Late Friday a tentative agreement was reached between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city's school board. This means 350,000 students may be able to return to school on Monday if everyone can agree to agree on the things they have apparently agreed to agree upon. Not a lot of which is public yet.
CNN sites a source close to the negotiations saying some of the terms include "keeping the current length of school year and school day; giving principals the freedom to hire their own teachers; and, chief among the dispute's sticking points, updating the teacher evaluation system for the first time in 40 years."
So while there is clearly a lot on the table for these teachers, I am very conflicted over their ability to strike in the first place -- hurdling working parents into a childcare nightmare. It's hard not to put myself in the position of all of those parents that have had to figure out what the heck to do with their kids while the teachers fought this one out. And I feel especially bad for those parents dealing with less-than-understanding bosses ... or those that had their pay docked because they had no other option but to stay home with their kids.
On the flip side -- I went to a public school in a big city with broken desks and classrooms so crowded that the radiators in the back were lined with students taking notes -- with our binders on our laps. I went and spoke before my local community board when I was 16 years old to try to help create change. Explained what it was like. Nothing changed. So I can also understand why the Teachers Union felt like they were left with no other choice. If you don't push for what you believe in -- for what you think is best for yourself and for the students you are teaching -- then you probably will never get what you really need.
More from The Stir: Chicago Teachers are Already Overpaid
What confuses me the most about these kinds of strikes -- because they happen all over the country in big cities and small -- is why it has to come to this in the first place? It is so obscene to try to come to an agreement without having to resort to such drastic measures? Stop. Don't answer that.
Do you think teachers should be allowed to strike like this? Is there a clear-cut winner?
Image via sidewalk flying/Flickr
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Comments 52
I don't think teacher's should be able to strike. People forget there is no union to represent the children and parents that lost out. Not to mention Chicago's crime is so high right now is was irresponsible to keep these children out of school. If these are the things they were fighting for it wasn't worth those children missing school. Funny how they always say its about t he kids when really its about the teacher's.
Those teacher's make more money than most teacher's in this country. If you have guilt over the schools teachers spending more time with your children than you do that's on you, not the tax payer. The problem with this is that a strike is a bully tactic. We wont work if you wont give us our way. Well what about all the working parents that had child care issues last week, and what about the children that missed school. I agree they should update the evaluations but there were better ways to go about it. I also noticed this blogger didn't want to talk about the fact that these teacher's also wanted a 35% pay raise on top of everything else. Every one of those teacher's should be ashamed of themselves. Watch next they will complain about having to make up these days at the end of the year. The only ones that should be able to complain about that should be the parents and the students. This is why my son will go to a private school, although its sad I have to pay out of pocket to make sure my son's education is a priority to his school.
BetweenCourses those things you describes is called their job, and if they have a problem with it they should find another job. The fact is that there isn't anyone there to protect the child and the parents rights or even the tax payers rights. Its all about what we owe these people. If you have a problem with your package you should find another job. This is why we want school choice so we aren't held to the whim of the unions. This is why more parents are sending their kids to private school or doing home school. We want our children's education to be the number one priority.
"I do this for the money." Said no teacher ever.