A year after strikes, Chicago charter school leaders say 'it's hard to innovate when you're bound by a very restrictive contract.' Union leaders counter that if charters can't pay decently and still innovate, their business model is broken. WBEZ
There are currently 126 charter schools in Chicago. These schools, which get public funds but are run by private organizations, were launched with the goal of transforming public education.
Strikes soon followed to force these changes. Last school year, teachers at 24 charter schools walked off the job. The first network of schools to strike, Acero Schools, was also the first charter school in the nation to walk off the job.The two largest charter school networks, Acero with 15 schools and four Chicago International Charter School campuses, combined saw a total of 20 layoffs to administrative positions.
Making matters worse, the new contracts come at the same time that enrollment in Chicago schools is declining, impacting both charter and traditional schools. Schools are funded based on how many students they enroll. Unlike traditional schools, charter schools also have to cover the costs of their facilities.
Khan said they are managing this year, but she is worried about whether they could pull it off in the years to come. Khan said it could end up limiting their ability to fully staff some classrooms, and"we will have to reimagine what deans and security guards look like potentially." But as the charter movement transforms, she worries whether this will end up watering down the very essence of what makes charter schools different."[I] wonder ... if contracts like this make charter schools look just like [traditional] CPS schools," she said.Teachers at Acero Schools, which services a mostly Latino student population, say the new contracts are helping their students and forcing operators to reprioritize their spending.
Officials at Acero say the cuts made to afford the new contracts have forced them to think creatively, including asking non-union positions to do more with less.
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