CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[ardecila]

^ Teachers are a "frontline essential worker" position and are included in Phase 1B of the state's vaccination plan.

Once vaccines have been given to medical personnel and people in long-term care, teachers are up next (along with cops, firefighters, transit workers, etc). We're probably talking a matter of weeks until teachers start getting the shot. I'm not sure what there is for the union to negotiate at this point. Once school staff get the first shot, they could start coming in to work...

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ Teachers are a "frontline essential worker" position and are included in Phase 1B of the state's vaccination plan.

Once vaccines have been given to medical personnel and people in long-term care, teachers are up next (along with cops, firefighters, transit workers, etc). We're probably talking a matter of weeks until teachers start getting the shot. I'm not sure what there is for the union to negotiate at this point. Once school staff get the first shot, they could start coming in to work...

That’s not what’s happening, even in some suburbs. They keep moving the goal post, no plan to return to full time in person learning even after the shots

This is nuts. School as we know it is totally gone.

Why bother paying property taxes if my kid is perpetually going to watch videos? Really giving private school a serious thought now

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Why bother paying property taxes if my kid is perpetually going to watch videos? Really giving private school a serious thought now

No shit sherlock, public school teachers are possibly the most entitled profession in America. Could have told you this would happen first excuse they got. I will never put my kids in CPS because I don't want them indoctrinated with this self pitying attitude of entitlement.

I say this as someone whose in-laws are almost entirely teachers. Out of my wifes siblings her three brothers and two sisters in law are all teachers. Two brothers and one sister in law teach at private catholic schools. The brother and sister in law that used to be CPS teachers ditched out on their mortgage and my wife's entire extremely close knit family and moved to Singapore where they can get paid $100k each and have a personal indentured servant do everything for them while they teach at an American school there.

They did this after the CTU popped their bubble of idealism by forcing my brother in law to go on the picket line while his wife was in the hospital after delivering one of my nephews extremely prematurely. That's right, the union forced him to go out and protest instead of tending to his child in the NICU. As much as I love them, their solution to being shown the true colors of the CTU was to ditch out to Singapore which is exactly the kind of selfish, entitled, behavior one expects from public school teachers in America today.

I'm sure you will all flame me for this post, but let's be honest here, this is no secret. This is an entire profession of people who constantly demand "more more more" while harping on the victim card incessantly. It's quite disgusting to watch.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

No shit sherlock, public school teachers are possibly the most entitled profession in America. Could have told you this would happen first excuse they got. I will never put my kids in CPS because I don't want them indoctrinated with this self pitying attitude of entitlement.

I say this as someone whose in-laws are almost entirely teachers. Out of my wifes siblings her three brothers and two sisters in law are all teachers. Two brothers and one sister in law teach at private catholic schools. The brother and sister in law that used to be CPS teachers ditched out on their mortgage and my wife's entire extremely close knit family and moved to Singapore where they can get paid $100k each and have a personal indentured servant do everything for them while they teach at an American school there.

They did this after the CTU popped their bubble of idealism by forcing my brother in law to go on the picket line while his wife was in the hospital after delivering one of my nephews extremely prematurely. That's right, the union forced him to go out and protest instead of tending to his child in the NICU. As much as I love them, their solution to being shown the true colors of the CTU was to ditch out to Singapore which is exactly the kind of selfish, entitled, behavior one expects from public school teachers in America today.

I'm sure you will all flame me for this post, but let's be honest here, this is no secret. This is an entire profession of people who constantly demand "more more more" while harping on the victim card incessantly. It's quite disgusting to watch.

I think that might be a regional or political thing.

My sister is a special education teacher in Arkansas and besides April and May, shes been teaching in-person the whole time. She wants to be at school, and it seems most of her coworkers do too. Oh, and she is part of no union and still makes great money for her area.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I think that might be a regional or political thing.

My sister is a special education teacher in Arkansas and besides April and May, shes been teaching in-person the whole time. She wants to be at school, and it seems most of her coworkers do too. Oh, and she is part of no union and still makes great money for her area.

Nice to hear. That's the way it should be. Public employee unions have destroyed Chicago and what does our state government do? Give them more destructive power.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

absolutely. the fixed-percentage COLA increases were very short-sighted since people in the 90's apparently didn't have the imagination that inflation can be significantly less than 3%...

Yeah, it's preposterous that COLA increases don't operate on some sort of adjustable rules-based schedule. In my ignorance, I didn't actually realize that a fixed COLA is a thing. It doesn't make sense.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ Teachers are a "frontline essential worker" position and are included in Phase 1B of the state's vaccination plan.

Once vaccines have been given to medical personnel and people in long-term care, teachers are up next (along with cops, firefighters, transit workers, etc). We're probably talking a matter of weeks until teachers start getting the shot. I'm not sure what there is for the union to negotiate at this point. Once school staff get the first shot, they could start coming in to work...

This has been my thinking as well. Vaccines are truly the key to this.
Although at the moment, vaccine supply and distribution appears to still be an absolute mess, I think a federal administration that actually desires to be competent should begin to have a major positive impact.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I'm sure you will all flame me for this post, but let's be honest here, this is no secret. This is an entire profession of people who constantly demand "more more more" while harping on the victim card incessantly. It's quite disgusting to watch.

(You logged onto Skyscraperpage.com, not The Federalist - just fyi)

Since you were expecting it.....

[the urban politician]

I’m so glad she didn’t become Mayor of Chicago:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opin...t-law-supports

[the urban politician]

It’s all about the kids, CTU? Then let the schools reopen

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...schools-reopen

Finally, Greg Hinz

[bnk]

She must have read it.





https://chicago.suntimes.com/educati...rson-lightfoot


Lightfoot demands schools reopen Monday, sets stage for potential CTU strike

The mayor declared late Friday that the Chicago Teachers Union “has not agreed to anything.” But the CTU retorted that Lightfoot had ruined progress made at the bargaining table, tweeting that “in the last hour, the mayor has wrecked it all.”

By Nader Issa@NaderDIssa Jan 29, 2021, 8:19pm CST







Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded thousands of teachers return to their schools Monday, issuing an ultimatum to the Chicago Teachers Union and setting the stage for the city’s second teachers strike in 15 months.

Negotiations continued into the evening between Chicago Public Schools and the union, but the two sides came away with no agreement.

“Another day has passed, and the CTU has not agreed to anything,” Lightfoot said at a Friday night news conference. “The CTU leadership has failed and left us with a big bag of nothing.”

Lightfoot accused the union of failing even to put into writing “the areas where we actually agree,” and said “CTU leadership blew it up and created chaos.” Lightfoot said CPS plans to proceed with the reopening of elementary and middle schools on Monday, drawing a line in the sand that could set up a potential teacher lockout or strike next week if a deal isn’t made this weekend.

“Those teachers need to be there,” for those students, Lightfoot said. If not, “we will take further action.” Until then, she added: “We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to reach an agreement. ... We need to get a deal done.” She noted that her own daughter is attending school in person, “because it’s safe.”

After the news conference, the CTU accused the mayor of ruining progress that had been made at the bargaining table, writing in a late-night tweet that “in the last hour, the mayor has wrecked it all.”

“The medical community has reached consensus on the safety of reopening schools,” Jackson said late Friday, speaking after the mayor.

“As a school district, we have gone above and beyond . . . to safely operate and reopen schools,” investing $70 million in school improvements, Jackson said.

Jackson also said that “thousands” of teachers had been coming into schools this past week to set up classrooms, despite the union’s directive not to report in person.

Earlier in the week, Jackson had sounded a conciliatory tone.

“We’re prepared to compromise and give up on things that we were dug in on,” Jackson had said Thursday on WBEZ’s Reset. “But the one thing we all have to agree on is that students belong in school, and that every parent should have an option.”


...

[the urban politician]

^ The problem here is mixed messaging. On one hand you’ve got the Mayor deciding against indoor dining after considering it this past week. But then she’s pushing on the schools.

Sure, the data on schools clearly shows that open schools are not a major issue for Covid spread. But couple this confused messaging with Illinois’ pathetic vaccine rollout (thanks, JB, gonna keep passing the blame now?*), and the CTU still has some legs to stand on.

* I have family in other states that have already gotten their vaccines. My elderly in-laws in California got their first dose almost 2 weeks ago! Other relatives in Georgia the same (none of them are healthcare workers or first responders). Meanwhile my elderly Dad here in Illinois is calling everywhere and keeps getting no answers. Pritzker is a useless schmuck. This man literally accomplished nothing during his tenure, he’s just a rich brat who bought his way into office and maintains support through embracing the unions, railing on Trump, and occasionally throwing a bone to progressives with “gender neutral bathroom” type laws that nobody cares about. Economy is tanking, no effort made to address that. None of this matters, though, as this “follow the leader” State will of course keep re-electing him no matter how he performs/fails.

[LouisVanDerWright]

My Mom and Grandma both already got the vaccine in Wisconsin. If Illinois is really having that hard of a time, that's pathetic. My Mom got it while I was gone form Christmas and had her second dose a couple weeks ago, she's a medical worker so she obviously got priority. My Grandma on the other hand is just in group 1B and her healthcare provider had her signed up for a slot the day after Wisconsin authorized the move to 1B.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

My Mom and Grandma both already got the vaccine in Wisconsin. If Illinois is really having that hard of a time, that's pathetic. My Mom got it while I was gone form Christmas and had her second dose a couple weeks ago, she's a medical worker so she obviously got priority. My Grandma on the other hand is just in group 1B and her healthcare provider had her signed up for a slot the day after Wisconsin authorized the move to 1B.

Yep, and it's not just us complaining. Governor Putzhead really is dropping the ball:

Pritzker pushes back on criticisms of Illinois COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Tim KirsininkasCapitol News Illinois


SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back on criticisms of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout Thursday, saying state officials are “doing everything we can” to ensure timely delivery of doses.

Illinois currently ranks 47th among all 50 states in vaccine distribution, with 4.8 percent of the state’s 12.7 million residents having been vaccinated so far. The state has issued 829,488 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, with only 1.4 percent of the state’s population having received both required doses.

https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/20...ut/4300515001/

My elderly parents have waited for a long time and have done everything they've been told to do. They hardly go anywhere, they canceled all trips, my Mom lives in fear of the virus every day, hell I have to put gas in the car and get their oil changed for them. They occasionally get groceries. They've been isolated from friends and family. After 9 months of Pritzker pointing his fingers at the Federal Government, it's time to stop blaming others. He is fucking this up. But what else would you expect from somebody born with a platinum spoon who never head to perform in order to achieve anything?

[Steely Dan]

My parents are both mid-70s (1B).

My dad got his first vaccine shot last week.

My mom gets her first one tomorrow.

Out of all the people in my life, I'm most concerned about the two of them, so I'm starting to breathe a bit easier.


OTOH, my wife's parents (similar ages to mine, both 1B) are in wisconsin and they are both still waiting for their first shots.

[the urban politician]

^ Glad to hear that, and I hope for the best for your parents.

But vaccinations being a population-wide thing, and by virtue of their greatest benefit coming from large numbers of people receiving them, that doesn't change the numbers posted showing that Illinois is among the worst States in the nation for distribution. The Governor may want to keep passing the blame, but he owns this problem.

Just spoke to my Dad today. Nothing so far. Phone calls everywhere are useless. No updates from anyone. And he registered months ago.

[the urban politician]

Edit: I deleted my rant about Pritzker.

Suffice to say, I find his performance.....unsatisfactory

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Glad to hear that, and I hope for the best for your parents.

But vaccinations being a population-wide thing, and by virtue of their greatest benefit coming from large numbers of people receiving them, that doesn't change the numbers posted showing that Illinois is among the worst States in the nation for distribution. The Governor may want to keep passing the blame, but he owns this problem.

Just spoke to my Dad today. Nothing so far. Phone calls everywhere are useless. No updates from anyone. And he registered months ago.

I totally agree with you. It took me HOURS to register my parents on the database and I cannot see how this is a good solution to our vaccination problem. How are elderly people remotely supposed to navigate these platforms? Personally, I believe a first-come, first-serve approach is best (similar to what Florida is doing) for elderly people. Our #1 priority should be vaccinating people and not worrying about appointments and time slots.

[jtown,man]

I must say, Lightfoot is an interesting mayor.

I've gone from hating her, loving her, to being lukewarm. Of course, I disagree with her most of the time, but I am a conservative living in Chicago, I understand the reality I live in. However, I think she isn't perfect by any stretch, but she is doing a DECENT job for the last year.

[SIGSEGV]

The initial vaccination numbers were pretty bad, but it's trending up:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...~5~6~art%20yes

Surprised to see Lake County doing so relatively poorly here.