AM News: Obama Team Ducks (Illegal?) Chicago Strike

Obama Administration Refuses To Take Sides On Chicago Teachers Strike Huffington Post:  Duncan's statement comes one day after Mitt Romney began trying to turn the strike into an election topic, attempting to portray the issue as one that's tearing up Democrats from within, particularly Democrats in Chicago. 

Chicago Teachers' Strike Forces Obama To Steer Carefully Between Two Allies NPR: The Obama administration and the president's Chicago-based re-election campaign are trying to minimize the risks of offending teachers and union members by carefully navigating the tricky waters between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the striking teachers.

National Schools Debate Is on Display in Chicago NYT: One of the main sticking points in the negotiations here between the teachers union and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is a new teacher evaluation system that gives significant and increasing weight to student performance on standardized tests. Personnel decisions would be based on those evaluations. 

As Chicago Teachers Strike, Unions At A Crossroad NPR: Unions in Wisconsin challenged Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union policies and lost, while teachers successfully challenged similar laws in Ohio. But many of these policies are supported by President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other Democrats. And the American Federation of Teachers has been walking a fine line between advocating for reform and protecting traditional union positions.

Teachers’ Leader in Chicago Strike Shows Her Edge NYT: Schools officials said that more than 100 schools being staffed by nonunion workers as alternative care for children would expand their hours as of Thursday. A union representing 1,500 janitors in the schools gave notice that beginning Friday some may join the teachers’ protests and no longer cross picket lines to go to work.

Strike Issues Stuck in Gray Areas, Political Nuance TeacherBeat: What this comes down to is the tricky issue of whether the evaluation system can be contested. State rules for a 2010 law revamping teachers' evaluations required a certain percentage to be based on student achievement, but Chicago officials have sought to exceed it, to the union's displeasure.

Can teachers strike over evaluations? ‘Yes and no,’ experts say Sun Times: A key point of contention in the Chicago Public Schools teachers strike is how teachers will be evaluated. But while teachers and administrators don’t agree on how the evaluations should be done, the two sides couldn’t even agree over whether the teachers could legally walk out based on the issue.

Standing Guard Against Education Thieves at Coveted Schools NYT:  In Greenwich, Conn., as well as in other high-performing public school districts, administrators are resorting to surprise home visits and legal affidavits to ensure students live in the district.

Comments

[Sarah]

An obvious solution to students from other regions entering schools outside their district is to offer parents the opportunity to pay full tuition, outside taxpayer financing. That way, parents have choice, and the general public isn’t affected.

[Sarah]

And I’m a little appalled politicians are using the strike as political fuel. There are kids at stake, teachers’ jobs, and the best we can come up with is “see? This proves Democrats are torn from within! I would fix everything if I was in that position!”?