A reader writes to his colleagues in Chicago:
Stay strong, and trust your colleagues. I remember being on strike in Seattle. It was my first year with the big school district – 29 years ago. I remember the ambivalent feelings like they were yesterday. I barely understood it all. I was so grateful for having a job – and there I was, marching shoulder to shoulder with veterans who were willing to lose their jobs for the cause.
I remember being told that others in outlying districts were watching, rooting us on. Looking back, that was nothing.
The entire country is watching you, Chicago Teachers. I wish there were a way for you to feel that support, the way I felt it walking the picket lines as a newbie teacher next to the veterans.
There are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of teachers watching – cheering for you, walking side by side with you in spirit.
Your cause is the just cause of teachers everywhere. Sure it’s a lot of pressure when it’s put that way, and I’m sorry, but it’s true.
Hang in there. Big Group Hug! – Mark
Did I say thank you?!!!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, can you come to Chicago?
I wish Ralph Nader and Michael Moore would go to Chicago and some Hollywood actors.
Outstanding Rap from Radical Dilemma. THEY GET IT! Pass it on!!
“Chicago Teacher”
http://rebeldiaz.bandcamp.com/track/chicago-teacher
I totally agree…this is a defining event in the education reform movement. Thank you for standing up for teachers.
Well put, Mark.
Last year, today, my district of 2100 certificated staff and 300 office professionals/professional technical staff took a strike vote for the second time. The first, a week earlier, didn’t quite get us to the 80% of the entire membership threshold. The second vote, today one year ago, was well over 90%. We walked the line for 8 school days.
We started with very little community support, but as we got the message out that our strike was not about money but instead about displacement/involuntary transfer language. Only 2 of the 10 criteria on the list to be used to shift a teacher from one building to another was even measurable. They didn’t want to weight the criteria (equally or otherwise). As the community heard our explanations, they began to come out and walk with us. We got hundreds of letters and thousands of dollars in donations. When the lawyers found a judge to order us back to school, another local of our union donated enough funds to rent the Tacoma dome for us to vote again about whether we would stay out even in the face of the judge’s order. 98% of us voted to keep walking. When we exited the dome, it was into a crowd led by our students shouting their support. Hundreds of community members and parents were there patting our backs and cheering our courage. It was powerful. It was what we needed.
By the end we were exhausted. We knew our school year would take us well into June, but we won! We start this year with displacement language that balances seniority with our daily involvement with our school’s mission. Everything is measurable in a way that makes sense to us. We did need to include student data but each teacher gets to determine based on what is taught and how it is approached what sort of student data is used. It was a huge victory. We found our solidarity and even at our first monthly representative meeting this year, our attendance was high.
I wish you, Chicago teachers, the same good fortune we found by standing our ground and refusing to be bullied. I’ve been wearing red every day this week and will continue to do so until you’re back in your classrooms. I know you can’t see me, but do know that my heart is with you.
I remember reading about that strike. Solidarity an persistance is so important. I, too, hope CTU comes out with wins for the students. themselves and for public schools in Chi Town as well as everywhere else!