southernmissfan
18th September 2012, 22:42
Why should you support the Chicago teacher strike? There are a variety of reasons why they are on strike…and why they are justified. This is no mere labor battle. Rather, the entire direction of public education and the corporate reform “movement” are up for debate. Big corporate money has targeted public education as an untapped market with potential profits to squeeze out. These profits are made in a variety of ways—privatization and charter schools, union busting, large reductions in staff, cutting out programs, closing neighborhood schools, heavy emphasis on standardized tests (a big money maker in itself). The list goes on. The two corporatist parties, Democrats and Republicans, along with the mainstream media, have lovingly embraced corporate education reform while students, parents, and teachers bear the consequences of the assault. One frustrating thing about education is that it is a very well researched field. While there are plenty of competing theories and ideas, there is a general consensus about works in education. We also know what education can and cannot do and the effects of a society on its education system are well documented. However, the debate has been framed as status quo (greedy, lazy teacher unions) on one side and the corporate reform model on the other. Teachers do not desire the status quo. Teachers want to improve schools and advance conditions for students, parents, communities, and themselves. Teachers want what we know works, like smaller class sizes, rich and broad curriculum, engaging lessons focused on higher order thinking, wrap around services (social workers, psychologists, medical care, etc.), high quality professional development, and extensive new teacher induction programs. In most cases, the corporate education model opposes what we know works in favor of untested methods and even harmful practices that run contrary to established research. That’s because the reform movement is not about what’s best for schools or students and is not built by experts in the field. It’s about profit and is part of the larger push for austerity, where public services are privatized while the cost is socialized. It’s classic crisis capitalism. A crisis, in this case education, is identified and the private sector teams up with the state to “fix” the crisis through neoliberalism. It’s arguable to what extent America’s public schools are “failing” and in what ways they are failing. To the extent that they are failing, it is because of the very people and reforms that are supposed to be fixing them in addition to larger, structural problems in society (that these same folks ignore or exacerbate in their reforms).
Let’s start with salary, which has been talked about a lot by opponents of the strike. Previous attacks on bargaining rights mean that the CTU’s only allowed justification for striking is a salary dispute. However, the two sides have been close on the numbers for some time. This is not a primarily salary issue. Teachers should be fairly compensated for the lengthened school day (20% increase) and to keep up with cost of living increases. At one time, Mayor Emanuel agreed to a 4% raise. He then revised it to 2%. But despite what opponents would have you believe, it’s not really about the pay.
There is a big issue with salary. It’s not the amount, but the method: so called “merit pay.” Corporate reformers want to tie teacher pay to standardized test scores. To the laymen, there is a sort of common sense to this idea. After all, the salary/wages of many jobs are tied to performance and production. But this common sense approach falls apart upon closer examination. Even a cursory glance at assessment research confirms that standardized tests are not as objective as claimed. Standardized tests are flawed academic measurements of students that are significantly affected by socioeconomic background and factors beyond the control of teachers. The tests are rather poor assessments that encourage rote memorization and recall. Education has now become rote instruction, preparing America’s youth for a future of McJobs. The intellectual, academic quality of instruction and content continues to decline in the push for ever increasing test scores. It is perhaps no mere coincidence that those who impose these policies of privatization and corporate reform send their kids to private schools. We also know that these tests are not meant to determine pay and that when they do, it doesn’t even produce positive results. While it no doubt sounds foreign to big money reformers, teachers typically did not enter the profession for the money. Dangling financial carrots to play along with the corporate game does not appear to be compatible with education, especially when we see the results of the corporate game on students and teachers alike. It does result in even higher focus on the tests at the expense of everything else. It results in high pressure, precarious employment for teachers (no wonder there has been cheating scandals like the one in Atlanta). It results in teachers losing wages and even losing their jobs, usually through no fault of their own, because of a flawed type of assessment that has been elevated to such a high status as to have detrimental effects on education.
Teachers want job security and recall rights. Teachers who are laid off due to school closings and reorganization want to be rehired. Chicago teachers are fed up with school “turnarounds” and closings that result in layoffs and harm to communities. They are tired of schools being underfunded, being left without adequate supplies and facilities and even air conditioning, while private coffers are being filled. They are tired of privately ran (and importantly, non-union) charter schools opening up while neighborhood schools are ignored. The merits of charter schools and turnarounds have been thoroughly discussed and debated elsewhere. Results for student achievement are mixed at best, especially considering these schools often focus primarily on the standardized tests the reformers love to use as measurements. One must also take into account that many charter schools are selective, enrolling high achieving students and having less diversity and special needs students. In the pursuit of profit, class sizes are expanded, facilities and faculty are bare bones and cheap, and students are even fined for petty offenses. In this profit-driven, budget-based world of education, hiring decisions are based on the bottom line and not the well-being of the students. We know trained, experienced teachers are more effective. However, it is cheaper to hire novice teachers and of course, Teach for America graduates (the darling program of reformers and a solid failure). There’s also the trend of temporary contract and part time teaching positions with hourly wages and no benefits. Sound like a recipe for academic success?
Chicago teachers are fighting for wraparound services for schools. This means counselors, psychologists, and nurses. Teachers are fighting to have libraries in their schools. They are fighting to have more professional development, clear job descriptions, and the time and resources to effectively carry out job duties. They are fighting to finally have a full staff so students, parents, and teachers will have a strong support system and effective, successful schools. Full staffing would mean smaller class sizes, which means more learning. They are fighting for a broad, rich curriculum. This means physical education, the arts and music, and foreign languages to promote student engagement and expand learning.
One thing that needs to be made clear is that there is only so much that schools can do. Education is deeply impacted by society and its problems. Structural inequality, poverty, race, hunger, homelessness, lack of healthcare, violence—these are the factors that largely shape failure of schools. Until these problems are addressed, the achievement gap will not close. We have the research. We know that we cannot teach our way out of inequality, or poverty, or other structural issues. Until the political will and courage is there to address these problems, there is only so much that can be done in education. When families are living paycheck to paycheck, when neighborhoods erupt in violence due to a failed, immoral and irrational drug war, when children lack healthcare, when the political, social and economic resources are concentrated into the hands of a few, our education system will always suffer.
The corporate reformers, politicians, and mainstream media supporting them have been painting teachers as lazy and overpaid unions as obstacles to progress. There is an appeal to a sort of envy or resentment against teachers. It is one of the few professions left (though attacks have left profession status questionable), with significant days off, heavy unionization, and job security/tenure. There is a disturbing image of teachers being overpaid, underworked, glorified babysitters. Of course, anyone who has ever experienced the profession knows this couldn’t be farther from the truth. We are often reminded of bad teachers, or of mediocre teachers. Of course, most of us have had a poor or mediocre teacher. And most of us have had a poor or mediocre waiter, doctor, mechanic and any other damn thing. I agree that it is very important to have excellent teachers. But if we are to demand excellence and expect excellence, we must give teachers the resources and knowledge to be excellent. We should constantly seek to improve our teachers through professional development and training. Teachers do not oppose evaluation. Who knows you really get frustrated with bad teachers? Good teachers. It makes their job harder and is a poor reflection on them. Evaluation does not and should not be reliant on standardized tests. The reform crowd simultaneously paints teaching as some elevated calling that demands perfection, yet looks at teachers as lazy, greedy losers, all while setting teachers and schools up to fail. Like when some argue that teachers should not be able to strike, as it will harm the children. Don’t want a strike? Treat teachers with the respect and resources they deserve. If they believe teachers are so important that they do not deserve the human right to withhold labor, why is this importance not reflected as a major priority? There is something offensive about millionaires and billionaires convincing private sector workers that they should resent public employees. Teachers have fought tooth and nail for decades for the rights and benefits they have that are under attack. Do not resent teachers for pursuing bargaining rights. Or for having some protection against being fired on a whim. Or for having vacation days. Instead, ask why this is the exception rather than the rule. Ask why we should spread the misery of neoliberal, corporate working conditions. The corporate education model is like the corporate model of industry: downsize, outsource, squeeze workers, cut benefits, and crush unions. A teacher’s working conditions is a student’s learning conditions. The education of our children and the lives of our teachers should not be sacrificed at the altar of profit.
Chicago teachers are tired of the top-down, disrespectful imposition of corporate reform by Mayor Emmanuel and his wealthy backers. They are standing up and saying enough is enough to the corporate reform agenda. It is time for educators to have a say in education. Those pushing for corporate reform are the same who have consistently underfunded schools, consistently refused to support education, and consistently refused to address the poverty, violence and inequality in our society. They set up the schools to fail, swoop in to “fix” them with their free market-based schemes, which makes things worse and then the cycle repeats. This vicious circle has to stop. It is time for research-based practices to be put in place. It is time for our schools to be fully funded, for students, parents and teachers to finally be given the support needed for success. Chicago teachers are striking for better schools. They are fighting not just for themselves but for the students, parents and communities. The community is behind them and so is the majority of the nation. In standing up for what is right and confronting power in the pursuit of justice, these teachers are giving students one of the most important lessons they will ever learn.
Let’s start with salary, which has been talked about a lot by opponents of the strike. Previous attacks on bargaining rights mean that the CTU’s only allowed justification for striking is a salary dispute. However, the two sides have been close on the numbers for some time. This is not a primarily salary issue. Teachers should be fairly compensated for the lengthened school day (20% increase) and to keep up with cost of living increases. At one time, Mayor Emanuel agreed to a 4% raise. He then revised it to 2%. But despite what opponents would have you believe, it’s not really about the pay.
There is a big issue with salary. It’s not the amount, but the method: so called “merit pay.” Corporate reformers want to tie teacher pay to standardized test scores. To the laymen, there is a sort of common sense to this idea. After all, the salary/wages of many jobs are tied to performance and production. But this common sense approach falls apart upon closer examination. Even a cursory glance at assessment research confirms that standardized tests are not as objective as claimed. Standardized tests are flawed academic measurements of students that are significantly affected by socioeconomic background and factors beyond the control of teachers. The tests are rather poor assessments that encourage rote memorization and recall. Education has now become rote instruction, preparing America’s youth for a future of McJobs. The intellectual, academic quality of instruction and content continues to decline in the push for ever increasing test scores. It is perhaps no mere coincidence that those who impose these policies of privatization and corporate reform send their kids to private schools. We also know that these tests are not meant to determine pay and that when they do, it doesn’t even produce positive results. While it no doubt sounds foreign to big money reformers, teachers typically did not enter the profession for the money. Dangling financial carrots to play along with the corporate game does not appear to be compatible with education, especially when we see the results of the corporate game on students and teachers alike. It does result in even higher focus on the tests at the expense of everything else. It results in high pressure, precarious employment for teachers (no wonder there has been cheating scandals like the one in Atlanta). It results in teachers losing wages and even losing their jobs, usually through no fault of their own, because of a flawed type of assessment that has been elevated to such a high status as to have detrimental effects on education.
Teachers want job security and recall rights. Teachers who are laid off due to school closings and reorganization want to be rehired. Chicago teachers are fed up with school “turnarounds” and closings that result in layoffs and harm to communities. They are tired of schools being underfunded, being left without adequate supplies and facilities and even air conditioning, while private coffers are being filled. They are tired of privately ran (and importantly, non-union) charter schools opening up while neighborhood schools are ignored. The merits of charter schools and turnarounds have been thoroughly discussed and debated elsewhere. Results for student achievement are mixed at best, especially considering these schools often focus primarily on the standardized tests the reformers love to use as measurements. One must also take into account that many charter schools are selective, enrolling high achieving students and having less diversity and special needs students. In the pursuit of profit, class sizes are expanded, facilities and faculty are bare bones and cheap, and students are even fined for petty offenses. In this profit-driven, budget-based world of education, hiring decisions are based on the bottom line and not the well-being of the students. We know trained, experienced teachers are more effective. However, it is cheaper to hire novice teachers and of course, Teach for America graduates (the darling program of reformers and a solid failure). There’s also the trend of temporary contract and part time teaching positions with hourly wages and no benefits. Sound like a recipe for academic success?
Chicago teachers are fighting for wraparound services for schools. This means counselors, psychologists, and nurses. Teachers are fighting to have libraries in their schools. They are fighting to have more professional development, clear job descriptions, and the time and resources to effectively carry out job duties. They are fighting to finally have a full staff so students, parents, and teachers will have a strong support system and effective, successful schools. Full staffing would mean smaller class sizes, which means more learning. They are fighting for a broad, rich curriculum. This means physical education, the arts and music, and foreign languages to promote student engagement and expand learning.
One thing that needs to be made clear is that there is only so much that schools can do. Education is deeply impacted by society and its problems. Structural inequality, poverty, race, hunger, homelessness, lack of healthcare, violence—these are the factors that largely shape failure of schools. Until these problems are addressed, the achievement gap will not close. We have the research. We know that we cannot teach our way out of inequality, or poverty, or other structural issues. Until the political will and courage is there to address these problems, there is only so much that can be done in education. When families are living paycheck to paycheck, when neighborhoods erupt in violence due to a failed, immoral and irrational drug war, when children lack healthcare, when the political, social and economic resources are concentrated into the hands of a few, our education system will always suffer.
The corporate reformers, politicians, and mainstream media supporting them have been painting teachers as lazy and overpaid unions as obstacles to progress. There is an appeal to a sort of envy or resentment against teachers. It is one of the few professions left (though attacks have left profession status questionable), with significant days off, heavy unionization, and job security/tenure. There is a disturbing image of teachers being overpaid, underworked, glorified babysitters. Of course, anyone who has ever experienced the profession knows this couldn’t be farther from the truth. We are often reminded of bad teachers, or of mediocre teachers. Of course, most of us have had a poor or mediocre teacher. And most of us have had a poor or mediocre waiter, doctor, mechanic and any other damn thing. I agree that it is very important to have excellent teachers. But if we are to demand excellence and expect excellence, we must give teachers the resources and knowledge to be excellent. We should constantly seek to improve our teachers through professional development and training. Teachers do not oppose evaluation. Who knows you really get frustrated with bad teachers? Good teachers. It makes their job harder and is a poor reflection on them. Evaluation does not and should not be reliant on standardized tests. The reform crowd simultaneously paints teaching as some elevated calling that demands perfection, yet looks at teachers as lazy, greedy losers, all while setting teachers and schools up to fail. Like when some argue that teachers should not be able to strike, as it will harm the children. Don’t want a strike? Treat teachers with the respect and resources they deserve. If they believe teachers are so important that they do not deserve the human right to withhold labor, why is this importance not reflected as a major priority? There is something offensive about millionaires and billionaires convincing private sector workers that they should resent public employees. Teachers have fought tooth and nail for decades for the rights and benefits they have that are under attack. Do not resent teachers for pursuing bargaining rights. Or for having some protection against being fired on a whim. Or for having vacation days. Instead, ask why this is the exception rather than the rule. Ask why we should spread the misery of neoliberal, corporate working conditions. The corporate education model is like the corporate model of industry: downsize, outsource, squeeze workers, cut benefits, and crush unions. A teacher’s working conditions is a student’s learning conditions. The education of our children and the lives of our teachers should not be sacrificed at the altar of profit.
Chicago teachers are tired of the top-down, disrespectful imposition of corporate reform by Mayor Emmanuel and his wealthy backers. They are standing up and saying enough is enough to the corporate reform agenda. It is time for educators to have a say in education. Those pushing for corporate reform are the same who have consistently underfunded schools, consistently refused to support education, and consistently refused to address the poverty, violence and inequality in our society. They set up the schools to fail, swoop in to “fix” them with their free market-based schemes, which makes things worse and then the cycle repeats. This vicious circle has to stop. It is time for research-based practices to be put in place. It is time for our schools to be fully funded, for students, parents and teachers to finally be given the support needed for success. Chicago teachers are striking for better schools. They are fighting not just for themselves but for the students, parents and communities. The community is behind them and so is the majority of the nation. In standing up for what is right and confronting power in the pursuit of justice, these teachers are giving students one of the most important lessons they will ever learn.