rules governing public employees and their right to unionize.
I stand by my statement that there's nothing public about CSMA other than the funding it gets from us taxpayers. Its teachers are no longer considered public employees and its students no longer attend a real public school. This according to the NLRB ruling.
If Anon decides to come out in the open and discuss the matter further, I'd be happy to do so.