Divide, Conquer, and Blame... When is a 'raise' not really a raise? When Rahm Emanuel and Jean-Claude Brizard invent it
[Substance staff introduction by Jim Cavallero. Much of the media focus during the last full week of August before the opening of the regular 2011 - 2012 school year in Chicago was established, once again, by the publicity stunts orchestrated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his education "team." One of those was the announcement on Monday, August 22, 2011, that the Board of Education was offering elementary teachers a "raise" of "two percent" if they agreed to the longer school day the mayor and school board have been clamoring for. ]
One of the best blog posts on the event follows:
http://mayoraltutorial.com/articles/divide_conqueror_and_blame, Divide, Conquer and Blame
by Don Washington on 2011/08/24
Every once and a while something happens that opens a window into the soul and I use that word loosely of the Emanuel Administration. The broken down talks between the Chicago Board of Education (CPS) and the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) is such a window. Prior to the “negotiations,” CPS had already helped pass an anti-union bill, SB7, and publicly stated that it would be breaking the existing contract’s promised 4 percent raises. CPS fired over 1,000 teachers, hired JC Brizard, a leader whose track record turned more than 90 percent of the teachers in his past post against him and said that would be implementing a host of unpopular and even failed education policies.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (center) talks with CPS Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Brizard outside St. Sabina's church on Chicago's South Side prior to an August 2 media event, staged jointly by CPS and the mayor. With them is one of Emanuel's ubiquitous press aides. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.All of these moves were carefully choreographed to frame the discussion of education in terms of budgets, teacher deficiency and union conflict and to pick a fight with the union. So it was of no surprise to me when these negotiations went south and it shouldn’t have been a surprise to you or anyone else who’s been paying attention.
The Emanuel Administration rules by decree. It says things that may or may not be true and often has all the structure and substance of marshmallow fluff. This is why so many things they say make no policy sense.
We’re going to lengthen the school day and enrich the learning environment by cutting numbers of teachers, funding for enrichment programs and teacher pay and say in the classroom.
If that last sentence doesn’t fill you with cognitive dissonance then you either dead or a member of the crack Chicago stenography corps.
This is why a Dangerously Informed way of looking at these broken down talks is that they never had a chance but the Emanuel Administration is not just an attack machine. It is also building a new Machine and it is constantly looking for new parts. So yesterday (August 23), CPS says to the CTU: “There is no number between 0 and 4 percent that you can give us that we will compromise on.”
That sounds awful final. We’re not going to give you your already negotiated raises. We’re breaking the contract, what are you gonna do, go on strike next year?
It even seems harsh but today it’s a different story: “We’ll give some of you, the grade school teachers a 2 percent raise and to pay for it we’ll make some painful decisions.”
You could look at this as an “11th hour attempt” to make a concession to teachers. That would be so out of character with how the Emanuel Administration has acted to date that you may as well call the Mayor a liberal Democrat that cares about children. Based on his education policies, anti-union, so not a liberal Democrat and anyone who would embrace the above educational policy clearly doesn’t spend much time dwelling on the welfare of children.
What SB7 says is that if 75 percent of teachers don’t vote to strike there will not be a strike… even if takes almost half a year to actually go on strike.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel salutes reporters while entering the Chase Bank branch at Central and Montrose in Chicago in August 2011 for one of his daily publicity stunts. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. Since the CTU is now openly saber rattling about a strike someone in the media should be asking the Emanuel Administration if this is an attempt to pick off teachers to keep them from striking. As interesting as that question is what I wonder is why no one is asking Brizard what are these painful decisions is he talking about? Are they going to slash another $30 million dollars from the budget and if so from where?
A moment of screaming reality for you here: The media is talking about a contract fight the Mayor picked as if he didn’t pick it and would rather avoid it.
This is the heart of the Emanuel Administration, if it can be said to have a heart. It picks fights all the time and then offers solutions that have nothing to do with solving the actual problem and everything to do with control. It picked a fight over paying teachers because it says it has to save money to help students/children. It’s solution to the fight it picked is to apparently cut another $30 million out of the education budget to pay SOME of those teachers.
As public policy this makes as much sense as tying a pork chop to a toddler’s neck and throwing them into a room full of starving, rabid pitbulls and expecting the toddler to be all right. How in God’s name can slashing $30 million more out of the budget produce better educational services for kids? Brizard is not even postulating that he’s talking about waste he says these will be painful cuts and pain is not about fat it’s about capacity. As political strategy though, this is a brilliant grab for power and control. Let me explain.
Brizard and Emanuel are telling the public that in order to give SOME teachers a raise they will have to slash $30 million dollars from the education budget. This is so much like Brer Rabbit asking to not be thrown into the briar patch I don’t know what to say. Our media friends are able to say things like: “Teacher raises are worth $30 million.” This implies that its either pay teachers or spend money on children and gives cover to the Mayor to do what he already wants to do. It also splits the CTU at a time when it’s contemplating beginning the arduous strike process and it gives the public another chance to be upset at those greedy teachers asking for a $30 million dollar raise at a time when the Mayor needs every dime to… well no one ever says because the Mayor never says but it has something to do with education whatever the hell it is.
Rahm Emanuel... "An angry marmoset in a $3,000 suit..."All we are seeing here is divide and conqueror. The tactic divides the public from the teachers, teachers from each other and the media from its ability to ask a critical question. You gotta admit for an angry marmoset in a $3000 dollar suit, the Mayor is doing a really good job.
By: Jim Cavallero
Brizard and Emanuel Make a “Divide and Conquer” Offer to CPS Teachers
This is an obvious divide and conquer attempt on the part of CPS. Their offer to give money to one part of the collective bargaining group while shutting others out totally goes against the collective bargaining agreement between CTU and CPS and disrespects its members once again. Coming on the heels of rescinded 4% contractually negotiated yearly raises CPS is suddenly able to find money for some raises but not for all. How is there now money? If it was extra shouldn't it have been cut already?
The Chicago Tribune reported that Mayor Rahm Emanuel backed Brizard’s offer on August 25, at a breakfast for interfaith leaders. The Tribune quotes Emanuel as calling it a “serious offer” and a “win-win for the City of Chicago.” The Tribune, however, failed to report that the "offer" was only made to elementary school teachers. Perhaps they did not want the public to read about an obvious attempt at union busting going on in the city’s school system led by the Mayor and CPS’ CEO.