CORE: The Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators 0000
Under CORE’s leadership, the CTU has won class size protections, bilingual education provisions and sanctuary schools protections. We won big COLA raises in our current contract and bigger raises for paraprofessionals. We won safety agreements that protected us when a court outlawed school mask mandates and that allows flip-to-remote when quarantine rates are high.
We have huge opportunities around the corner for big improvements in our job conditions and in students’ learning conditions. That’s especially true since we have finally won the bargaining rights taken from us in 1995 and we will have elected members of the school board in the next election and a fully elected school board in 2026. But we’ll have to fight to win if we are to make the most of those opportunities. That’s why we need CORE to keep leading!
Latest Updates
Elect a Dynamic CORE Ticket for a Fighting Union!
President: Jesse Sharkey
Vice President: Stacy Davis Gates
Financial Secretary: Maria Moreno
Recording Secretary: Christel Williams
CORE re-election FAQ
If you are a CORE Candidate for our 2019 slate, get your basic information here
The Triumvirate of Upheaval in Our Classrooms by Michelle Gunderson
By Michelle Strater Gunderson. Originally published in Living in Dialogue March 5, 2015
I recently had an epiphany while listening to Melissa Katz, a wonderful student activist from New Jersey, talk about corporate education reform on the radio. When speaking about the swift and drastic changes in education based on implementation of Common Core and aligned tests she used the word upheaval.
Upheaval. Think about it. Is this what you are experiencing in your school setting?
The roll out of Common Core standards, aligned tests such as PARCC and Smarter Balance, and new punitive evaluations has produced what I call the Triumvirate of Upheaval. The combination of all three has disrupted almost every school in our country.
Read moreChicago Elementary School Votes to Oppose PARCC Common Core Tests by Michelle Gunderson
By Michelle Strater Gunderson. Published on Living and Dialogue Site on Feb. 28, 2015
“What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.” John Dewey
Last week the Local School Council at Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago voted unanimously to write a letter of opposition to the PARCC exam, and gave permission to the parent/teacher organization to distribute testing opt out information to all families.
Read moreChicago Teachers’ New Political Awakening by Michelle Gunderson
By Michelle Gunderson. First Published in Living in Dialogue August 4th, 2014
What would our city look like if it were run by Chicago teachers alongside other labor and community groups? This was the thought that kept running through my head as we gathered to support the launch of the new United Working Families political organization in Chicago.
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