Education Reform Now, a corporate reform group funded by Wall Street and other financial elites, is now involved in the Chicago teachers’ collective bargaining issues. ERN spent millions in New York state last year to attack teachers’ job protections. In the linked article, the group says it is not coordinating with the Mayor’s office, but this seems unlikely as its robo-calls are parroting what the school superintendent has said publicly.
Teachers must struggle to maintain their salaries, their pensions, their academic freedom in district after district. But the big-monied supporters of corporate reform can parachute into any district and bring millions of dollars to attack the teaching profession and to advance the privatization agenda.
Isn’t it strange that you never see a group like “Education Reform Now” or “Democrats for Education Reform” or “ConnCAN” or “50StateCANN” advocating for smaller classes or more librarians or a reversal of budget cuts.
I might begin to think they wanted real reform if just once in a while they supported something that benefited hard-working teachers and community public schools, and not their self-interested agenda of privately-managed charters.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, this is why I don’t understand why both the NEA and the AFT aren’t calling for a national strike. The Aussies are doing it, the Brits had a strike for pensions this year and plan another this fall. We need to strike until this is STOPPED. I think the CTU strike vote shows what teachers want. We are angry and we want our leadership to stop collaborating and start fighting! I believe there is enough collective will to do this, but the national leadership is not taking us seriously. I have had this discussion on Twitter with Randi Weingarten, but she is so busy finding a seat at the table, she doesnt get that we need to upturn that f&$@n table and start again.
I agree. My local union tells us, “Get used to the new way of doing business in education.”
I’m trying to transfer my union dues to Chicago.
Diane, I think you should put reform in quotation marks whenever you refer to efforts by the corporate “reformers” to privatize our public schools and endlessly test our children. Either that or refer to them as school “deformers.” Reform has a generally positive connotation and I don’t think we should let the Kleins, Rhees, Duncans and Edelmans take ownership of the word.
I understand. Many say “deform” instead. The word “reform” has lost all meaning now that it refers to privatization, vouchers, and defunding public education.
its illegal for teachers to strike in 38 of 50 states. i am not sure how that is constitutional but that is the law right now.
Yes it’s illegal to strike in lots of states, mine too, but it never stopped us. I think going to jail would be worth the publicity to get our message out.