Chicago Teachers May Strike on Monday; News Coverage Doesn't Disclose Their Current Pay, Initial Demands

Less than 48 hours from now, Chicago's teachers, whose union head insists, as quoted by the Associated Press, that "we are here to negotiate for better schools in Chicago," may walk off the job, leaving the children entrusted to them to languish in half-days of activities unrelated to learning "staffed by non-union and central office workers."
There seems to be an unwritten rule that news coverage of these matters not discuss the current earnings of those who are threatening to strike. In a writeup of over 900 words, AP writers Tammy Webber and Don Babwin stuck to that script, and also failed to tell their readers the size of the raise union negotiators initially requested. Those two figures follow the jump.

As to earnings, CBS 2 in Chicago said the following in a June story:

A day after Chicago Public Schools’ teachers overwhelmingly authorized a strike, CBS 2 wanted to know how much the average teacher earns.
As CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov found out, it depends on who you ask.
Salary figures provided by the Chicago Public Schools show teachers here have the highest average salary of any city in the nation. But, according to the Chicago Teachers Union’s calculations, Chicago teachers would rank second behind New York City.
... A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said average pay for teachers, without benefits, is $76,000.
But a Teachers Union attorney said the number provided by CPS doesn’t tell the whole story.
... By comparison, teachers in New York City earn an average of $73,751. That would be less than the average $76,000 average salary for Chicago teachers cited by CPS, but more than the $71,000 average cited by the union. Depending on which is accurate, Chicago would either be first or second in the nation in average teacher salary.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2012/09/08/chicago-teachers-may-strike-monday-news-coverage-doesnt-disclose-their-c#ixzz25vY6I9sf