Volume 27, Issue 2
Reinventing Teachers’ Unions
Are we on the cusp of a new social justice unionism for teachers? Last year, Wisconsin teachers grabbed international attention with a takeover of the state capitol. This fall, the collaborative nature of the successful Chicago Teachers Union strike—and the breadth of parental, student, and community support—heartened and inspired education activists everywhere. What can we learn? Where do we go from here?
Editorial: New Teachers' Union Movement in the Making
By the editors of Rethinking Schools
Lessons in Social Justice UnionismAn interview with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis
How did Chicago teachers win their strike? What is the significance of their victory? What’s next?
– ALSO FEATURED –
“When Are You Going to Come Visit?”Home visits and seeing our students
By Elizabeth Schlessman
A 4th-grade teacher visits her students’ families— all recent immigrants to the United States—and realizes how much she has been missing about their lives.
The Character of Our ContentA parent confronts bias in early elementary literature
By Jennifer Holladay
Her daughter’s homework—a story that legitimizes rape and extols whiteness as the standard for beauty—leads a parent to question the balance between teaching skills and teaching content.