WHEREAS all students deserve the right to a quality public education in their neighborhood school, and
WHEREAS all students deserve smaller class sizes to receive adequate attention from teachers, and
WHEREAS all students deserve access to a broad and diverse curriculum that includes art, world languages, computer literacy, and physical education, and
WHEREAS all students deserve support including fully-staffed libraries in all schools, access to social workers, school nurses, therapists and psychologists, and
WHEREAS teachers deserve to be adequately compensated for their work, and
WHEREAS the revenue necessary to fund a quality public education can be substantially realized by reallocating resources that go to mostly non-union charter schools and other allocations which currently siphon revenue from public schools, and
WHEREAS teachers deserve protection against arbitrary dismissal and a fair recall procedure so that the talents and expertise of experienced teachers can be put to the best use serving the students of Chicago, and
WHEREAS the Chicago Board of Education, among other concessions, is demanding “merit pay” for teachers based on student test scores, despite a consensus among researchers that such scores to not reliably measure a teacher’s ability, and
WHEREAS the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is standing up for the children of Chicago and for all public employees and unions in this time of budget cutting and union busting, and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UE Local 896-COGS supports the Chicago Teachers Union in its fight to negotiate a contract that addresses all of these issues with the Chicago Board of Education.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that UE Local 896-COGS endorses local solidarity events in support of the CTU.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that COGS communicates such support to its members, including asking them to sign petitions and communicate their support for CTU and its demands to the Chicago Board of Education and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that COGS will make funds available from the 2011-2012 Labor Solidarity and Political Action budgets towards the cost of gas for those COGS members traveling to the actions in support of CTU.