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Thursday, Oct 31, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More details as they are made available…

Breaking:
Deal reached. Strike over.
Chicago students will be back in class tomorrow
The deal: Five of 11 days missed due to strike will be made up. @wttw #ChicagoTonight https://t.co/3KsnWbI65j pic.twitter.com/T65qkhBd6Z

— Amanda Vinicky (@AmandaVinicky) October 31, 2019

…Adding… National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter…

We want to thank and congratulate the members of the Chicago Teachers Union on their historic gains achieved in today’s announcement. Contractural gains that will have a meaningful impact in Chicago schools. The contract includes (in writing) enforceable commitments for more school nurses, and more school social workers. It includes additional case managers and workforce development funds so social workers can do the work they were trained to do and the city can recruit a diverse pool of future clinicians.

This was a great win for Chicago, but the advocacy work isn’t done.

Even with the historic five year commitments on social workers, CPS will still be understaffed to effectively address the volume of trauma our kids face. We will keep advocating for new funds not only for CPS but the entire state until mental health services for schools in Illinois reach a safe level. We ask the State of Illinois and our federal legislators to find creative ways to tackle this issue head on, to help speed up the contractural timeline and expand services to schools throughout the state. Schools should not have to go on strike to fund elementary mental health. Illinois can do better, Illinois will do better.

…Adding… Crain’s has some contract dot points…

“Enforceable” staffing: 209 additional social workers; 250 additional nursing positions, 180 additional case managers; 120 new counselors, restorative justice coordinators and librarians, and a social worker and case manager assigned to every school by the end of the contract in 2023.

Recruitment: $2.5 million to recruit and train clinicians, $2 million for nurse tuition and licensure, and a 50% tuition reimbursement for English language and bilingual endorsement programs.

Class sizes: A $35 million annual allocation to reduce oversized K-12 classrooms in “schools serving the most vulnerable students.”

Coaches: A $4 million investment in a Sports Committee to hike coaching stipends and buy new equipment.

Health care: No plan changes to health insurance benefits, a cut in co-pays for mental health and physical therapy services. Teachers can now bank sick days earned after July 1, 2012, from 40 to 244 days.

Looks like a pretty good deal.

104 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 - Pritzker: Up yours *** Exelon threatens to shutter four nuke plants if it doesn’t get what it wants

Thursday, Oct 31, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Steve Daniels at Crain’s…

The threat is explicit now.

Springfield will have to swallow hard and agree to legislation next spring to rescue Exelon’s financially ailing Illinois nuclear fleet despite the legal cloud enveloping the company, or the company will move to close plants. That was the message CEO Chris Crane delivered on a Halloween earnings call with analysts.

For good measure, he added a fourth plant to the three the company already has said are at risk of early closure.

Now in the crosshairs: Exelon’s LaSalle power station in addition to the previously identified Byron, Braidwood and Dresden plants. Two other Illinois nukes, Clinton and Quad Cities, already are benefiting from more than $200 million a year in ratepayer subsidies, enacted in the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act.

Go read the rest. That company has the strongest sense of entitlement of any company in this state.

*** UPDATE *** From Gov. Pritzker’s communications director Emily Bittner…

If companies under a federal microscope believe it’s appropriate to make threats to get their way, they need to recalibrate their thinking and how they deal with this administration. The governor’s priority is to work with principled stakeholders on clean energy legislation that is above reproach.

…Adding… WBEZ…

Reeling from a federal investigation into Commonwealth Edison’s lobbying practices, a top Exelon official on Thursday downplayed the impact of the corruption probe and any possible fallout on Wall Street.

“We’re not passing judgment on [whether there] is anything legal or illegal in some of our past practices with contract lobbyists or consultants,” Exelon CEO Chris Crane told analysts during the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday morning. “I don’t expect [the investigation] will impede our business at all going forward.” […]

Referring to “a lot of speculation in news articles” about the investigation, Crane said Thursday, “There’s things out there that people are speculating on that — they’re guessing, to say that the best.”

It’s unclear what Crane was referring to, and he did not offer any details or clarification.

115 Comments

*** UPDATED x2 *** A miscommunication or is somebody not telling the truth?

Thursday, Oct 31, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We discussed this yesterday…

In a possible attempt to help end the teachers strike, both Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Wednesday showed their support for an elected school board — a priority of the Chicago Teachers Union.

The CTU had pushed for Mayor Lori Lightfoot to publicly back the bill as a condition of a new teachers contract. But Lightfoot had resisted the call, saying it had no place in a contract. After the show of support for the measure by the legislative leaders Wednesday, the union dropped the demand.

Madigan was the first to release a statement on the legislation, reminding the public that the House has made efforts to try to pass an elected school board and to give the CTU more bargaining power — another bill the union wanted Lightfoot to support. The speaker said he will “again give full consideration to these proposals in the upcoming spring session.” […]

“The Governor has long expressed his support for an elected school board and changes to the collective bargaining process. He looks forward to reviewing the specifics when these bills reach his desk.”

After some Democratic Senators issued a similar pledge yesterday to take up the bills next spring, the Senate President also committed to working with his members on these issues.

* The mayor was asked about the topic during a press conference last night…

Reporter: [CTU Political and Legislative Director] Stacy Davis Gates has said that the CTU has been meeting with the governor, Senate President Cullerton and Madigan about an elected school board and changing the negotiations, their ability for collective bargaining rights, and that they are supportive. Have you been part of those conversations?

Mayor Lightfoot: I’ve had contact with all three of those individuals, the governor, the president and the speaker. That’s not my understanding.

…Adding… I mean, they all put out statements yesterday. It was an attempt to placate the CTU and help ease the path to the end of the strike. The mayor should’ve probably just taken the path.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Text from the governor’s comms director…

To clarify: The governor has not been meeting w the CTU.

*** UPDATE 2 *** I missed this thread until a few minutes ago about Lightfoot’s news conference…

And if they were lying to CTU and the public - why would you disclose this? If the three leaders speaking to the media about these critical legislative bills is what it took for the delegates to feel comfortable voting for the TA - your statement completely undercuts it.

— Kyle Hillman (@kylehillman) October 31, 2019

Having watched that disaster from a front row seat, I can tell you - you don’t win. Nobody does. The kids of Chicago will carry the real pain…and for what? 10 days? The #CTUstrike needs to come to an end. It is time to move on Mayor.

— Kyle Hillman (@kylehillman) October 31, 2019