For more than a week in September, the nation was astonished to see thousands of Chicago teachers on strike.
The media treated it as an old fashioned dispute over wages and hours, which it was not.
Many of us who follow education issues knew that the teachers were striking against nearly 20 years of nonstop ill-considered “reforms” imposed on teachers by politicians and uninformed policymakers.
The bottom line: Enough is enough.
This excellent article explains the teachers’ strike and puts it into a larger context.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
LOL article is blocked by my school’s filter due to being “Pornography/Adult Content”!
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Thanks for continuing to bring light to the terrible situation in Chicago.
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Very well written article. It reminds me of practicing in the trenches and the daily on-slaught of changing policies and rules imposed on medical providers by admnistrators, insurance companies and the government – partially explaining shortage of primary care physicians.
Now we are experiencing a shortage of good teachers which I suspect will get worse if we continue along this path.
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I think that is a good analogy. Whatever is happening in the medical industry is probably coming to education soon. Job of tomorrow, educational billing specialist. If education is privatized, I don’t see the cost going down at all.
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I can’t see Public Education being privatized…we just tip-toed into socialized medicine with the Affordable Care Act (which I do beieve is a good start)
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Things can actually get better. That is a good thought to hold on to.
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On what planet could the ACA be considered “socialized medicine”? It requires everyone to buy insurance from *private* providers and it doesn’t even include the public option that Obama vowed he wouldn’t sign a bill without.
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Angela, Education IS being privatized every day in every state. It’s the ALEC agenda and it’s supported by both the GOP and the Democrats. Have you heard the Black Agenda Report or did you just experience a “falure to listen?” http://blackagendareport.com/?q=category/education-public-education/public-education .Have you heard Diane Ravitch describe the privatization of public education on this blog or do you fail to listen??
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Who Is Behind The Privatization Of Education:Gates, Broad, KIPP, Pearson, EdWest and the Gulen Schools:
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Chicago Public Schools is a cesspool.
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87% of the children attending Chicago Public Schools are in poverty and schools in low income areas here are notoriously under-resourced. We see the same problems In public schools in virtually all major US cities because we have such high concentrations of poverty in the urban areas of this country.
We have long known that there is an achievement gap between low and high income students, but this is not a problem specific to America: “In every nation, students from the most affluent homes are at the top of the test scores, and students from the poorest homes are at the bottom. In other words, there is an ‘achievement gap’ based on social class in every nation.” http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022259992
If our country really wants to help poor children, then politicians need to address poverty, such as by mandating that highly profitable corporations like Walmart pay workers livable wages, instead of expecting teachers to eradicate poverty all by themselves.
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The only question for the Obama administration is who is going to Be the Special Prosecutor who investigates the Duncan Dept of Education.
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Excellent article. This is already happening in L.A. And just like in Chicago. the teacher is blamed for everything. I agree that teachers know more about education than these privateers but money is a powerful incentive for business to get into education. The public has to stop drinking the charter school as savior kool-aid.
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Glen Ford, The Corporate Assault on Public Education:
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Very interesting and great speech. I think Mr.Ford should go through cities like Detroit and reveal the people in the communities who are making themselves rich from the charter movement. The african americans who are getting rich yet providing less for the children. I can’t beleive how easy it has been to take over minority schools and corporatize them. The community has been fed lies.
The Free Press was traditionally a minority led paper yet is one of the biggest cheerleaders of charters. They are totally bought out.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130314/NEWS06/130314080/Michigan-s-EAA-receives-10M-grant-from-Broad-Foundation
Wow. Broad owns the junky EAA. Ive known quite a few teachers who went to work there and almost all have already quit. They say it is AWFUL!!
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Diane
This nation needs to thank you for putting education issues in perspective and putting the “reformers” in their place. May god bless you and keep you healthy happy writing and saving America from “reformers” or what I cal profiteers.
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