Chicago Teacher Strike: Three Things To Remember
I’ve been through two strikes in my teaching career–one as a newly hired teacher and one as a local union president. Believe me when I tell you this: no teacher wants to strike. It is always a tool of last resort, because it is always difficult, stressful, and disruptive. When teachers strike, it is always because they have run out of options.
Teachers do not strike because union leaders somehow force them to. This is particularly true in Chicago, where the teachers’ union is one of the most democratically run of the big city unions.
But as Chicago teachers and support staff hit the picket lines today, and news outlets rush to cover and, in some cases, spin it, here are three things to keep in mind.
This is not your grandfather’s teacher strike.
In the previous century, teacher strikes were simple. Teachers went to the bargaining table for more pay, school boards dug in their heels and refused to negotiate, and so, strike.
But the Chicago strike is about more than that. The union’s message on its website is simple; Chicago Teachers Union is “fighting for quality pay and benefits (including health care), full staffing in our schools, smaller class sizes and justice for students and families.” Teachers are asking for a hard cap on class sizes, prep time during their work day, support staff for all schools (like the social workers, librarians and school nurses that the majority of schools lack), affordable housing programs, and special assistance for homeless students. They would also like the mayor to write these agreements down in an enforceable contract (as if one cannot trust the word of a Chicago politician).
In short, CTU is not just trying to improve conditions for its own CONTINUE READING: Chicago Teacher Strike: Three Things To Remember