It’s been almost two years since UNO, using its clout as one of the most powerful charter school operations in the state, forced rookie alderman Nicholas Sposato to accept one of its schools in his ward.
Because, like most charters, UNO is nonunion. Every new UNO school means relatively fewer unionized teachers in the workforce of the Chicago Public Schools and, therefore, less power for CTU.
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There was just one little annoyance to deal with: to build the school, UNO needed a zoning change, which required the backing of the local alderman—in this case, Sposato.
Sposato, a former firefighter, was a different story. “I got other schools in my community that need assistance,” he says. “Why give money to a new school when our own schools need help?”
Rangel counterattacked. He took his story to the charter-school-loving editorial board of the Chicago Tribune. And on December 10 the Trib weighed in with an editorial ripping Sposato and praising UNO as, among other things, “one of the best charter operators in the city.”
He asked that the committee defer the matter, giving him time to hold another community meeting. “I know CTU loaded that first meeting—that’s what good organizers do,” he says. “I wanted another meeting to see if there was strong support from people outside the union.”
Up against the wall, Sposato decided to make a compromise to try to ensure the school was at least helping kids in his ward. “I told UNO I’d sign on to the zoning if they created an attendance boundary.”
