CTU Speaks!

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, Andrea and Jim talk with Kelsey Cavanaugh, an American Sign Language interpreter for CPS, and Christa Valencia, a middle-school teacher of the deaf. They discuss the many hurdles that deaf students confront at CPS — from getting placed in a school in the first place to the inequities they experience once they get there. They also talk about some potential solutions to these problems going forward.

And as always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, CTU President Jesse Sharkey and CTU organizer Rebecca Martinez join co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros to review the broad sweep of the campaign that finally compelled CPS to agree to a safe reopening framework. One of the most important elements of the agreement is the creation of safety committees in every school building. Jesse and Rebecca discuss how these will work and the essential role that rank-and-file members will need to play in order to make them function properly. For more information about safety committees, go to www.ctulocal1.org/safety. CTU deputy general counsel also comes on the show to give the latest update about CPS’ retreat from its heavy-handed attempt to punish teachers for (gasp!) contacting parents to let them know about unsafe conditions in the schools.

As always, please subscribe to our show on whatever is your favorite podcast platform! And share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

This episode of CTU Speaks! has co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros speaking with Deanna Myron, who has worked at CPS for the last 20 years and as a CPS clerk for the last 10, as well as CTU Recording Secretary(and PSRP for Life) Christel Williams-Hayes. They talk about the arbitration victory allowing clerks and tech coordinators to work from home at least four days a week, which CPS has refused to honor in defiance of the law, public health guidance, and a basic sense of decency.

Find out more about how to support the clerks and tech cos: https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/psrp-appreciation-day-2020/

And as always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros look back at the 2019 strike — all that we won and all that we have yet to realize. The strike holds some important lessons for the current fight against CPS and its push to return to school buildings despite spiking cases of COVID-19 and the lack of adequate safeguards for students, educators, and their families. We also replays some of the voices and sounds of those days in October 2019.

As always, please subscribe to our show on whatever is your favorite podcast platform! And share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros have an in-depth discussion with Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson about the many reasons to vote yes on the Fair Tax on November 3. They outline how the Fair Tax would benefit the state as a whole while 97 percent of state residents would see a decrease in their taxes or have no change at all. That’s because the millionaires and billionaires of Illinois will finally pay their fair share. Senator Martwick also dishes about the question that his mom texted him about the Fair Tax.



Links for this Episode



The CTU’s case for the Fair Tax - https://www.ctulocal1.org/fair-tax


Fair Tax Calculator - https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/fairtax



As always, please subscribe to our show! Share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

This episode is a little different. Co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros forgo a guest interview so they can dish essential facts about the Fair Tax, which will be on the Illinois ballot this November. They dispel many of the myths and outright lies that opponents of the Fair Tax — like billionaires Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin — are blasting into people's homes through relentless TV advertising. This opposition is hoping to sow doubt in voters' minds about this badly needed measure that will generate revenue for the state's most vulnerable families and communities by taxing those who can afford to pay more.

Share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

Co-hosts Jim Staros and Andrea Parker talk to author, activist and Nation magazine sports editor Dave Zirin. In addition to his editorial duties at The Nation, Zirin has authored almost a dozen books about sports, athletes, and the struggles for justice and civil rights. The three discuss how the sports scene has changed very quickly from the vilification of Colin Kaepernick just a few years ago, to seeing him as a hero in the vanguard of athletics taking a stand for the rights of Black and Brown communities. So join us for a romp through history's most icon athlete activists — including Kaepernick, LeBron James and Muhammad Ali — as well as a discussion of practical ideas about what we can do in our own communities and in our classrooms to make a difference today.

Links mentioned in the show:

• More about Dave Zirin: https://www.edgeofsports.com,

https://www.thenation.com/authors/dave-zirin/

• CTU committees: www.ctulocal1.org/union/committees/

And as always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

This episode of CTU Speaks! has co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros speaking with Mueze Bawany, a teacher at Roberto Clemente High School, about another epidemic hitting our city...housing instability. They discuss issues of homelessness, rising rents, and gentrification as well as the overarching need for safe and affordable housing in Chicago. These issues impact our students and families throughout the city and across the racial and socio-economic spectrum.

Join the CTU Housing Committee, more info here:

www.ctulocal1.org/union/committees/

Check out the CTU Housing Committee on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1073793049475850/

Homeless student advocate positions now open at 14 Chicago public schools:

https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/homeless-student-advocate-positions-now-open-at-14-chicago-public-schools/

And as always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros discuss the recent release of CPS' remote learning framework as the first day of the school year approaches. They also speak with Walter Taylor, the director of Professional Development for the Chicago Teachers Union, about classes for teachers to help them improve their remote teaching chops. Finally, they invite to the show two rank-and-file members — teacher assistant Marilyn Piggee Williams and special education teacher Roman Henclewski — to discuss what teachers, students, and parents need to be successful at the start of this new year.

There were several links mentioned in this episode:

Information about CTU committees: www.ctulocal1.org/union/committees/

Professional development classes about remote learning: www.ctuf.org/questcenter/

And as always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros discuss the issue of union organizing with Norine Gutekanst (director of organizing for CTU) and Jhoanna Maldonado (organizer for CTU) and show how CTU never sleeps! They discuss what organizing is, why it is critical to the successes of the Chicago Teachers Union over the last 10 years, and what we as rank-and-file members or members of the community can do to get involved. We also ambush Norine with our appreciation of her contributions because she is retiring after spending the last 10 years leading the CTU's organizing department. She and her co-workers built it from scratch into a model now emulated across the country of how a socially conscious union can set itself up for success.

Want to be part of the conversation? Send us your thoughts about organizing, or anything else, by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.