SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Groundbreaking school-reform legislation won unanimous approval from an Illinois House committee Wednesday, despite concerns from Chicago teachers over bargaining rights.
The legislation negotiated over several months and approved without opposition in the Senate last month got the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee's OK with the caveat that lawmakers will likely make changes.
The proposal would make it harder for teachers to go on strike and easier to lose their jobs because of poor performance. Lawmakers, business groups and reformers, and unions announced the agreement nearly a month ago that they believe will mean better teachers in the classroom and an end to learning held hostage by the threat of a strike.
But Chicago Teachers Union members said last week that the bill's final language was not what they agreed to, that it made the bar even higher for striking and took away the power of an outside arbitrator to handle collective bargaining disputes.
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat and House majority leader, agreed there was a dispute about the wording that could be fixed with amendments on the floor or follow-up legislation. No one was predicting doom for the legislation.
"This indeed is landmark legislation," said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat. "We can see from all over the country talk about how wonderful it is to see all the stakeholders come together."
CTU officials did not return phone messages Wednesday.
The agreement among reformers, unions and education officials would mean teachers would face new restrictions on job-protecting tenure. Layoffs would be based on ability and credentials instead of seniority. Tenured teachers could be fire more easily.
Extra steps — such as publicizing each side's last, best offer — would be required before strikes. And the legislation requires a 75 percent vote by Chicago teachers before they strike, a higher standard than the simple majority in the rest of the state.
But CTU members voted last week to support changing the proposal. They said they thought they agreed that a strike would be allowed if 75 percent of all those voting approved, but that the legislation requires 75 percent of all union members. And they object to a provision that takes power to settle disputes out of the hands of the Educational Labor Relations Board and, union officials say, could jeopardize existing contracts and ongoing legal action.
"There were some things in the bill that later, after all the parties looked at the legal language, that were unintended consequences," said Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the CTU's parent organization.
Montgomery said the IFT still supports the legislation's intent and teachers unions will support it when changes are made to their specific concerns.
Associated Press Writer Zachary Colman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
The legislation negotiated over several months and approved without opposition in the Senate last month got the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee's OK with the caveat that lawmakers will likely make changes.
The proposal would make it harder for teachers to go on strike and easier to lose their jobs because of poor performance. Lawmakers, business groups and reformers, and unions announced the agreement nearly a month ago that they believe will mean better teachers in the classroom and an end to learning held hostage by the threat of a strike.
But Chicago Teachers Union members said last week that the bill's final language was not what they agreed to, that it made the bar even higher for striking and took away the power of an outside arbitrator to handle collective bargaining disputes.
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat and House majority leader, agreed there was a dispute about the wording that could be fixed with amendments on the floor or follow-up legislation. No one was predicting doom for the legislation.
"This indeed is landmark legislation," said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat. "We can see from all over the country talk about how wonderful it is to see all the stakeholders come together."
CTU officials did not return phone messages Wednesday.
The agreement among reformers, unions and education officials would mean teachers would face new restrictions on job-protecting tenure. Layoffs would be based on ability and credentials instead of seniority. Tenured teachers could be fire more easily.
Extra steps — such as publicizing each side's last, best offer — would be required before strikes. And the legislation requires a 75 percent vote by Chicago teachers before they strike, a higher standard than the simple majority in the rest of the state.
But CTU members voted last week to support changing the proposal. They said they thought they agreed that a strike would be allowed if 75 percent of all those voting approved, but that the legislation requires 75 percent of all union members. And they object to a provision that takes power to settle disputes out of the hands of the Educational Labor Relations Board and, union officials say, could jeopardize existing contracts and ongoing legal action.
"There were some things in the bill that later, after all the parties looked at the legal language, that were unintended consequences," said Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the CTU's parent organization.
Montgomery said the IFT still supports the legislation's intent and teachers unions will support it when changes are made to their specific concerns.
Associated Press Writer Zachary Colman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
