CONTEXT - We are part of a movement greater than us!
VOTE YES FOR MICHIGAN "PROTECT OUR JOBS" Amendment Proposal 2
The Chicago Teacher Strike is NOT about Teacher Salaries
Sept. 12, 2012 If you watched the news in the last few days, you would think all of the teachers of Chicago were greedy assholes who care nothing about the needs of their students or the parents of Chicago.
After all. they turned down a 16% raise, right? Wouldn't most of us LOVE a 16% raise?
First, let's be clear. This raise was meant to accomplish two things: compensate teachers for the proposed 90 minute increase in their work day (an 8% increase) and to increase teacher pay to keep up with the cost of living in Chicago (something the remaining 8% most certainly would not actually do.). That doesn't even keep up with the rate of inflation over the next four years.
But despite this fact and even though compensation and benefits are definitely important to Chicago teachers, the issues on which the negotiations between the city of Chicago and the Chicago Teachers Union are stalled have little to do with teacher compensation.
This strike is about class size.
The teachers in Chicago Public Schools work incredibly hard to deliver quality instruction and outcomes to the 400,000 students in the city, but the deck is stacked against those students and teachers. I should know. I used to teach in CPS, and many of my good friends are dedicated CPS teachers.
No one disputes that students who live in poverty are much less likely to succeed in school for a myriad of reasons, and in Chicago, 87% of students who attend public schools live in poverty. Further, there is a research-proven causational relationship between class size and level of achievement in school. Plus, the gains made by students of Color when class size is reduced are even greater than for their White peers (a notable fact considering that in Chicago Public Schools, 91.2% of enrolled students are students of Color).
Despite these facts, though, Rahm Emmanuel and the Chicago Board of Education are demanding that teachers sign a contract that would allow classrooms with up to 50 students. When I taught, I had one class with 42 on the roster. When even 36 of those students would show up to my classroom with 34 desks, learning was INCREDIBLY difficult. The teachers of Chicago know that such high caps on class side will be wildly detrimental to their students' learning.
This is a strike for a system that values holistic student learning. (click here for rest of article)
After all. they turned down a 16% raise, right? Wouldn't most of us LOVE a 16% raise?
First, let's be clear. This raise was meant to accomplish two things: compensate teachers for the proposed 90 minute increase in their work day (an 8% increase) and to increase teacher pay to keep up with the cost of living in Chicago (something the remaining 8% most certainly would not actually do.). That doesn't even keep up with the rate of inflation over the next four years.
But despite this fact and even though compensation and benefits are definitely important to Chicago teachers, the issues on which the negotiations between the city of Chicago and the Chicago Teachers Union are stalled have little to do with teacher compensation.
This strike is about class size.
The teachers in Chicago Public Schools work incredibly hard to deliver quality instruction and outcomes to the 400,000 students in the city, but the deck is stacked against those students and teachers. I should know. I used to teach in CPS, and many of my good friends are dedicated CPS teachers.
No one disputes that students who live in poverty are much less likely to succeed in school for a myriad of reasons, and in Chicago, 87% of students who attend public schools live in poverty. Further, there is a research-proven causational relationship between class size and level of achievement in school. Plus, the gains made by students of Color when class size is reduced are even greater than for their White peers (a notable fact considering that in Chicago Public Schools, 91.2% of enrolled students are students of Color).
Despite these facts, though, Rahm Emmanuel and the Chicago Board of Education are demanding that teachers sign a contract that would allow classrooms with up to 50 students. When I taught, I had one class with 42 on the roster. When even 36 of those students would show up to my classroom with 34 desks, learning was INCREDIBLY difficult. The teachers of Chicago know that such high caps on class side will be wildly detrimental to their students' learning.
This is a strike for a system that values holistic student learning. (click here for rest of article)
Director of Private School Where Rahm Sends His Kids Opposes Using Testing for Teacher Evaluations
- Mike Elk
Unlike occasional teacher union opponent Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not send his kids to public schools. Instead, Emanuel's chilren attend one of the most elite prep schools in Chicago, the University of Chicago Lab School, where the annual tuition is more than $20,000.
The conditions at the University of Chicago Lab Schools are dramatically different than those at Chicago Public Schools, which are currently closed with teachers engaged in a high-profile strike. The Lab School has seven full-time art teachers to serve a student population of $1,700. By contrast, only 25% of Chicago's "neighborhood elementary schools" have both a full-time art and music instructor. The Lab School has three different libraries, while 160 Chicago public elementary schools do not have a library. (click here to read the rest of the article)
Unlike occasional teacher union opponent Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not send his kids to public schools. Instead, Emanuel's chilren attend one of the most elite prep schools in Chicago, the University of Chicago Lab School, where the annual tuition is more than $20,000.
The conditions at the University of Chicago Lab Schools are dramatically different than those at Chicago Public Schools, which are currently closed with teachers engaged in a high-profile strike. The Lab School has seven full-time art teachers to serve a student population of $1,700. By contrast, only 25% of Chicago's "neighborhood elementary schools" have both a full-time art and music instructor. The Lab School has three different libraries, while 160 Chicago public elementary schools do not have a library. (click here to read the rest of the article)
The Chicago Teacher Strike is Also About the Future
Teacher and Professor of Education Emery Petchauer explains how he came to understand the necessity of teachers' union strikes. (Click here to read the article)
"When I finally realized that we weren't only working for our own benefit but for the benefit of future teachers, I saw the importance of raw contract negotiations and even a strike. When people see thousands of Chicago Public School teachers organizing in the streets, it is all too easy (and incorrect) to assume that they are fighting for only themselves. If we want teaching to be a profession that is attractive to the "best and brightest" and a viable long term career (not one that is used as a 2-year stepping-stone to another career), we have to take-up the fight today. This is precisely what teachers in Chicago are doing."
"When I finally realized that we weren't only working for our own benefit but for the benefit of future teachers, I saw the importance of raw contract negotiations and even a strike. When people see thousands of Chicago Public School teachers organizing in the streets, it is all too easy (and incorrect) to assume that they are fighting for only themselves. If we want teaching to be a profession that is attractive to the "best and brightest" and a viable long term career (not one that is used as a 2-year stepping-stone to another career), we have to take-up the fight today. This is precisely what teachers in Chicago are doing."
