Whether they create art for the community or represent a culture, Jones clubs offer a safe space for students with similar interests to bond. In order for these clubs to operate, a teacher is required to sponsor the club. These sponsors are supposed to receive a stipend typically within one to two months of school getting out. Five months later, they still have not received their stipends.
“Clubs are important, and they don’t happen without the teachers,” Model UN and ALAS sponsor Jorge Perez said.
These clubs act as a major part in many students’ lives, providing a space to connect with peers who share common interests; if teachers stopped supporting clubs, it would deliver a major blow to many communities, especially minorities.
“It’s a way for students to see themselves and their ethnicity and their heritage at school, and to feel less invisible,” Chicago Teachers Union Delegate Peter Podlipni said.
In order to support and maintain these opportunities, teachers are giving up their own time without receiving compensation. For some, these stipends are simply a benefit. For others, it is a necessity.
“I rely on the stipend coming in as a financial safety net in case I have an emergency over the summer,” Perez said.
The lack of these promised stipends affects not just their personal life, but the overall student and classroom experience as well.
“I spend money out of my own pocket to cover for paper towels and to cover for all these vegetables that we used in a lab today…it would be nice to get paid for the work I do,” Podlipni said. “We did not go to college and get degrees in education to become professionally licensed volunteers. I exchange my labor for compensation…and workers deserve respect. They don’t deserve to be treated like we are somehow trying to money-grub out of the system.”
While concerns persist, the administrative team is currently working to resolve these issues.
“None of these issues are because we did not allocate the money for that,” Principal Kerry Dolan said. “What’s happened is our payroll clerk has submitted those requests, and they keep getting bounced back to her for various reasons.”
Despite the ongoing setbacks, the administrative team is continuing to push for these issues to be resolved.
“I’ve even encouraged people to file a grievance…if that is the method by which I’m going to help a teacher get paid fairly, then let’s do it.” Dolan said.
These issues stem from a new contract signed between CPS and the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU).
“Ever since the new contract was passed with CTU, CPS payroll has refused a lot of our stipend requests, and they have rejected a lot of the things that ErmaGamboa,payroll clerk, has submitted,” Dolan said.
Teachers have also expressed concerns over the transparency around this issue, causing doubts to grow.
“There’s a dishonest element to that where, ‘oh no, I’ve mismanaged money. How can I save money? Ooh, let me make getting workers paid really hard,’” Podlipni said. “If it’s so much work to get the small amount, are they trying to make it so hard that you don’t get it?”
Statements like this have been addressed by the administrative team in an attempt to reduce the concerns of the teachers.
“Teachers have been on a number of communications via email that I’ve also been on with Gamboa,” Dolan said.
The administrative team has also expressed concerns about the misinterpretation of communication by the teachers.
“I think there’s a misconception that somebody from our team is trying to withhold money from people, and that is absolutely not the case,” Dolan said.
Without any clear answers, teachers are left wondering if or when action will be taken. Teachers are expressing concerns about the lack of transparency around these issues, despite the emails sent by the administrative team.
“I love working here. I love working in the classroom. I love working after school. The hardest part about this for me is the breakdown in communication and respect between archival stakeholders. That part continues to be draining,” Podlipni said.
