VIEW ONLINE: http://dev.portside.org/2012-09-20/chicago-teacher-strike-ends-wj SUBSCRIBE: http://portside.org/subscribe VISIT PORTSIDE.ORG: http://portside.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Teacher Strike Ends - WJ <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2012-09-20T00:00:00-05:00">September 20, 2012</span> By Diane Ravitch Diane Ravitch's blog (Tue, 2012-09-18 00:00) <p>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 /> <strong>Why did they strike?</strong> 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.</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. Submit via email: [log in to unmask] Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the PORTSIDETEST list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(PORTSIDETEST,SIGNOFF);