Chicago Teacher Union Turns to Charters

As we have said before, teacher union officials are finding it difficult to keep members now that they are protected by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation-won Janus case.   For years teacher union officials across the country have repudiated charter schools for one reason or another.  Now Chicago Teacher Union officials are turning to charter schools for more power and forced dues.  (Private charter school employees are not covered under state public sector laws, or the Janus decision, which applies only to public sector workers.

Andrew Broy has the story in the 74million.org.

The Chicago Teachers Union is trying its best to pull a bait-and-switch on Chicago’s charter public school teachers. After years of working to stop charter public schools from opening and demeaning the hard work of charter school teachers, the union is trying a new role on for size: advocate for charter public school teachers.

This may seem like a curious position for the union to take, given its years of animosity toward charter public schools. But upon closer examination, it makes sense. For years, the union tried to undermine charter public schools by attacking them rhetorically and spreading lies about their enrollment and academic performance. But that effort failed. Parents saw through the misinformation campaign; charters have grown to serve 56,000 Chicago students and are more popular than ever among the city’s parents.