Archives for category: Unions
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The Errors of an Anti-Union Blogger

By dianeravitch
September 21, 2012 //
4

During the Chicago strike, there was a lot of hostile media coverage. One of the critics of the strike and the union was Dylan Matthews, who blogs at the Washington Post.

This refreshing article shows how Matthews consistently misinterpreted research to reflect his own opinions. The author, Mike Paarlberg, is a Ph.D. candidate and lecturer at Georgetown University who understands statistics and reads research studies with care.

Paarlberg shows that Matthews doesn’t understand statistics and that he repeatedly misrepresented and exaggerated the research findings. Matthews claimed that seniority was bad, test-based evaluation was good. He also tried to demonstrate that strikes hurt student achievement. In each instance, Paarlberg pins him for his shoddy use of statistics and research.

I guess Matthews didn’t say anything about the extensive research showing that reduced class size improves achievement or that value-added assessment says more about which students were assigned to the class than about teacher quality.

Categories Teacher Evaluations, Unions

What the Strike Taught Teachers

By dianeravitch
September 20, 2012 //
2

Kipp Dawson, a teacher in Pittsburgh, reflects on the lessons of the Chicago strike for teachers everywhere:

This strike, and the democratic and solidarity-packed way the CTU led it, has transformed ALL teachers EVERYWHERE from powerless to having now a sense of how to become powerful. Eyes on what our children need, involvement in the communities in which they live to support their struggles and have the communities see us as part of what they are struggling for, democratic functioning which aims to have ALL members feel and become leaders, clear messages (“The Schools Chicago’s Children Deserve” and a great Facebook campaign), and people “at the top” who are not looking for personal glory but who truly truly represent their membership. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

Categories Chicago, Unions

Kevin Lee Is Still Worried

By dianeravitch
September 20, 2012 //
1

During the strike, I printed a letter from Kevin Lee, a teacher in Chicago, to explain why he was striking. The letter was read by thousands and reprinted widely. The editors of the Guardian, a publication in London, read Kevin’s post and asked for his email address. He wrote this wonderful article for them about the strike and about conditions in the Chicago schools.

Categories Chicago, Education Reform, Emanuel, Rahm, Unions

A Personal Note from Karen Lewis

By dianeravitch
September 20, 2012 //
11

Karen Lewis stood up to the national media. She stood up to the mayor. She could do it because she knew she had the support of 98% of the teachers in the Chicago Teachers Union. The CTU had a strategy to build parent and community support. And that support meant more than the screeching from the editorial boards of the newspapers and the commentators on FOX and CNN.

I told Karen how much the readers of this blog admire what CTU did and what she did. Here is her response, which she said I could share with you:

I do not understand why people think what we did was special. I do not understand why people think I’m a leader. I am a teacher who hates what’s happening to our children. We cannot go along with harm. Plain and simple. Sometimes I feel like we’re in that bad psych experiment where people give folks electric shocks because they were told to do so. I am embarrassed by all the attention and I would like to go somewhere and be quiet. I didn’t realize my life would be this nuts.

Categories Chicago, Education Reform, Unions

A Great Story about the Strike

By dianeravitch
September 20, 2012 //
5

Harold Meyerson wrote a great story about the strike in the Washington Post. Please read it.

The mainstream media, the pundits and the editorial writers were so hostile to the strike that it is refreshing to read someone who really understands what happened in Chicago. Meyerson sees the strike not just as a job action, but as a strike against the national faux-reform movement, which demands incessant testing and pushes privatization.

He gets it.

And as you would expect, someone writes in response and says the teachers are not the union, the union is not the teachers. Oh, please. Who were the 98% of teachers who voted to authorize the strike? Who was it that donned red T-shirts and overflowed the streets of Chicago? Let me say it slowly: The union is the teachers. The teachers are the union.

Regardless of what the media said and wrote, teachers tell of the support from police, firefighters, transit workers, parents, and ordinary citizens who honked their horns and gave a thumbs-up.

Meyerson understood who supported the strike, who opposed it, and what the issues were (and continue to be).

The mainstream media did not. They echoed one another, and their sponsors.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Testing, Unions

Karen Lewis Explains How CTU Won

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2012 //
11

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviews Karen Lewis and other CTU teachers about the strike. Lewis explains how the union patiently built alliances with parents and communities, fighting school closings and agreeing on the needs of children.

Karen Lewis reminds us that the great victory of the union was that teachers stood together in solidarity instead of compliantly accepting whatever was dealt out to them. The very fact that the union went out on strike reminded teachers that they are in the same boat and that together they are powerful.

The message that CTU sent the nation was that so-called “education reform” is a fraud. It does not have the support of teachers. It is all about testing, carrots and sticks. And it is not in the best interests of students.

Ultimately what the CTU wanted was a rich curriculum for all children, with the social services and small classes that children nee.

The news from Chicago: The union is alive and well, is unified and strong, and is ready to stand up for the needs of students and for teachers, not only in Chicago but across the nation.

Want a laugh? Watch her take down equity investor Bruce Rauner, who was “a few classes behind her” at Dartmouth. Yes, Bruce, the union is the teachers, and the teachers are the union. They are not separable. Don’t forget: 98% of the teachers voted to authorize the strike, even though Jonah Edelman’s Stand for Children [aka, Stand on Children] said it would never happen.

Categories Arts Education, Chicago, Corporate Reformers, Curriculum, Education Reform, Unions

Does Rahm Emanuel Really Believe in Accountability?

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2012 //
16

When you watch Amy Goodman’s interview with Karen Lewis, you will hear Mayor Rahm Emanuel speak eloquently about the importance of accountability. He wants principals to be accountable. He wants teachers to be accountable.

But does he really believe in accountability? As Lewis points out, the school board appointed by Emanuel is accountable to no one. Their decisions may be rejected by parents and communities, but the board is not accountable.

Does Rahm Emanuel believe in accountability for the principal and teacher of his own children’s school? They don’t take standardized tests. They are not held accountable for test scores. By Mayor Emanuel’s terms, he has chosen a school for his children where no one is accountable.

Is accountability only for the teachers and principals of the Chicago public schools?

Categories Accountability, Chicago, Emanuel, Rahm, Unions

What the CTU-CPS Contract Includes

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2012 //
1

Fred Klonsky summarized what the union won in the contract negotiations.

This is the contract approved by 98% of the delegates. It will be submitted to the membership for final approval.

Frankly, the biggest threat that lies ahead for the teachers is that Rahm Emanuel will continue closing schools and opening non-union charters. Given that he controls the school board, and given that he has a low opinion of public education, watch for continued privatization in Chicago.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Emanuel, Rahm, Privatization, Unions

Conservative Pundit: Rahm Got Rolled

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2012 //
20

Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute bluntly declares that Mayor Emanuel was defeated by CTU. Hess clearly prefers the Scott Walker style of crush-the-unions and take no prisoners.

His scorecard is interesting.

It is a good counterweight to those who say that CTU did not win enough concessions.

Remember this was a negotiation, not a battle to the death. The great thing about the strike was that it happened. Teachers got a spine and a voice. That’s the news.

Categories Chicago, Unions

Did President Obama Embrace the GOP Agenda?

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2012 //
23

The conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute has published a paper commending President Obama for standing up to teachers’ unions.

The paper compares President Obama’s support for school choice and evaluation of teachers by test scores as a “Nixon-to-China” paradigm shift.

In other words, the paper suggests, Obama’s education policy has done a full pivot, aligning it with the traditional GOP agenda.

Can anyone explain this?

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Education Industry, For-Profit, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Obama, Privatization, Race to the Top, Unions
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