Teachers union confronts some crucial decisions
By Rebecca Vevea/New York Times
The newly seated Chicago Board of Education may have won the first battle with Chicago teachers this week when it rescinded a 4 percent pay raise, but it may also have ended a relatively peaceful era in labor relations and created a more pugnacious adversary. The Chicago Teachers Union has absorbed a number of recent setbacks. On Monday, a sweeping education bill that reformed teacher tenure and limited teachers’ ability to strike was signed into law. And on Wednesday, the board unanimously nullified raises that would have cost nearly $100 million. Some teachers and observers say that backing the union into a corner on wages and other key issues could be the spark to reinvigorate the membership. (more...)