Building fighting teachers unions
As rank-and-file teachers around the U.S. seek to revitalize their unions, looks at the high stakes in the struggles ahead.
August 8, 2013
Chicago teachers, parents and students protest drastic cuts to the school budget (Sarah-ji)THE SCHOOL year is set to begin with teachers looking to the example of last year's successful Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike as their union locals face their toughest struggles in 50 years.
It's difficult to overstate the challenges facing public school teachers--and the children, parents and communities they serve--as the next wave of corporate-driven "education reform" takes shape.
Privatization is rampant, with chunks of entire school systems like New Orleans and Detroit being turned over to charter operators--or with plans to turn them over. Half of the schools in Kansas City, Mo., have already been closed. In Los Angeles, charter schools have siphoned some 10 percent of student enrollment away from traditional public schools. In Philadelphia, budget cuts are being used to threaten the layoff of thousands of teachers unless their union agrees to staggering contract concessions.
What's more, new legislation in states across the U.S. mandate harsh evaluation schemes, attacks on teacher tenure and the proliferation of charters, thanks to the Obama administration's federal Race to the Top grant program that requires such changes.
The CTU strike was far and away the biggest and most successful example of teacher resistance to this onslaught. At a time when the CTU's national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), is in full retreat, the Chicago teachers showed that an