Teachers Union Walks Away from Talks, Next Year's Schedule Uncertain

I read with great interest this article about a new movie, "The Lottery", a documentary about the battle between powerful teachers' unions and education activists for control of the future of education. The story takes place in New York, but a similar battle is being fought here in Berwyn over the recent budget cuts made by the District 201 administration and the stakes are the same: the quality of the day to day educational experience of THOUSANDS of kids.

Basically, our Morton District 201 adminstration is proposing a change in the bell schedule to accomodate the hole made by the laying off of over 100 teachers. The new schedule calls for eliminating teacher prep periods in favor of keeping kids learning in class rather than study periods. The current teachers union contract would need to be revised and union reps walked away from talks according to this Berwyn Life article, rejecting the administration's proposal. Watch how this one plays out, folks. The day to day conditions at Morton West will be directly determined by the decisions currently being made.