Case 1:10-cv-04852 Document 9-2 Filed 08/13/10 Page 1 of 6

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

Chicago Teachers Union, American Federation )

of Teachers, Local No. 1; )
) Case No. 10-cv-4852
Plaintiff; )
)
v. ) Judge David H. Coar
)
Board of Education of the City of Chicago; a body )
politic and corporate, and Mary Richardson )
Lowery, Norman Bobins, Tariq Butt, Roxanne )
Ward, Peggy Davis, Alberto Carrero, Jr., and Ron )
Huberman, in their official capacities; )
)
Defendants. )
__________________________________________)

DECLARATION OF JACKSON POTTER IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION

FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

I, JACKSON POTTER, under oath, declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of

the United States of America and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1746 that the following statements are

true and based on my personal knowledge and recollection:

1. Since July, 2010, I have been employed as the Staff Coordinator by the Chicago

Teachers Union, American Federation of Teachers, Local No. 1 (“CTU”).

2. Prior to my employment at CTU, I was employed as a tenured history teacher

within the Chicago Public Schools since February, 2003. I hold masters degrees in teaching and

history from the University of Illinois.

3. Under Article 23-2.1 of our labor agreement with the Board, a teacher obtains

tenure after first working as a probationary appointed teacher for three years of consecutive

service with satisfactory evaluations.

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4. My duties at the CTU include overseeing the Grievance Department, which

includes field representatives and other staff who service our members and monitor actions by

the Board of Education of the City of Chicago (the “Board”). I am also an elected member of the

Union’s Executive Board and Board of Trustees as well as an appointed member to our

bargaining committee.

5. Also as part of my duties, I review information produced to CTU by the Board,

including in response to information requests made by the union pursuant to our contract and the

Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

6. Since July 1, 2010, I have specifically monitored and reviewed the Board’s efforts

to discharge, discipline, terminate, layoff, dismiss, or otherwise terminate the employment of

CTU members.

7. The CTU represents approximately 27,000 members employed by the Board in

the Chicago Public Schools. Under Article I and Appendix D of the bargaining unit between the

CTU and the Board, our teacher members include teachers at elementary and high schools,

substitutes, city-wide coach/teacher leader, counselors, librarians, school nurses, psychologists

and social workers, speech pathologists, physical and occupational therapists, playground teacher

and stadium directors. In addition, our members hold many other positions, such as

paraprofessionals, teaching assistants, nurses, special needs assistants and guidance counselors.

8. Attached to my declaration as Exhibit A, is a list of all teachers the Board has

reported as being “honorably terminated” or “honorably dismissed/laid off” between June 15,

2010 and July 1, 2010. The Board produced this list to CTU and marked it as CPS 003360-65.

9. The Board announced on July 22, 2010 that it planned to dismiss from

employment 400 teachers and 200 other CTU members who worked at “Track E” schools, i.e.,

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schools with a year-round calendar. Track E Teachers and students were not in schools during

July. Track E teachers had institute days beginning August 1, 2010, and student attendance

began attending class on August 9, 2010.

10. Attached to my declaration as Exhibit B is a list of the 426 teachers who were

terminated or laid off by the Board in advance of the start of the “Track E” school year. The vast

majority of these teachers were tenured as designated by the “T” in column 12.

11. The Board produced this Exhibit B list to the CTU in response to a request for

documents, and marked them as CPS 004671-76. The vast majority of these teachers - 81.7%

(348 teachers out of 426), were “laid off” effective 8/03/2010, as designated by the code “LAY”

in column 13, and the date provided in column 14.

12. The vast majority of these teachers were notified of their impending loss of

employment no sooner than 7/21/2010, as shown in column 15, and were actually terminated as

of 8/02/2010. Many of our members on this list did not receive written notice of their

termination prior to the opening of “Track E” schools. Some showed up to teach, only to find a

non-tenured less senior teacher in their position. Some received telephone calls the evening

before from principals advising them to not show up, their positions had been eliminated.

13. As set forth in Exhibit B column 6, 72.5% or 309 of the 426 teachers terminated

actually received performance ratings. The remaining 27.5% were either not rated or had no

rating in column 6.

14. A very small minority, 6% (25 out of the 426) of the teachers posted in Exhibit B,

column 6 who were dismissed by the Board were rated as “unsatisfactory.”

15. As set forth in Exhibit B, of the 426 teachers terminated, 35% or 150 teachers

were over the age of 40.

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16. Of the 150 teachers over the age of 40 who were rated and terminated, 44 (29%)

had an excellent rating; 17 (11%) had superior ratings and 18 (12%) had satisfactory ratings. 47

teachers or 31% of the teachers over the age of 40 were rated unsatisfactory. In total, over 52%

of the teachers over the age of 40 who were rated, had satisfactory or higher ratings, unadjusted

for the no ratings. 47 or 31% of the terminated teachers had no rating or a missing rating.

17. Many of the teachers who were terminated and over the age of 40 had significant

seniority within Chicago Public Schools.

18. Under Exhibit B, 35% or 148 teachers listed in Exhibit B who the Board

dismissed from employment were rated “excellent,” and 48 people or 11% were rated either

“superior” and 83 teachers or 20% were rated “satisfactory,” as shown in column 6. In

combination, 67% were rated as excellent, satisfactory or superior. The remaining 28.6% were

blank (no) or assigned a “no rating” value. 6% were rated as unsatisfactory.

19. The vast majority of the teachers listed in Exhibit B were tenured teachers, as

shown by a designation of “T” in column 12.

20. The vast majority of these CTU members who the Board has dismissed from

employment have not been reassigned, placed in any “reassignment pool,” or been provided any

preference either in retention over non-tenured members or in recall.

21. The Board traditionally has roughly 2000 new hires every year, to replace natural

labor needs arising from retirement and shifts in student enrollment and programs.

22. The Board also employs thousands of teachers who have worked less than three

years and are not-tenured.

23. In the course of terminating the employment of the teachers identified in Exhibit

B, the Board did not provide any opportunity to those teachers to explain or show that they were

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qualified to perform the work of non-tenured teachers whom the Board retained or the new hires

employed.

24. The Board has communicated to CTU its intentions to terminate the employment

of upwards of 1500 teachers, in addition to other educators.

25. The effect of these terminations on the affected teachers is devastating and far

reaching: they will not be placed in the reassignment pool, will lose their careers, livelihood,

health benefits, stability and have little likelihood they will be rehired. Their reputations will be

tarnished with the record of a termination.

26. The effect of these terminations on our public education system is deleterious and

irreparable. These terminations eliminate a big section of the veteran leadership in the school

system, some of who are the highest credentialed and most excellent within the public schools.

As veterans, tenured and senior teachers have acute knowledge of the students and communities

they serve. To pull seasoned teachers out of the schools, is akin to pulling a child from his

mentor or parent figure.

27. By virtue of these terminations, students will have no continuity with their

teachers. There is a lot of research, including the Data and Democracy Report, By Professor

Pauline Lipman, conclusively establishing that disruption in the educational program (such as by

firing tenured and senior teachers) leads to loss of learning.

28. The termination of our teachers may be irreparable if the situation is not quickly

arrested. Thus, it is important to our teachers and our union that not one more tenured teacher be

let go or replaced in violation of their rights and that we start the process of reinstatement as soon

as possible and prior to the commencement of the regular school year on September 7, 2010.

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29. The CTU and our members have a valid concern that the Board has used

pretextual and different rationales to circumvent the contract and the rights of our members,

while at the same time emboldening principals to terminate qualified tenured teachers, irrelevant

of due process or their qualifications as educators.

30. For example, the lay off notices contain tautologies such as “redesignation,”

“program reconstitution,” “redefinition,” “pedogogical differences,” “budget cuts,” etc., while at

the same time, many older and tenured teachers are being eliminated and replaced by young and

non-tenured teachers.

31. At the same time, equivelant positions are being advertised on the CPS website.

Since July 2010, the Board’s termination of tenured teachers and in violation of seniority, has

resulted in hundreds of teachers a day communicating their concerns, fears, humiliation and

discontent to the union.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is

true and correct.

Dated: Signed:
Jackson Potter, CTU
Staff Coordinator