I haven't had a chance to chat with any fellow Chicagoans with kids in school, but I strongly suspect that the teachers are well overplaying their hand, and this won't end well for them.
That said, the political leaders and administration are handling it well:
"The district's CEO, Pedro Martinez, said during an address Tuesday that even if classes are canceled, schools will remain open for families. He noted, however, no decisions will be made until the union votes later Tuesday evening."
"'I will have to cancel classes [Wednesday],' he said. 'It doesn't mean that the schools will be closed. The schools will be open, but I will have to cancel classes tomorrow because I can't... I have to be responsible in knowing who's going to be showing up to the buildings. And then, we will have a plan specifically for parents that will come out tomorrow in a very timely fashion about what the path forward is.'"
Martinez is doing a VERY smart thing here positioning the school administration on the side of children and parents by keeping the schools open for students (a BIG deal if you need child care in order to go to work), and effectively calling the union's bluff that conditions are unsafe.
Also, in a past post, I requested for ongoing data-based follow-ups on the severity of the Omicron wave, and thank you Steve for continuing to provide that.
The flexing you speak of is typical - particularly for public sector unions. I became a fan of scabs when my company assigned administrative and engineering personnel to do the work of striking employees. The engineers cleaned up the backlog of plant maintenance work in about two weeks before the union electricians and mechanics saw the light and returned to work.
Well, I'm pretty sick on posting on this issue but i will say with my wee small voice once again, VOUCHERS. Yes, the unions have poisoned schools. Start with charter schools and end with freedom of choice schools including private schools. Right now this might be the only good thing coming out of the pandemic.
Jan 6, 2022·edited Jan 6, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr
Well said Steve. Regarding the 1887 Electoral Count Act, it's good to see some interest piqued among more pragmatic members in Congress of both parties. The so-called "voting rights" bills proposed by Democrats(the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) have been used by Raphael Warnock(unsurprisingly) and other more ideological congressional Democrats as a way of rejecting any possible standalone reform and revision of the Electoral Count Act. Their legislative proposals aren't going to win any GOP votes, and doesn't really address the problems that led to 1-6-21 and on a lesser extent, EV certifications after the 2016, 2004, and 2000 elections. If these Democrats insist on a "either our bills passes, or there is no ECA reform", then they will show just how unserious they are about addressing attempts to solve the problem. It's the same intransigent mindset that had the BBB spending legislation go down in flames(deservedly so, in my opinion). On the flip side, the more hardcore MAGA Republicans(Gaetz, MTG, Boebert, Cawthorn, Gosar, among others) are almost certain to reject any revision of the ECA. However a standalone ECA reform bill can start with bipartisan support and grow from there, potentially putting pressure on the more intransigent congressional members in both parties who aren't the Squad and their GOP counterparts(MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Cawthorn and others), by putting them on the defensive.
Regarding the Electoral Count Act, one of the Racketeers (Steve maybe) wrote a piece encouraging one or more additional political parties. I took it seriously and believe that having only two parties forces everyone in the middle to choose between two extremes. Although I can get pretty comfortable with right-wing positions, I can't stomach what we now have running the government. If there were some way to insert a left center party and a right center party into the mix as viable alternatives, maybe there would be less unhappiness.
I am firmly convinced that career politicians are the cause of most of our political problems. Term limits might be a good first step toward getting more diversity of thought.
I haven't had a chance to chat with any fellow Chicagoans with kids in school, but I strongly suspect that the teachers are well overplaying their hand, and this won't end well for them.
That said, the political leaders and administration are handling it well:
"The district's CEO, Pedro Martinez, said during an address Tuesday that even if classes are canceled, schools will remain open for families. He noted, however, no decisions will be made until the union votes later Tuesday evening."
"'I will have to cancel classes [Wednesday],' he said. 'It doesn't mean that the schools will be closed. The schools will be open, but I will have to cancel classes tomorrow because I can't... I have to be responsible in knowing who's going to be showing up to the buildings. And then, we will have a plan specifically for parents that will come out tomorrow in a very timely fashion about what the path forward is.'"
Martinez is doing a VERY smart thing here positioning the school administration on the side of children and parents by keeping the schools open for students (a BIG deal if you need child care in order to go to work), and effectively calling the union's bluff that conditions are unsafe.
Also, in a past post, I requested for ongoing data-based follow-ups on the severity of the Omicron wave, and thank you Steve for continuing to provide that.
[1] https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/cps-says-if-teachers-vote-for-remote-learning-classes-will-be-canceled-wednesday/2720927/
The flexing you speak of is typical - particularly for public sector unions. I became a fan of scabs when my company assigned administrative and engineering personnel to do the work of striking employees. The engineers cleaned up the backlog of plant maintenance work in about two weeks before the union electricians and mechanics saw the light and returned to work.
Well, I'm pretty sick on posting on this issue but i will say with my wee small voice once again, VOUCHERS. Yes, the unions have poisoned schools. Start with charter schools and end with freedom of choice schools including private schools. Right now this might be the only good thing coming out of the pandemic.
Well said Steve. Regarding the 1887 Electoral Count Act, it's good to see some interest piqued among more pragmatic members in Congress of both parties. The so-called "voting rights" bills proposed by Democrats(the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) have been used by Raphael Warnock(unsurprisingly) and other more ideological congressional Democrats as a way of rejecting any possible standalone reform and revision of the Electoral Count Act. Their legislative proposals aren't going to win any GOP votes, and doesn't really address the problems that led to 1-6-21 and on a lesser extent, EV certifications after the 2016, 2004, and 2000 elections. If these Democrats insist on a "either our bills passes, or there is no ECA reform", then they will show just how unserious they are about addressing attempts to solve the problem. It's the same intransigent mindset that had the BBB spending legislation go down in flames(deservedly so, in my opinion). On the flip side, the more hardcore MAGA Republicans(Gaetz, MTG, Boebert, Cawthorn, Gosar, among others) are almost certain to reject any revision of the ECA. However a standalone ECA reform bill can start with bipartisan support and grow from there, potentially putting pressure on the more intransigent congressional members in both parties who aren't the Squad and their GOP counterparts(MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Cawthorn and others), by putting them on the defensive.
https://www.axios.com/bipartisan-group-electoral-reform-0ffe46fc-4801-4e74-be2c-687922c52fff.html
https://www.axios.com/senate-republican-election-reform-6b36a54c-ab5e-4f4d-8df6-033673611aff.html
I'll be looking forward to that podcast tomorrow!
Regarding the Electoral Count Act, one of the Racketeers (Steve maybe) wrote a piece encouraging one or more additional political parties. I took it seriously and believe that having only two parties forces everyone in the middle to choose between two extremes. Although I can get pretty comfortable with right-wing positions, I can't stomach what we now have running the government. If there were some way to insert a left center party and a right center party into the mix as viable alternatives, maybe there would be less unhappiness.
I am firmly convinced that career politicians are the cause of most of our political problems. Term limits might be a good first step toward getting more diversity of thought.