VIEW ONLINE: http://dev.portside.org/2012-09-20/chicago-will SUBSCRIBE: http://portside.org/subscribe VISIT PORTSIDE.ORG: http://portside.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago-Will <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2012-09-20T00:00:00-05:00">September 20, 2012</span> By [node:field-author] [node:field-name-of-source] (Thu, 2012-09-20 00:00) <ul> <li> <a href="#Ravitch">Chicago Teacher Strike Ends - Diane Ravitch </a></li> <li> <a href="#Jackson">Important School Issues Are `Off the Table' - Jesse Jackson</a></li> <li> <a href="#Gonzalez">Chicago Teachers Union Leader Karen Lewis Pushed Back - and Won - Juan Gonzalez</a></li> </ul> <p><strong><a name="Ravitch">Chicago Teacher Strike Ends</a></strong><br /> <br /> by Diane Ravitch<br /> <br /> Diane Ravitch's blog September 18, 2012<br /> <br /> <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/18/chicago-teacher- strike-ends/">http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/18/chicago-teacher-<br /> strike-ends/</a><br /> <br /> You have heard the news by now that the strike is over.<br /> I was lecturing in Chattanooga and meeting with leaders<br /> of the community from 2 pm until now. My brother<br /> tweeted to ask why I was behind the curve. Oops,<br /> offline.<br /> <br /> Pundits and commentators will be poring over the Deep<br /> Meaning of all this for weeks and months to come. There<br /> will be countless articles about Lessons Learned.<br /> <br /> Personally, I think we have a good idea already about<br /> why the teachers went on strike. No, it wasn't greed or<br /> money. The compensation piece was more or less settled<br /> before the strike. Pundits and talk-show hosts who take<br /> home hundreds of thousands a year will express outrage<br /> that teachers - teachers! - might make $80,000. I ask<br /> you, who adds more social value - a first grade teacher<br /> in Chicago or a talk show host on national radio or TV?<br /> <br /> Why did they strike? After 17 years of reform and<br /> disrespect, they were fed up with the bullying. They<br /> were tired of the non-educators and politicians telling<br /> them how to teach and imposing their remedies. Reform<br /> after reform, and children in Chicago still don't have<br /> the rich curriculum, the facilities, and the social<br /> services they need.<br /> <br /> They were sick of the incessant school closings. They<br /> were sick of seeing charter schools open that get<br /> wildly uneven results yet are praised to the skies by<br /> Arne Duncan and now Rahm Emanuel. They knew that the<br /> charter schools are non-union and that the Mayor will<br /> use them to break the union.<br /> <br /> In the end, the union pitted itself against Rahm<br /> Emanuel, Arne Duncan, Chicago's business and civic<br /> leadership, and the Race to the Top. It took on the<br /> most powerful forces in the city, and yes, even<br /> President Obama, who remained neutral.<br /> <br /> And by taking a stand, by uniting to resist the power<br /> elite, these teachers discovered they were strong. They<br /> had been downtrodden and disrespected, but no longer.<br /> They put on their red T-shirts and commanded the<br /> attention of the nation and the admiration of millions<br /> of teachers. Powerless no more, they showed that unity<br /> made them strong. 98% voted to authorize the strike,<br /> and 98% voted to end it.<br /> <br /> The union was fortunate in having Karen Lewis as its<br /> president. She was one of them. She had taught<br /> chemistry in the Chicago public schools for more than<br /> 20 years. She is one of the few - perhaps the only -<br /> union leader in the nation who is Nationally Board<br /> Certified, a mark of her excellence as a teacher.<br /> <br /> Not only is she a teacher through and through, she is a<br /> graduate of Dartmouth. She is neither impressed nor<br /> intimidated by the elites who flaunt their Ivy League<br /> credentials. Hers are as good as theirs. Maybe better.<br /> She is a woman of valor.<br /> <br /> Karen Lewis gave courage to her members, and they gave<br /> courage to her.<br /> <br /> The strike is one of the few weapons available to the<br /> powerless. Without the union, the teachers would have<br /> been ignored, and the politicians would be free to keep<br /> on reforming them again and again and again.<br /> <br /> The strike transformed the teachers from powerless to<br /> powerful.<br /> <br /> The teachers said, "Enough is enough. With us, not to<br /> us."<br /> <br /> Regardless of the terms of the contract, the teachers<br /> won.<br /> <br /> Thank you, CTU.<br /> </p> <p>===</p> <p><strong><a name="Jackson">Important school issues are `off the table'</a></strong><br /> <br /> by Jesse Jackson<br /> <br /> Chicago Sun-Times September 17, 2012<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/15204506-452/impor tant-school-issues-are-off-the-table.html">http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/15204506-452/impor<br /> tant-school-issues-are-off-the-table.html</a><br /> <br /> The Chicago teachers strike has gotten national<br /> attention, much of it presuming that the biggest issues<br /> are pay and evaluation. But the Chicago Teachers Union<br /> has stated that the two sides have been very close on<br /> pay.<br /> <br /> And union members have no objection to evaluation; they<br /> just want a system not so skewed to standardized, high-<br /> stakes testing. These tests aren't particularly good<br /> ways to measure teacher performance and, even worse,<br /> have the perverse effect of forcing teachers to teach<br /> kids to take tests rather than to love learning.<br /> <br /> But the big issues for these schools and for the<br /> teachers aren't talked about because they are<br /> officially "off the table." CTU teachers are most<br /> concerned about class size, about adequate facilities,<br /> about wraparound services from social workers to<br /> nurses, about well-rounded curricula including art and<br /> music and languages, about early childhood education<br /> that helps children come to school ready to learn.<br /> <br /> This isn't fancy stuff. One concern is classrooms that<br /> reach temperatures of up to 98 degrees in summer; only<br /> 29 percent of schools are air-conditioned. Another is<br /> about textbooks for the first day of school. Many of<br /> Chicago's elementary and middle schools have no safe<br /> place for recess, and few have age-appropriate<br /> playground equipment. There are 160 elementary schools<br /> without a library; 140 are in the poorer South Side of<br /> the city. Even though a staggering 80 percent of inner-<br /> city teen boys are exposed to violence, 675 schools<br /> share about 205 social workers. Schools often must<br /> choose between art and music, if they are lucky enough<br /> to have either.<br /> <br /> Too often, Chicago is not providing the basics in<br /> public education for its most needy children. The CTU<br /> published a report detailing these concerns. But under<br /> state law, they can't negotiate about them unless their<br /> employer agrees - and neither Mayor Rahm Emanuel nor<br /> school officials will consent to enter into<br /> negotiations about these crucial conditions.<br /> <br /> When the teachers strike ends and children return to<br /> class, teachers will get the blame for the performance<br /> of the students. But they can't negotiate about<br /> crushing poverty, broken families and hard streets that<br /> impact the hearts, souls and minds of the children they<br /> teach. And teachers can't even negotiate about the<br /> quality of the facilities and the educational<br /> opportunities provided by the schools where they teach.<br /> <br /> It's not surprising that teachers react when a<br /> contractually agreed 4 percent pay raise is revoked or<br /> the school day and school year are lengthened without<br /> negotiations. They are frustrated at the lack of<br /> respect paid to the needs of the children they teach.<br /> And they are bound to be frustrated at the lack of<br /> respect paid to their own contracts.<br /> <br /> No one likes teachers strikes. But teachers are on the<br /> front line. In a time of spreading poverty and rising<br /> hunger, with harsh exploitation of the poor by<br /> landlords and payday lenders, poor children too often<br /> come to impoverished schools.<br /> <br /> Teachers take the rap for poor student performance<br /> without having the power to change what gets in the way<br /> of learning. Grading teachers on the basis of a<br /> machine-graded test cannot substitute for schools with<br /> playgrounds and social workers, classes with manageable<br /> numbers, or roofs that don't leak.<br /> <br /> Poverty, inequality, violence, race and investment<br /> matter.<br /> <br /> They must be a part of any long-term solution.</p> <p>===</p> <p><strong><a name="Gonzalez">Chicago Teachers Union Leader Karen Lewis Pushed<br /> Back - and Won Feisty firebrand has emerged as new<br /> champion for millions of public school teachers</a></strong><br /> <br /> by Juan Gonzalez<br /> <br /> New York Daily News September 17, 2012<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/chicago-teachers- union-leader-karen-lewis-pushed-back-won- article-1.1161008">http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/chicago-teachers-<br /> union-leader-karen-lewis-pushed-back-won-<br /> article-1.1161008</a><br /> <br /> Karen Lewis, who last week led 29,000 Chicago teachers<br /> on a school strike heard across the nation, has<br /> suddenly emerged as the new champion for millions of<br /> frustrated public school teachers.<br /> <br /> Many of those teachers are sick and tired of being made<br /> into scapegoats by politicians and corporate honchos<br /> who never spent a single day in front of a classroom.<br /> <br /> They are fed up with overcrowded classrooms in rundown<br /> buildings, with bureaucrats who keep hiring high-paid<br /> consultants despite huge budget deficits, with new<br /> state laws that tie teacher evaluation to their<br /> students' test scores, with the constant closing of<br /> neighborhood schools and the stampede to charter<br /> schools.<br /> <br /> But most of all, they are furious at the lack of<br /> respect for them and their profession.<br /> <br /> Until this week, no one - not even American Federation<br /> of Teachers chief Randi Weingarten - had found a way to<br /> turn back the tide of teacher bashing.<br /> <br /> Then the feisty firebrand Lewis burst on the scene.<br /> <br /> For a week, she went toe-to-toe against Chicago Mayor<br /> Rahm Emanuel, the former Obama White House chief-of-<br /> staff known for his short fuse, foul mouth and take-no-<br /> prisoners style.<br /> <br /> And by any measure, Lewis came come out a winner.<br /> <br /> The preliminary deal that emerged over the weekend -<br /> once it's approved by the rank and file this week -<br /> will restore respect for teachers nationwide.<br /> <br /> Lewis came out of nowhere in 2010, after two decades as<br /> a top high school teacher, to lead an insurgent group<br /> that swept out the old Chicago Teachers Union leaders.<br /> <br /> That old leadership had meekly gone along for nearly a<br /> decade with the agenda of Chicago's former public<br /> schools chief, Arne Duncan.<br /> <br /> And once Duncan went to Washington as President Obama's<br /> Secretary of Education, his Chicago agenda became<br /> Obama's Race to the Top. Duncan used federal aid to<br /> states for more closures of low-performing schools,<br /> teacher layoffs, merit pay raises, charter schools, and<br /> more standardized tests.<br /> <br /> It's the same agenda our own Mayor Bloomberg, a handful<br /> of billionaire philanthropists and many Republican<br /> leaders across America have been pursuing.<br /> <br /> Lewis and her insurgent group vowed to challenge these<br /> so- called reforms head on. Once in command, she forged<br /> a close alliance with several Chicago parent groups<br /> whose members were equally furious at being excluded<br /> from educational decision- making.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, Mayor Emanuel showed Lewis' members complete<br /> disdain. He rescinded a 4% pay raise in the existing<br /> union contract. He sought to have 40% of teacher<br /> evaluations based on their students' test scores. And<br /> he vowed to close more schools without offering laid-<br /> off teachers a chance to be rehired.<br /> <br /> Little wonder that Lewis won a huge mandate from her<br /> members for their first strike in 25 years.<br /> <br /> Once the walkout began, Emanuel was forced to back down<br /> on some major items. He gave up his demand for merit<br /> pay. He agreed that least 50% of laid off teachers<br /> would be rehired when new positions became available,<br /> and to allow teachers to "follow their students" when<br /> schools closed.<br /> <br /> Pupil test scores will still count for 30% of a<br /> teacher's evaluations, but teachers will have the right<br /> to appeal those evaluations.<br /> <br /> Lewis even won new "anti-bullying" provisions against<br /> principals and supervisors, and new faculty diversity<br /> commitments to stem Chicago's disproportionate firings<br /> of black teachers in recent years.<br /> <br /> The contract, moreover, calls for the school district<br /> to immediately hire more than 500 art, music, foreign<br /> language and gym teachers - welcome news to parents.<br /> <br /> Which is why wherever public school teachers gathered<br /> last week, the strike in Chicago was the subject of<br /> conversation.<br /> <br /> Finally, a group of teachers had stood up back against<br /> all that bashing.<br /> <br /> </p> -------------------------------------------------------------------- Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. 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