The Democrats’
Scott Walker?
September
11, 2012
Joseph Palermo
The 29,000 striking Chicago teachers are sending the message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel (and Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan) that their teacher bashing and privatization schemes for
public education have become so onerous and destructive to the teachers’
mission and profession that they have no choice but to fight back.
In this epic struggle to save a
profession that is vital to the long-term well being of the nation Mayor
Emanuel finds himself in a role similar to that of Governor Scott Walker of
Wisconsin: an anti-union corporate politician who is more than ready to play
hardball with a public employees union. Unfortunately for him, his fellow
Chicagoan, President Obama, for whom Emanuel served as Chief of Staff, is in
the fight of his political life right now trying to win four more years. The
timing of the strike couldn’t be worse for the Democrats, and therefore packs a
potent punch nationally because it lays bare how toxic the relationship between
teachers and Democratic Party leaders has become in recent years.
This strike is not about wages or benefits or any other matter that might
concern unionized workers in more prosperous times, this is a fight for the
very survival of a profession (and a highly feminized one at that) that has
been under relentless attack from sharks posing as “reformers.” Emanuel and his
fellow travelers appear to be more concerned about busting the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and turning
over quick profits to education corporations poised to make a bundle on their
privatization than they are on any common sense solution to the crisis they’ve
manufactured.
This strike also shines a light on
the deep and bitter conflict that’s been tearing apart the Democratic Party
since Arne Duncan launched his “Race to the Top” campaign. If Mayor Emanuel
comes off as being too Scott Walkeresque the repercussions of this battle,
since President Obama is personally so connected to Chicago and Emanuel and
Duncan, could cost him a lot votes and enthusiasm in the 2012 election.
