Tomorrow is Decision Day in Chicago. by Diane Ravitch.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has tried to bully the Chicago Teachers
Union and its leader Karen Lewis.
Lewis was elected by the members because they knew she would
stand up for them.
Emanuel has the support of the Wall Street hedge fund managers
organization, somewhat absurdly called Democrats for Education
Reform. He also has the other big-monied people in Chicago, as
mentioned in this article in the Chicago Tribune, including
billionaire Penny Pritzker.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-teacher-strike-politics-20120909,0,6860745.story
The article mentions that DFER staged a protest at union
headquarters to oppose a strike. I wonder how many hedge fund
managers send their children to Chicago public schools. I am
trying to imagine hedge fund managers marching in front of
union headquarters and carrying signs. I am guessing that what
happened was that they "staged" a protest, meaning that they
hired out-of-work actors to carry protest signs. Maybe the
unemployed actors have children in the Chicago public schools.
Read more here. http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/spirits-high-at-the-chicago-teachers-unionctu-strike-hq/#more-16465
The great thing about having Karen Lewis there is that every
teacher in America knows she will stand strong for them. She
will not sell them out. And she will not sell out the
children.
She knows that teachers' working conditions are children's
learning conditions.
Both Rahm and Penny know that too. That's why they don't send
their children to the schools for which they are responsible.
They send their children to a school with small classes, lots
of arts and physical education, a great library, experienced
teachers, and a full curriculum. The school where they send
their children doesn't give standardized tests and does not
evaluate teachers by their students' test scores.
[Diane Ravitch is a historian of education and Research
Professor of Education at New York University. I was born in
Houston, Texas, attended the Houston public schools from
kindergarten through high school, and graduated from Wellesley
College in 1960. I received my Ph.D. in the history of
American education in 1975. I am the mother of two sons. They
went to private schools in New York City. I have three
grandsons: two went to religious schools and the third goes to
public school in New York City. I live in Brooklyn, New York.
Her website is dianeravitch.com]
No comments:
Post a Comment