Substance to publish comprehensive news and comments about May 21 CTU election
Nominating petitions for all candidates in the upcoming Chicago Teachers Union election are due by 5:00 p.m. on March 23, 2010 at the union's Merchandise Mart offices. The staff of Substance has committed to publishing the most comprehensive and accurate reports on the current election campaign inside the Chicago Teachers Union. The campaigns will culminate when the union's 27,000 active duty members vote for union officers and convention delegates on May 21, 2010 (retired members are not allowed to vote in this election). At the regular monthly meeting of the Substance staff on March 20, 2010, Substance reporters discussed the importance of the coverage in producing not only an accurate reporting of current events, but in maintaining accuracy for the record as well.
Substance has contacted all caucuses within the Chicago Teachers Union asking that each cooperate with Substance and its reporting staff. Reporters who will be covering the caucuses are:
CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) will be covered by Jim Vail.
CSDU (Caucus for a Strong Democratic Union) will be covered by John Kugler.
Independent Caucus will be covered by George Schmidt until another reporter takes the job.
PACT (Pro Active Chicago Teachers and school workers) will be covered by Sarah Loftus.
SEA (School Employee Alliance) Caucus will be covered by Sharon Schmidt.
UPC (United Progressive Caucus) will be covered by this reporter (Substance editor George N. Schmidt).
Substance has asked each caucus to provide us with a photocopy of the list of all candidates as they appeared on the top of each of their nominating petitions. Substance has also asked each caucus to provide us with their regular bulletins and other materials to Substance via e-mail at Csubstance@aol.com. Candidates, their opponents, and their supporters are also encouraged to provide regular comments on Substance reports to the Substance Web site (www.substancenews.net).
Beginning March 24, 2010, Substance will report not only on what is happening (beginning with which caucuses filed their nominating petitions by deadline), but also about how much cooperation we are getting in covering our stories. Although all of the caucuses (including Marilyn Stewart's United Progressive Caucus) claim to support so-called "transparency", some have refused to provide Substance reporters with information, schedules, or other materials.
