This article may further explain.
oes Republican silence on CTU strike relate to union contributions?
Illinois Republican lawmakers seem strangely quiet on the CTU strike. Few press releases. Even fewer comments. Might it have something to do with teachers union support?
Below are some of the contributions the Illinois Education Association – Illinois’ largest teachers union – made to Republican legislators over the last two months.
8/30/12 – Sen. Dave Luechtefeld – $1,000
8/28/12 – Rep. Skip Saviano – $20,000
8/23/12 – Rep. Dan Brady – $1,000
8/21/12 – Rep. Sidney Mathias – $10,000
8/15/12 – Rep. Wayne Rosenthal – $15,000
8/07/12 – Rep. Adam Brown – $5,000
8/02/12 – Rep. David Reis – $5,000
8/02/12 – Rep. Michael Tryon – $1,500
7/26/12 – Rep. Bob Pritchard – $1,000
7/26/12 – Rep. Skip Saviano – $10,000
7/20/12 – Rep. Don Moffitt – $3,000
7/16/12 – Rep. Raymond Poe – $10,000
7/05/12 – Rep. John Cavaletto -$7,500
7/03/12 – Rep. Jim Watson – $10,000
Coincidentally, many of these lawmakers voted NO on Senator James Meeks’ school choice bill.
Republicans House members that voted NO on SB 2494 in May 2010 are: Dan Brady, Brauer, Cavaletto, Cole, Collins, Colvin, Eddy, Kosel, Mathias, Bill Mitchell, Jerry Mitchel, Moffitt, Mulligan, Pihos, Poe, Pritchard, Ramey, Reboletti, Reis, Rose, Sacia, Saviano, Sente, Smith, Tracy, Watson
Dan Brady has no opponent in November, why did they give him money?
by: Doug Ibendahl
Teachers in the third-largest school district in the nation went on strike Monday morning after contract negotiations collapsed over the weekend. It’s been 25 years since Chicago teachers walked a picket line.
If a weak economy wasn’t enough to make Chicago teachers grateful for their good paying jobs, the appalling casualties from gun violence in the streets this summer should have curtailed the selfishness.
Chicago Teachers Union officials deserve the bulk of the blame of course for disrupting the education of nearly 400,000 students. But the GOP’s hands are also far from clean in Illinois.
Two years ago a landmark school choice bill was defeated in Springfield. The bill, SB 2494, cleared the Illinois Senate but garnered only 48 of the 60 votes needed for passage in the Illinois House.
SB 2494 represented groundbreaking reform and would have ushered in real competition by providing parents in underperforming Chicago school districts a voucher to cover educational expenses at nonpublic schools.
Shamefully, 22 Illinois House Republicans voted against the bill. In other words, Republicans could have easily put the bill over the top and on to the Governor’s desk.
School choice is supposed to be a bedrock GOP Platform issue. It’s supposedly something that unites Republicans of all stripes. School choice (or vouchers) provides hope to low income families trapped in failing public schools. Many students and parents love vouchers. The unions hate the idea for obvious, selfish reasons.
The names of the 22 Illinois House Republicans who betrayed the GOP Platform at the same time they betrayed Chicago’s children, are HERE. Thanks to these sellouts, the Chicago Teachers Union is stronger and more emboldened today.
Before clicking here to continue – check out the Republicans who voted against school vouchers above: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-ibendahl/republicans-forfeited-rig_b_1871830.html
