Throw Teachers Under the Bus

We are on Day Three of the Chicago teacher's strike, and it appears that even the Democrat Party is comfortable throwing public school teachers under the bus.  Some of the points I am hearing being made by liberals and Democrats!

They are hurting the children by striking during the school year.  Yes, this is seriously unfortunate, but how effective would a strike in July be?  No union member wants to strike, but it is sometimes the only tool that will pressure management to be reasonable.  So when is the right time to strike?  When the factory is experiencing a slow down or seasonal slump?  No, the best time to strike is when the factory is working round the clock and offering overtime pay to meet the demand.  That is when management is willing to listen, because it is then in their best interest to compromise.  So for teachers September is a far more effective time to strike than June or July.

Why are we blaming the striking teachers for the strike and its impact on the students?  Why not blame the administrators, school board members, and other local politicians who created the environment that led to the strike?  At least let them share the "blame".

Can you trust the "facts" that are being used by anti-union Republicans and Democrats?  I keep hearing that Chicago teachers make $70,000 a year.  According to my research, starting pay for teachers in Illinois is $35,000.  To suggest that "Chicago teachers make $70,000 a year" is dangerously misleading, but not surprising since the ultimate goal of the anti-union forces is to pit lower income workers against teachers by promoting salary envy.  Facts are not important to these forces whose ultimate goal is the elimination of all labor unions and the rollback of all laws that protect American workers.

A major reason for the strike is management's unwillingness to accept the recommendation of the arbitrators.  Management offered a 2% salary increase in exchange for an extended school day.  Again Democrats are adding to the misinformation.  A well known Democrat guest on MSNBC this morning complained about teachers only working until 2pm every day.  While there may be teachers who go home at the contractual end of the day, they are a very small minority.  As a former educator and husband of an educator, I can confirm that the overwhelming majority of teachers work well beyond contractual hours.  They are still at school well beyond "2pm".  They are back at school in the evenings, on week-ends, and during the summer, and they work at home grading papers, preparing lessons, etc.

I have also heard several references by liberals to the great job charter schools are doing.  Of course they have higher test scores, but would they if they were forced to educate the same range of students (academically, behaviorally, and attitudinally) as the average non-charter public school?  I think that it is also a fair assumption that students attending charter schools have greater support and expectations from their parents or guardians.  It is important to know what data is being quoted when comparing public schools to charter schools and that the data sources are equivalent.  Politicians in particular have a tendency to locate statistics that support their own argument rather than objective statistics.