The Weekly Update: The Chicago teachers strike and where it all began
The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed.
Who Is Victimizing Chicago’s Kids?
Yes, schoolchildren in Chicago are victims, but not of their teachers. They are victims of a nationwide education “reform” movement geared to undermine teachers’ unions and shift public resources into private hands; they are victims of wave after wave of ill-conceived and failing policy “innovations”; they are victims of George Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, which turned inner-city public schools into boot camps for standardized test prep; they are
Words can’t begin to express my gratitude for this. I’m a very proud middle school reading teacher in CPS. I strike not by choice as the mayor has stated but on principle. You have clearly articulated why I am on the picket. My students deserve better. We bailed out the banks while allowing public schools to fail. I stand up for public education and demand that we not allow companies to run schools. I stand up for worker’s rights and for the rights of the poor. Thank you.From Dissent magazine, Joanne Barkin writes:
Who Is Victimizing Chicago’s Kids?
Yes, schoolchildren in Chicago are victims, but not of their teachers. They are victims of a nationwide education “reform” movement geared to undermine teachers’ unions and shift public resources into private hands; they are victims of wave after wave of ill-conceived and failing policy “innovations”; they are victims of George Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, which turned inner-city public schools into boot camps for standardized test prep; they are