This week, approximately 94% of Chicago Public School educators, clinicians, paraprofessionals, and school-related personnel voted in favor of authorizing the Chicago Teachers Union to authorize a strike if a satisfactory contract cannot be reached with the Chicago school district, and ultimately the newly elected Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Mayor Lightfoot campaigned under the banner of eliminating old-school politics. On her own campaign website, lightfootforchicago.com, the then-candidate stated that, “We must do better to halt the declining conditions of our neighborhood schools. We must do better to change an education policy that does not view parents, teachers, principals, staff or other stakeholders as valued partners. We must do better by insisting on a comprehensive plan to invest in families and neighborhoods, and to end the violence that plagues too many communities.” The contract that the CTU is currently fighting for is wanting to do just that. With their overwhelming vote this week, teachers are saying that it is time to eliminate the inequity that exists in Chicago schools, and it is time to prioritize agendas that research has proven will help children be more successful in school.
Let’s start with class sizes. Although there is a plethora of research proving that smaller class sizes are a fundamental piece of the academic success puzzle, schools all across the city are grossly over-crowded. I personally know of elementary school classrooms where anywhere from 32- 35 children are sitting in one room with one teacher and up to 37-38 middle school students are doing the same. If Mayor Lightfoot is serious about wanting students to achieve, then there should not be any hesitation on her part to include language in the contract that assures the district will begin taking steps to address overcrowded classrooms.
The next item on the agenda? School nurses. I personally do not know of a school on the south side that has a full-time nurse at their school every day with the exception of schools that have a large population of students with special needs who require medical assistance during the day. I currently have students with a myriad of medical conditions such as allergies, asthma, and seizure disorders. If one of these students has a medical emergency, we basically know to call 911 and hope for the best. Medical conditions aside, if a student falls and hits his/her head on the playground, we do not have a nurse to determine if a severe head injury has occurred. However, talking to parents of students on the north side, many of those schools have the discretionary funds due to parent and community donations to pay for a nurse themselves. Instead of stating that there is a nurse shortage all over the state, why won’t the mayor show her commitment to finding solutions to the problem by including language in the contract that addresses the situation?
Let’s also talk about those social workers the union is calling for. Currently, most schools on the south side do not have a full-time social worker. In fact, most of these schools have a social worker who only comes one day a week, with maybe a second day every other week. These are the very schools that are serving students who experience trauma, violence, and the effects of gang violence along with that of drug and alcohol abuse. It is very difficult for students to focus on their education when they are worried about whether or not they will be shot on their way home from school. To truly be committed to ending violence in this city means that we must truly be committed to helping support the students’ social/emotional and mental health in the very communities where the violence has caused the most damage.
Lastly, let’s bring to light a little-known fact about the current “good deal” that is being offered to Chicago teachers. The current proposal is calling for a reduction of planning time for teachers, who already often lack the proper planning time necessary to adequately teach students. However, this proposal is being buried by both the mayor’s office and the news media who are endorsing her deal.
The very fact that Mayor Lightfoot, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times are all urging teachers to just take the deal because the financial terms are “generous” (Chicago Tribune editorial, 9/13/19) shows the lack of understanding as to what this fight is all about. It’s not about money (although more money would be nice). Chicago teachers, so by default the Chicago Teachers Union, are not strike-hungry as those in the media are stating. In fact, the overwhelming majority of teachers do not want a strike. We want to be in our schools with our students. To be honest, having just come back from the summer break (which to make very clear to the public – we DO NOT get paid for; nor do we even collect a check….for about two months), teachers really can’t even afford to strike. However, we cannot support a deal that continues to put our most disadvantaged students at an even greater disadvantage and has no real plan for how to remedy the situation. That is how important this struggle is to us as champions of our youth. We are willing to risk financial strain and the possibility of negative opinions from the public as we fight for what our students so rightly deserve.
If you are serious about halting the declining conditions of neighborhood schools and changing educational policies, then address these issues, Mayor Lightfoot. Be willing to be the mayor that the overwhelming majority of Chicago citizens believed you were going to be when you won the election. Then, and only then, will we truly have a “very good deal.”
For further opinions on this topic, please read my colleague’s editorial which can be found at https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/9/26/20885381/chicago-teachers-union-strike-vote-class-sizes-social-workers-librarians-letters-to-the-editor
Words from the Long Run 