Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
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March 26 TSJ Teach-In on the April 1... SHUT IT DOWN! action

March 10, 2016 0 comments

Join TSJ for a Teach-In on the April 1 SHUT IT DOWN! action

Saturday March 26th from 5 to 7 pm UIC College of Education 1040 W. Harrison St. Chicago, IL  

We'll have Child Care and Refreshments 

Room 3427

Please RSVP Here

April 1 in Chicago will be a day of mass action against austerity politics, racist violence, anti-immigrant and Islamaphobic attacks, the savaging of human needs in Illinois, growing poverty, attempts to smash unions, and economic violence against the vast majority of people in our state. And, it will be a day FOR justice, redistribution of wealth, progressive revenue solutions, full funding of our schools and human needs, and racial and social justice. 

This Teach-In will address WHY Teachers for Social Justice and so many others in Chicago, from labor (e.g., CTU), education justice organizations, racial justice groups (e.g., Black Youth Project-100), community organizations (e.g., Kenwood Oakland Community Organization), economic justice groups (e.g., Fight for 15), religious progressives (e.g., ARISE-Chicago), and many others are coming together April 1 to #ShutDownChi! 
  • What are the connections between all these issues and movements and how does April 1 relate to our larger efforts to create a new world that is possible and necessary? 
  • How can you help organize in your workplace/community/school to build for April 1 and make this an historic day in Chicago as we fight for a better future? 
Come to the Teach-In to discuss and learn about these issues and their interconnections, and to help plan and organize for April 1.

For more info, email here. 

PLEASE RSVP! Especially!!! if you will need childcare! Click here


On April 1, 2016, we are asking all concerned Chicago citizens to unite in a day of action by:

• Withholding your labor
• Joining morning pickets at CPS schools
• Attending events at CSU and NEIU 
• Marching from UIC to the Downtown Rally
• Withholding your dollars
• Boycotting the Magnificent Mile
• Protesting Governor Rauner, Mayor Emanuel and billionaire Ken Griffin
• Protesting banks such as Bank of America
• Engaging in nonviolent direct action protests
• Demanding progressive taxation
• Demanding the release of the TIF surplus

Join families, students, teachers, workers, and all those who thirst for justice.

 #ShutDownChi     #FightForFunding  

RSVP to the April 1 Action and get Text Alerts!  http://fightfor15.org/s-petition/ctu-april1-rsvp/ 

Map of the day's events is here 




More than 100,000 workers in the state of Illinois are out of a contract and are bargaining directly with our adversaries—Governor Bruce Rauner, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, bankers and billionaires like Ken Griffin, who are calling for school closings, university closings, budget cuts, lower wages for workers and restrictions on collective bargaining.

Racial injustice fuels the prison industrial complex by sending poor Black and brown men and women to prison each day. Chronic disinvestment has caused poverty in the state to grow considerably. Law enforcement agencies are under federal scrutiny for the murder of unarmed people and the mentally ill. Child-care workers and low-income parents are under attack. Yet multimillion-dollar arenas, museums and millionaire condos are being built all around us.

Tax cuts for those with the highest incomes, an unfair, regressive flat-tax system, and corporate loopholes galore have put Illinois in this fiscal distress. In Chicago, the mayor refuses to renegotiate bad deals with the banks profiting off of our “broke on purpose” schools. The mayor's TIF program siphons money from schools, parks, libraries and other public needs and hands it to wealthy developers. Rahm's handpicked board of education wastes millions on excessive testing and mismanagement while they cut and cut from school budgets. Enough is enough!
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Our City, Our Schools, Our Voice

May 15, 2013 0 comments


Please sign up to march with TSJ-we will be marching on both the South and West sides. And you can march 20 minutes, or the full three days, your choice! And all TSJ marchers get a new, TSJ "activist" t-shirt that looks just like our logo w/ an orange background! Nice!

The march ends with a rally at Daley Plaza, Monday, May 20 at 4 PM!

Final West Side march route and times here; 
March starting point:
Lafayette Elementary, 2714 W Augusta Blvd.
Saturday, May 18, 10:00 AM

Final South Side march route and times here;
March starting point:
Jesse Owens Elementary Community Academy 12450 S. State
Saturday, May 18, 10:00 AM

*************************************

To help provide logistical support, please email Rebecca at the CTU. Tasks include (and some of these can be done while marching)
___Trouble shooting Floaters                    
___Marshal                         
___Communicator (media liaison)
___Chant Leader               
___Pass out Flyers/Signs              
___Registration table                     
___Food duty
___Set up/break down 
___ Driver

WE ARE ASKING PEOPLE TO CONSIDER TAKING A DAY OFF WORK ON MAY 20 TO MAKE SURE IT IS A STRONG FINISH TO THE MARCH ON A WORK DAY (Monday, May 20).
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Stop School Closings: What You Can Do!

April 16, 2013 0 comments

StudentsMarch001

TSJers: What You Can Do to Organize Against School Closings:

1) Petitions for a moratorium on school closings (attached, Spanish and English). Each sheet has room for 10 names. These are NOT online petitions, but are old-style real signatures (remember those?). Once done, they need to be delivered or faxed to CTU, or scanned and emailed (all contact info on petitions themselves). Then email us and let us know how many actual signatures you collected!! Help get as many signers as we can!

2) Go to Report Card pickup at a school near you that is affected by the closings (133 schools). Elementary schools are Wednesday, 4/17, and High Schools are Thursday, 4/18. Usually, report card pickup is 12:00 to 6:00, but check w/ the school. The best times are 12-1 and from 5-6. 
* Take the petitions (Spanish, English), ask people to sign them, and talk to parents. 
* Hand out attached fact sheet, available also at our website

3) Speak at a faith community near you (see flyer; this is an initiative to reach out to faith communities to fight the school closings).

4) Lobby in Springfield for a moratorium on school closings, and for the Elected Representative School Board. A bus is traveling to Springfield each Wednesday. CTU/GEM is working to fill it with parents and people who work at the school action schools, but others are welcome.  Please urge parents and others from closing/turnaround schools to get on the bus.  Next Wed. 4/17 there are a number of empty seats. Contact Carolyn to reserve a space.

5) Use and share the school closing curriculum-available here, created by Cyriac Mathew, Uplift HS.
  
6) Check out the calendar of events, school closing hearings, etc.

7) Attend CTU President Karen Lewis' talk at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, this Wednesday the 17th at 7pm.  

8) Keep reading your TSJ emails to stay abreast and active!
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Help Organize Against School Closings!

March 16, 2013 0 comments


Join TSJ, GEM, and CTU in organizing against school closings. 
Help us gather TSJ folks to prepare for the March 27th STOP SCHOOL CLOSINGS Rally!

On March 27th, GEM will host a rally at Daley Plaza (Clark & Washington) to demand NO SCHOOL CLOSINGS! We are meeting at 4PM! Please come out for this important action!

Sign up here to attend the rally with TSJ. Download the TSJ Rally flyer here.

In preparation for this rally, there are several ways to get involved:
1. CTU is organizing meetings in the networks, along with other GEM members (community organizations). Download a flyer here with ALL meetings and addresses. If you are interested in attending or helping to organize at/for these meetings (in particular, working w/ other TSJ members), please sign up here. The TSJ organizers below will contact you (but their emails are here so you can contact them as well). The network meetings that TSJ people will be attending are:
  • Pilsen-Little Village (Mon 3/18, 6PM); contact Rosi or Byron
  • Fulton (Tue 3/19, 6:30PM); contact Phil or Pauline
  • Lake Calumet (Wed 3/20, 4PM); contact Rosi
  • Englewood-Gresham (Wed 3/20, 4:30pm); contact Tonya
  • Pershing (Wed 3/20, 4:30pm); contact Byron or Rico
  • Rock Island (Thu 3/21, 3:30pm); contact Kelly
  • Ravenswood-Ridge (Thu 3/21, 6PM); contact Katie
2. Help TSJ phone bank our members for the March 27th NO SCHOOL CLOSINGS rally. We will be phone banking Thurs March 21, 7-9pm (location near downtown). Sign up here to phone bank.

3. Attend the ART/BANNER making party for the March 27th Rally. Hosted by Jobs with Justice, Monday and Tuesday, March 18 & 19, 6-9PM, 333 S. Ashland Ave. All are welcome!





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Sat. Jan 19th - City-wide Community Outreach to Save Our Schools

January 14, 2013 0 comments

SaveOurSchoolsRally082

Join the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), parents, students, educators, and community organizations across Chicago in community canvassing on Saturday, Jan. 19th in the morning and early afternoon hours!

The Mayor and Board of Education have closed or taken over dozens of schools every year, targeting Black and Latino neighborhoods. These closings take resources that students deserve, destabilize our neighborhoods, and increase racial inequality in the schools. The Board of Ed is now planning to close dozens more schools, taking even more from the communities that have lost the most. They plan to close schools in part to pay for corporate handouts and more privatized charter schools controlled by the Mayor's supporters--taking our community's schools, jobs, and VOICE.

Join us in spending a few hours of the Marting Luter King, Jr. Day weekend fighting for our communities, our students and our schools.

For details on locations and times throughout the city, please click here for the flier.

NORTH SIDE LOCATIONS/TIMES
With Northside Action for Justice
Stockton Elementary School
4420 N. Beacon St
11:00am - 1:00 pm

With Albany Park Neighborhood Council
APNC Office
4749 N. Kedzie, 2nd Floor
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

WEST SIDE LOCATIONS/TIMES
With Blocks Together
BT Office
3455 W. North Ave
10:00am - 1:00 pm

With Action Now
Lewis Elementary
1431 N. Leamington Ave
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

SOUTH SIDE LOCATIONS/TIMES
With Kenwood Oakland Community Organization
KOCO Office
4242 S. Cottage Grove
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

With Action NOW
Ruggles Elementary
7831 S. Prairie Ave
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Fenger High School
11220 S. Wallace Street
11:00 am - 1:00 pm


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10 Arrested in City Hall Sit-in Against School Closings

November 4, 2012 0 comments


On Friday, November 2, a spirited crowd of 100 parents, teachers, students, and community members held a rally and press conference at City Hall demanding a moratorium-of at least two years-on all school closings, turnarounds, consolidations, and phase-outs. After the rally we sat in at the Mayor's office, refusing to leave until we had a meeting scheduled with the Mayor (no surrogates). That never happened, as one of his staff claimed she "couldn't do that." Outside supporters held a candlelight vigil. At 10PM the police threatened all those remaining. Ten parents, teachers, and community members were arrested and charged with trespassing. They spent the night in the police lock up (those arrested were CTU teachers and retired teachers, and members of KOCO, STOP, and TSJ, including LSC members), while a group waited for them all night at police headquarters.

This is just the opening move to make it clear to the Mayor and the powers-that-be in the city that people will no longer play by CPS rules just to have, in the end, another round of devastating closings and privatization of public schools.

CPS has talked about closing up to 100 public schools this year. At the same time CPS committed to the Gates Foundation to open 60 new charter schools and 40 new contract and turnaround schools in the next 5 years.

No more!

See photos from the sit-in here.

Video links of the arrests here  and here.

Here is a playlist of videos taken inside the sit-in, including interviews with CPS parent and LSC member Jeanette Taylor Smith and CPS teachers Carrene Beverly-Bass and Lillian Kass, as well as footage of CTU members leading folks in Ella's Song. 



Suntimes article here.

And check out our FB page for more! 

And PLZ! pre-register for the Curriculum Fair! Make everyone's life easier!
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Rally for Immediate Moratorium on School Closures and Charter Expansion

October 27, 2012 0 comments

20120917CTUStrikeDay6-12


Save our Schools!

Immediate Moratorium on School Closures & Charter Expansion!
Friday, Nov 2nd
4pm Rally/4:30pm Press Conference
City Hall 
LaSalle between Washington & Randolph Streets


CPS plans to close up to 100 schools in our neighborhoods while finding cash to open 60 more politically-connected charter schools. Our students deserve small class sizes, more arts, computer technology, and physical education. Join hundreds of parents, educators, and community activists as we tell the mayor to put our students before his political supporters!

For more information, please contact organizing@ctulocal1.com or call 312.329.6227.


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Urgent Action: ERSB Advisory Referendum on Ballots


The advisory referendum for an Elected Representative School Board is on the ballot in 327 precincts around the city. Vote Yes!
  • Go to this list to see if your precinct is one of them or view a sample ballot for your precinct based on street address here. You may have to go to the end of the ballot to find the referendum. Vote Yes!
  • Tell your friends and neighbors! Download and post this flyer/palm card.
  • Let voters know. Review the attached list and contact one of the TSJ community partners to distribute flyers and take a shift at a polling place on election day (Nov 6th) so voters know to VOTE YES! for an Elected Representative School Board.


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THE STRIKE IS STILL ON!

September 16, 2012 0 comments

It's not over yet-democracy in is action in the CTU, as the House of Delegates decides how to proceed with the tentative agreement (see below for the CTU website release on the HoD meeting today). Let's get back on those picket lines at the schools Monday morning and do other strike support as well. Watch the CTU & TSJ website for updates, and don't necessarily believe what you hear in the news! Solidarity!!

From CTU Website:

 House of Delegates Votes to Continue Strike

 9/16/2012
Some 800 delegates of the Chicago Teachers Union duly elected from each school and workplace convened Sunday afternoon to discuss the framework established during negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education. Officers presented a 23 page document outlining the most important points of the agreement whose outline has been worked out between the two parties. That tentative agreement is expected to number over 180 pages.
After a civil and frank discussion, the House of Delegates voted NOT to suspend the strike, but to allow two more days for delegates to take the information back to the picket lines and hold discussions with the union’s more than 26,000 members throughout Chicago. Teachers and school staff will return to the picket lines of the schools at which they teach at 7:30 a.m. Monday and, after picketing together, will meet to share and discuss the proposal. Citywide members will picket at the Chicago Public Schools Headquarters, 125 South Clark, at 7:30 a.m. and will meet thereafter at a downtown location.
“This union is a democratic institution, which values the opportunity for all members to make decisions together. The officers of this union follow the lead of our members,” President Lewis said. She continued, “the issues raised in this contract were too important, had consequences too profound for the future of our public education system and for educational fairness for our students, parents and members for us to simply take a quick vote based on a short discussion. Therefore, a clear majority voted to take this time and we are unified in this decision.”
The delegates voted to reconvene on Tuesday afternoon.


09/15/2012

CHICAGO - The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)'s ruling body will decide whether or not to call off its strike against the Chicago Public Schools during a 3 p.m. House of Delegates meeting tomorrow at Operating Engineers Hall, 2260 Grove Street.  The Bargaining Team is expected to share new details about proposed contract language which includes a number of victories for teachers, paraprofessionals, clinicians, and students. 

The earliest teachers and other school personnel could return to their schools could be Monday; however, no decision has been made to do so. Delegates, the elected leaders of their schools, have the authority to suspend or lengthen the strike. They could also ask for at least 24-hours to talk to individual members in their schools before making a decision on what to do next. The 29,000-member CTU has been on strike since Sept. 10.
"We are a democratic body and therefore we want to ensure all of our members have had the chance to weigh-in on what we were able to win," said CTU President Karen GJ Lewis. "We believe this is a good contract, however, no contract will solve all of the inequities in our District. Our fair contract fight has always been about returning dignity and respect to our members and ensuring resources and a quality school day for our students and their families."
The new proposed CTU/CPS contract will:
  • Secure Raises & Ensure Fair Compensation:  The CTU wants a three-year contract.  It will secure a 3% raise  in the first year, 2% raise in the second and 2% raise in the third, with the option to extend to a 4th year by mutual agreement at another 3% raise.
  • Defeat Merit Pay: The CTU successfully fought the star of national misguided school reform policies. The Board agreed to move away from "Differentiated Compensation," which would have allowed them to pay one set of teachers (based on unknown criteria) one set of pay versus another set of pay for others.
  • Preserve Steps & Lanes:  The new contract will preserve the full value of teachers and paraprofessionals career ladder (steps); and, it will increased the value of the highest steps (14, 15 and 16)
  • Provide A Better School Day: The Board will hire over 600 additional 'special' teachers in art, music, physical education, world languages and other classes to ensure students receive a better school day, a demand thousands of parents have called for since last year
  • Ensures Job Security: Creates a "CPS Hiring Pool," which demands that one-half of all of CPS hires must be displaced (laid-off) members.
  • Adds An Anti-Bullying Provision: No more bullying by principals and managerial personnel.  The new language will curtail some of the abusive practices that have run rampant in many neighborhood schools.
  • Paraprofessional & Clinicians Prep Time: The new contract will guarantee preps for clinicians.
  • Racial Diversity: The CTU continues to fight the District on its lay-off policies that has led to a record number of African American educators being laid off and eventually terminated by the District.  The new contract will ensure that CPS recruits a racially diverse teaching force.
  • New Recall Rights & Tackling  School Closings:  Acknowledging, the CTU will continue its ongoing legal and legislative fight for a moratorium on all school closings, turnarounds and phase-outs, the new contract requires teachers to "follow their students" in all school actions. This will reduce instability among students and educators.  The contract will also have 10 months of "true recall" to the same school if a position opens.
  • Fairer Evaluation Procedures:  The new contract will limit CPS to 70% "teacher practice," 30% "student growth" (or test scores)-which is the minimum by state law.  It also secures in the first year of implementation of the new evaluation procedures there will be "no harmful consequences" for tenured teachers. It also secures a new right-the right to appeal a rating.
  • Reimbursement for School Supplies: The contract will require the District to reimburse educators for the purchase of school supplies up to $250.
  • Additional Wrap-Around Services:  The Board agrees to commit to hire nurses, social workers and school counselors if it gets new revenue. Over the past several months, the CTU has identified several sources of new revenue, including the Tax Increment Financing program.
  • Books on Day One: For the first time, the new contract will guarantee all CPS students and educators have textbooks on day one and will not have to wait up to six weeks for learning materials.
  • Unified School Calendar:  The new contract will improve language on a unified calendar. The District will have one calendar for the entire school district and get rid of Track E and Track R schools.  All students and teaching personnel will begin on the same schedule.
  • Reduced Paperwork: The new contract ensures the new paperwork requirements are balanced against reduction of previous requirements.
"This Union has proven the Chicago labor movement is neither dormant nor dead," Lewis continued. "Our members are on the line because we all believe there is an assault on our profession and public education in general.  We will always do what is in the best interest of our students and our own children, many of whom attend these schools. We showed our solidarity and our strength, and with this new contract we have solidified our political power and captured the imagination of the nation. No one will ever look upon a teacher and think of him or her as a passive, person to be bullied and walked on ever again."
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The union is not on strike over matters governed exclusively by IELRA Section 4.5 and 12(b).
The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by extension, the more than 400,000 students and families they serve.  The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest local union in Illinois.  For more information please visit CTU's website at www.ctunet.com.
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Mass Rally to Support CTU - Sat, Sept 15th

September 14, 2012 0 comments


There will be tens of thousands of people in Union Park tomorrow. TSJ will meet at the left of the speakers platform (when facing it). Look for both TSJ banners on sticks (see photo below) and join us there. Meet at 11:00 AM, things will be crowded!

Organize for this. Reach out personally, and call/text friends and family (etc), to be there too. We need massive numbers to demonstrate our support for the teachers and to show our collective power. We need to give Rahm and the CEOs, bankers, and real estate magnates who run our schools something to think about as they prepare to sabotage public education, close 100-150 schools, and privatize half the system.

Picture educational apartheid: a school district with some good public schools (mostly in affluent and more white neighborhoods, and selective schools), charter schools like mushrooms in the South and West sides run by big charter/contractor chains, and a few minimalist public schools as safety valves for students pushed out of charters. This will mean the loss of hundreds of Black teachers as well. Looks like New Orleans and Detroit.

The collective power and unity built through this strike is a precondition for the fight ahead of us.

Download flyers, English and Spanish versions. Also check out the CTU Strike Update page for updates from today's rally, the picket line, and lots of pictures and other info. Check out picture of TSJ banners:

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TSJ Strike Support Actions Week of 9/9

September 9, 2012 0 comments


Every day of the strike, TSJ will be handing out flyers and talking to parents at many of the holding schools Rahm has set up. Join us! Be there at 8am when parents arrive or at 12:30pm when they pick up their children. When you arrive at the school, find the CTU picket captain and tell them you are there with TSJ. You can download flyers to print here.

 Also, in collaboration with Parents United For Safe Passage, TSJ is volunteering time and resources for K-8th grade students to receive educational instruction from 9am-3pm every weekday. To volunteer or donate supplies and/or food, please contact Aisha at aishaelamin2[at]gmail.com.

 For up-to-date information from CTU, please go to CTU's Strike Central Page.

 Monday, 9/10
  • Picketing at CPS holding schools 8-9am (when parents drop off kids) or 12:15-1:00pm (when parents pick up kids)
  • Feeder march from Pilsen to downtown rally. Meet at 1:45pm at 18th and Loomis. March will start at 2:15pm. We will march through the Loop and meet up with the rally at CPS Headquarters. Contact # 312-375-8898 for more info.
Tuesday, 9/11
  • Picketing at CPS holding schools
  • 9:30am - March & Rally in Albany Park. TSJ is joining with Albany Park Neighborhood Council on a march from Hibbert Elementary School (3244 W. Ainslie at Sawyer) through Albany Park to Haugan Elementary (4540 N. Hamlin) and ending at Roosevelt High School (3436 W. Wilson) where there will be a rally. All three schools are CPS holding schools (or what we're calling "Children Last" schools).
  • 2:30pm - CPS HQ - Fair Contract Rally
  • 4:30pm - City Hall, 5th Floor - Labor supporters press conference
Wednesday, 9/12
  • 9am - Student press conference w/ VOYCE at Wells HS 936 N Ashland
  • 11am - Rallies at 3 High Schools:
    • Marshall HS 3250 W. Adams (meet at Jackson and Kedzie)
    • Kelly HS 4136 S. California (meet at Archer and California)
    • Dyett HS 555 E. 51st Street (meet at 51st and King Dr)
Thursday, 9/13
  • 8:30am - March in Albany Park from Haugan Elementary School 4540 N. Hamlin to Hibbard School, 3244 W. Ainslie, ending at Roosevelt High school at Kimball and Wilson.
  • 3:30pm - DAILY CTU RALLY: Communities Support the CTU Strike Rally at the Hyatt, 151 E. Wacker. 3:30pm picket @ Hyatt and 4:45 rally and press conference at Congress and Michigan. FB Event here.
  • 6:30pm - Albany Park CTU Strike Community Forum: The Teachers Strike and the Schools Chicago Children Deserve, Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3253 W. Wilson. Co-sponsered by TSJ, Albany Park Neighborhood Council and Albany Park Teachers Solidarity Campaign. CTU Spokesperson will share bargaining update. Child care and Spanish-English interpretation provided. FB Event here.
  • 6:30pm - Rogers Park Community Forum: Parents and Teachers United For Our Children, St. James Presbyterian Church, 6554 N. Rockwell. Cosponsored by West Rogers Park 99% and Parents 4 Teachers.
Friday, 9/14
  • 8-9am - Teachers will be picketing at schools
  • 9-noon - Canvassing the neighborhoods with teachers after picketing. Use this flyer in English and Spanish for canvassing.
  • 9:45am - March and Rally @ Logan Square Monument: Join parents and students from 12 Logan Square schools on Friday morning at 9:45am at the Logan Square Monument (Kedzie/Milwaukee/Logan Blvd) to show some love for our teachers! March, rally and children's songs. Ask your kids to bring hearts/valentines/love notes to teachers.
Saturday, 9/15
  • Noon - CTU Strike Solidarity Rally, Union Park, Ashland & Lake. This Saturday, the CTU and all of labor will hold an historic rally to support the CTU and stand up for what is best for students, schools and union members.  
Neighborhood actions

 Albany Park
Contact Erin (emomoore[at]gmail.com)
  • Sunday, leafleting @ Lindo Michoacan w APNC, 1-3pm
  • Sunday, leafleting in Lincoln Sq (area w shops on Lincoln just South of Lawrence), 3:30-5pm
  • Monday, Solidarity w CTU @ Hibbard School (3244 W. Ainslie) and Haugan School (4540 N. Hamlin), 8am
  • Tuesday,  9:30am - March & Rally in Albany Park. TSJ is joining with Albany Park Neighborhood Council on a march from Hibbert Elementary School (3244 W. Ainslie at Sawyer) through Albany Park to Haugan Elementary (4540 N. Hamlin) and ending at Roosevelt High School (3436 W. Wilson) where there will be a rally. All three schools are CPS holding schools (or what we're calling "Children Last" schools).
  • Thursday, 8:30am - March from Haugan Elementary School 4540 N. Hamlin to Hibbard School, 3244 W. Ainslie, ending at Roosevelt High school at Kimball and Wilson.
  • Thursday, Albany Park CTU Strike Community Forum, 9/13, 6:30 p.m.,Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church 3253 W. Wilson
Uptown
  • Strike school in collaboration with Parents United For Safe Passage, M-F 9am-3pm. Volunteers to work with K-8th grades needed, as well as supplies/food. Contact Aisha for more information: aishaelamin2[at]gmail.com
Logan Square
Contact Missy (missy48[at]gmail.com)
  • Sunday, Logan Square Farmers Market (corner Milwaukee, Logan Blvd) 10 AM – 3PM
  • Sunday, Jimenez Mercado, 3840 W. Fullerton 8:30-9:30am
  • Sunday, Tonys Grocery 3607 W. Fullerton 9-10am & 12-2pm
  • Friday,  9:45am - March and Rally @ Logan Square Monument: Join parents and students from 12 Logan Square schools on Friday morning at 9:45am at the Logan Square Monument (Kedzie/Milwaukee/Logan Blvd) to show some love for our teachers! March, rally and children's songs. Ask your kids to bring hearts/valentines/love notes to teachers.
  • Flyering on the weekend (Contact Missy at missy45[at]gmail.com)
Rogers Park
Contact Lew (rosetree[at]mindspring.com)
  • Sunday, flyering at Lunt and the lake, 3-5PM
  • Monday, flyering at Gale Elementary 1631 W. Jonquil Terr 8am
  • Monday, flyering at Armstrong Elementary 2100 W. Greenleaf 8am
South Side Neighborhoods
Contact Tonya: tonyat80[at]yahoo.com
  • Sunday, flyering Far South, at 87th & State, 2-4PM
  • Tuesday, flyering Hyde Park 55th & Lake Park, 4-6 PM
  • Wednesday flyering 47th & Kedzie, 4-6 PM
Pilsen
Contact Byron bsigcho[at]gmail.com
  • Monday, flyering at Cooper Branch School 1624 W. 19th St, 8-9am
  • Monday, flyering at Perez School 1231 W. 19th St, 8-9am
  • Monday, flyering at Smyth School 1059 W. 13th (ABLA Homes, Roosevelt Rd) 8-9am
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CTU Strike Support: What You Can Do

September 5, 2012 0 comments

The Chicago Teachers Union is in a fight for a fair contract, job security, and the resources to give students a better school day. This is a strategic fight for public education in Chicago and nationally. Rahm is counting on pitting parents and community members against teachers, and the corporate media is pumping out the anti-union message. We have to counter it with grassroots power.

TSJ IS ORGANIZING STRIKE SUPPORT-WHAT YOU CAN DO
  1. Join teachers, support staff, and paraprofessionals on the picket lines. They need us to show we are on their side and to talk with parents at the schools Rahm is keeping open for students. Click here for list sorted by school or by zip code.
  2. Put a CTU support sign in your window/yard. Distribute signs to coffee shops, work places, other public spots.
  3. Hand out leaflets and talk to parents and community members at el stops, shopping areas, etc. Coordinate passing out leaflets with others.
  4. Make your home/office a pick up location for signs and leaflets.
  5. Banner drops over busy highways, key public intersections.
  6. Help out at the Uptown Families United Strike School, grades K-8th, and welcoming HS students as tutors. Daily, from 9:00-3:00, in Uptown.
  7. Tell Chicago's mayor and school board to make our students a priority. Demand smaller classes, a better school day, and a fair contract! Let your voice be heard. Call now:

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ALSO:
Come to TSJ meeting Sat., Sept. 8, 11am-1pm at UIC, 1040 W. Harrison, Rm 3233 AGENDA:


  • 11:00 Intros and Welcome
  • 11:15 Begin planning/organizing for the CF 
  • 12:00 CTU Strike Support

    • Email teachersforjustice[at]hotmail.com with what you are able to do.

    Watch TSJ website/Facebook for updates on what we are doing and how you can plug in.

    ATTEND THE RALLY AT CPS HQ 125 S. CLARK MONDAY 9/10 3:30-6:00 PM


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    SOJO Teachers Win Back Jobs! Students March Through Community

    August 31, 2012 0 comments


    Angela Sangha and Katie Hogan, founding teachers of the Social Justice High School (SOJO) who were fired on 8/24 as part of CPS’s move to dismantle the school, won back their jobs on 8/30. This is a huge victory – thanks to the strength of the parents, students, teachers and the CTU.

    The struggle for SOJO is not over
    Today, SOJO students, chanting “Where’s the Justice in Social justice” and wearing T- shirts saying “CPS We Want Answers,” led a disciplined march and rally of 200 in the community and another rally at the school. Parents marched with them in support.

    The SOJO community demands CPS:
    1. Rewind to August 6 (Reinstate principal, rehire all fired staff, reinstate all scheduled programs and classes)
    2. Approve and sign contracts for Kathy Farr, fired principal of SOJO, and also World Language principal (another high school in the Lawndale/Little Village High School Campus)
    3. Change Advisory Local School Council to fully-empowered LSC
    4. No retaliation against any students, staff, or parents
    5. Issue an apology to the community

    This is another move by CPS to destabilize and disinvest in neighborhood schools, disenfranchise the community, and turn public schools over to private operators. CPS is talking about taking half of the public schools in Chicago and turning them over to private operators in the next few years. The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board states, “CPS will likely close or consolidate scores of schools next year” (8/31). We have to draw a line in the sand.

    WHAT YOU CAN DO:

    Call CPS CEO Jean-Claud Brizard (773) 553-1500
    Call Theresa Plascencia, CPS West Side Network Chief (773) 534-9770
    Call Alderman Rick Munoz, if you live in his ward (773) 762-1781

    Tell them you want all the demands met!

    Stay tuned for next steps.

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    Labor Day Rally for Jobs, Dignity and a Fair Contract w/ CTU

    August 29, 2012 0 comments


    Join the Chicago Teachers Union and labor allies Monday, Sept 3rd in Daley Plaza from 10:30am-12:30pm for a Labor Day Rally for Jobs, Dignity and a Fair Contract!

    Chicago teachers are approaching a showdown with the mayor and the Chicago Board of Education. The fight for a fair CTU contract reflects the current climate of scapegoating union workers in an attempt to force us all to accept contract givebacks. Public servants and the services we provide are under attack! Join the fight for better schools, libraries, parks, decent wages and public services. Sisters and brothers and comrades from Chicago’s unions will rally together. Members of all unions will dress to represent their locals. CTU members will wear our red. Let’s send a message, together, that “An Injury to One is an Injury to All.”
    Monday, September 3
    10:30am – 12:30pm
    Daley Plaza
    50 W. Washington
    Contact AlixGuevara@ctuLocal1.com or
    312-329-6247 for more information.
    Click here to download the flyer.
    Co-Sponsors include:
    Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 • American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 • National Nurses United (NNU) • United Electrical Workers (UE) Western Region • National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 11 • SEIU Local 1 • UNITE-HERE Local 1 • SEIU Health Care Illinois-Indiana • Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Chicago Lodge 7 • Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 241 • Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Locals 134 and 9 • Ironworkers District Council of Chicago • United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1546 • International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 126 • International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 • Sheet Metal Workers (SMW) • Chicago Laborers District Council • Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters • Painters District Council 15 • Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 •
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