Non-Negotiable Issues
(Consideration 3)
Negotiable Issues
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/ Economic Elites
Subset of/ a part of
Influence/ Control
Rivalrous/ antagonistic relationship
Supportive/ contributing relationship
Intermediary Forces/
Mediums of Civil Participation
Arrow Legend
Three Distinct Classes
of negotiating actors:
Barbara Byrd-Bennett
Conflicts over Public Education Reforms
Elementary School Subjects
CPS proposes
Cutting back on funding for non-core,
enrichment subjects in the arts
Increased time and resources for the
teaching of art and music
Class Sizes
Smaller class sizes
Rationale: Better student to teacher balance
for more effective learning, teachers are
less likely to be overworked
Rationale: Elementary school and kindergarten
classes are overcrowded compared to
95% of Illinois schools
CPS/ proposes
Class sizes to remain unchanged
Restructuring of CPS
Parents petition for
Higher quality of education, greater opportunities for
children to enter college
Fair re-employment contracts for teachers retrenched
by public school closures.
CPS and Mayor Emanuel propose:
Closure of poorly-performing, inner-city public schools which
incur high costs to CPS's funds with low returns in academic results (only 2% of African American male CPS students graduate from college on time)
Implication #3: Unionised Public School teachers with experience and political clout (through their affiliation with CTS) are effectively being replaced with lower-paid, nonunion charter school teachers as Chicago's high school educators
Implication #2: Transfer of students from
closing public schools to new Charter Schools
Implication #1: Retrenchment of many experienced, committed teachers in these public schools
Increase in new Charter Schools, offering vocational education
programs in Engineering, Science, and Business, which are
privately-run, publicly-funded, yet employing non-union teachers
Provision of Social
Services for Students
Increased counselling and nursing services in
underfunded schools
Rationale: greater care for needy students in such
schools who need these services the most
School Hours
School hours and school year length to remain unchanged
A greater raise in teachers' wages in proportion
to longer school hours
CPS/ Mayor Emanuel Propose:
Setting up of year-round schools with lessons
resuming during the summer
Rational: An addition of 40+ more days of learning per year- contributes to greater learning and achievement of academic goals
An increase in school hours in public schools
(the state of Illinois has the shortest
school day on average in the US)
Teacher Evaluations
Greater fairness and transparency in staff evaluations
Less emphasis on students' standardised tests in teacher evaluations
Rationale: Preventing teachers in lower-performing schools from being unfairly allocated lower wages
Rationale: facilitating longer times for students' recess, allowing
more rest for more effective learning
An increase of teachers' performance evaluations based on their students' results in standardised test scores, to 45%
Criticism: all teachers, including teachers in lower-performing schools, are judged by identical benchmarks even if these teachers are of a comparable calibre as teachers in other schools.
lol
Rationale: Incentivises results-oriented teachers,
in order to boost grades and graduation rates in
Chicago's public schools, which are below national average
Teacher's Wages and Promotion Opportunities
CTU advocates for:
CPS to adhere to the Career Advancement Schedule established by the CTU's first contract
Higher compensation for longer working hours, average 30% increase in teachers' wages
Fair wage distribution among all teachers
CPS Proposes:
A merit-wage model where salary is determined by teacher's performance in staff evaluations*
Rationale: Incentivises hard work among teaching staff
Lesser increase of wages
Rationale: CPS high budget deficit in
need of urgent funding cuts
Issue Concept Map
Barack Obama
Democratic Party
Government Agencies and
Political Actors
Civil Society Organisations
General Public
Rahm Emanuel
(Consideration 1)
City of Chicago
Social Media
Anti-Strike Parents
American Public
Pro-Strike Parents
Grassroots Support Groups
Online Petitions
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Teacher's Union
Karen Lewis (Consideration 3)
Actor Network Diagram
Chicago Teacher's Strike 2012
