CTU vision for a quality education for all children
This morning the Chicago Teachers’ Union presented a comprehensive set of research-based proposals to strengthen the Chicago Public Schools, called “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve.”
I was pleased to be asked to say a few words on behalf of PURE. This is what I said:
I’m very glad to be here. First of all, as a parent group, PURE wants to take this opportunity to reaffirm that we stand strong with our children’s teachers in the fight for a high quality education for every child. Parents trust teachers more than politicians, mayors, former basketball players, education hobbyists, (here I added “Tribune editorial writers” to be timely) or wealthy philanthropists to know how to educate children. We know that teachers care about our children’s education the way we do, and we trust teachers to know and do what’s best for them in the classroom.
These days parents are being bombarded with million-dollar advertising – some of it trying to pass as news and some as movies and documentaries – promoting the privatization of public education. Every day we hear about how terrible the schools are and how terrible the teachers are. We’re supposed to feel afraid, and that’s supposed to make us run scared to