Striking Teachers, Parents Join Forces to Oppose "Corporate" Education Model in Chicago

[G_j]

Striking Teachers, Parents Join Forces to Oppose "Corporate" Education Model in Chicago


watch: http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/10/striking_teachers_parents_join_forces_to


To discuss the Chicago teachers’ strike, we’re joined by two guests: Phil Cantor, a teacher and strike captain at Chicago’s North-Grand High School and member of Teachers for Social Justice, and Rhoda Rae Gutierrez, the mother of two public school students in Chicago and a member of the grassroots group Parents 4 Teachers. [includes rush transcript]

Guests:


Phil Cantor, has taught science for the last nine years. He currently teaches at North-Grand High School in Chicago. He is a strike captain at his school. Cantor is also part of the group Teachers for Social Justice.


Rhoda Rae Gutierrez, mother of two public school students in Chicago and a member of the grassroots group, Parents 4 Teachers. Her kids attend Coonley Elementary School.

[G_j]

1. k

[HiPointDem]

2. kr

PHIL CANTOR: We’re striking for a lot of reasons. If you just see what’s in the mainstream media, all they talk about is that teachers want more money. But that’s really far from the truth. We’re fighting for reasonable class sizes. We’re fighting for wraparound services for our students. I teach in a school with a thousand students; we don’t even have one social worker in that building for most of those kids. So we’re fighting for the education our students deserve in Chicago. We’re fighting against reforms that we see, from the classroom level, are not going to work.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain why the emphasis on salary then. Is that the legal issue of what allows you to strike?

PHIL CANTOR: That’s absolutely right. You know, Rahm Emanuel has pushed through laws in Illinois, basically designed for his political gain, in my opinion. We’re not allowed legally to strike over anything but compensation. But teachers are not most interested in compensation; we’re most interested in being able to do our jobs for the students we serve. So, you know, I think we’re trying to tie other issues that we feel are very important to compensation, so they’re part of the bargaining table agreement.

RHODA RAE GUTIERREZ: Well, so last night we watched Rahm Emanuel on his—Mayor Emanuel on the—at his press conference, and I was incredibly disappointed. I was disappointed because he said that one of the things that he’s going to measure teachers on is essentially test scores. And what I know as a parent is that when teachers are measured in terms of their performance because of test scores, what happens is that teachers are forced to teach to the test, and they have to narrow the curriculum on very—on very, like, minor skills that are taught—that are tested on these standardized tests. And so, he calls for a rich curriculum, and yet he calls for, what he says, merit pay, but what it is is test-based pay. And that is not a rich curriculum. It is narrowing the curriculum. And it was incredibly disappointing to me when he said that at the press conference yesterday.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/10/striking_teachers_parents_join_forces_to#transcript

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Anyone who has studied history

can tell you great changes often come from small little sparks. I think the actions in Wisconsin was one of those (still spreading) and I think the Chicago teachers strike of 2012 will be another.

[sabrina 1]

4. I agree, and Wisconsin teachers are supporting Chicago

Also other Wisc organizations such as the Wisc State Engineers Assoc. They even have support from Canada, The Greater Toronto Workers Organization, I believe.

The greedy corporatists pushed too hard, they got too greedy, and now the people are beginning to push back.