Comments on: Preliminary Observations on the Chicago Teachers' Strike

By: John Garvey

John Garvey — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:46:49 +0000

I am aware of that. I’d suggest that the CTU, if it was serious about its commitments to the students in its school, should have been willing to engage in an illegal strike. That would have been a lesson for the ages.

John

By: Elijah Fenderson

Elijah Fenderson — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:08:39 +0000

Due to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, the CTU cannot legally strike over issues unrelated to compensation. In fact, Rahm went to court to try to force an end to the strike because CORE and CTU had so frequently highlighted issues such as class size.

By: John Garvey

John Garvey — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:46:35 +0000

Thanks for this comment. I hardly meant to suggest that Chicago’s teachers and those elsewhere should simply submit to those who aim to defeat them. However, the ways in which they fight matter a great deal. Forging new connections with the parents and community members of the city should not simply be a strategy for getting a better deal for teachers–especially if there are no comparable gains for the kids. If you haven’t done so, you might want to read my other article in this issue. It looks at some of the larger issues beyond Chicago. Thanks again.

By: Gerrard

Gerrard — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:30:01 +0000

I read this article with great interest, looking forward to some real analysis that went beyond the “we won!” union response and the “another defeat!” growling of many sectarians. I thought that the proposed “standard for victory” was an interesting one, until I finished the whole article and realized that the author does not consider the efforts of the CTU to have anything at all to do with “increased unity across the working class.” That might be true of the trade union leaders, but as a teacher who is also facing cuts and increased bureaucratization, it is self-evident that even being able to hold the line against austerity is a victory (albeit a small one) for public school students as well. It is demoralizing to do unpaid and unappreciated work. Teachers unions SHOULD explicitly fight back against school inequality, re-segregation, the “school to prison pipeline,” testing regimes, and the overall imposition of capital’s priorities on children. But most of the teachers I know (and maybe my workplace is exceptional but I doubt it) really are in this work for the kids, and not just to get them ready for their appropriate niche in the industrial machine. How many chances do young people have to encounter adults that actually care about their future? Is it of no consequence to the goal of “working class unity” that these adults are stressed and angry, increasingly doubtful of their ability to survive in the teaching profession? Is fighting back against this also of no consequence to this goal?

By: Observations on Chicago Teachers Strike | Taxi Rank & File Coalition

Observations on Chicago Teachers Strike | Taxi Rank & File Coalition — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:53:47 +0000

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