Chicago teacher pal preparing to go on strike asks for advice. Please add to my reply.
My reply:
Emanuel may be a Democrat in name, but he's a corporatist in practice and like any hyphenation of the word "corporate," he's virulently anti-union. His influence on Obama in his role as Chief of Staff led to a very GOPer education policy in the White House, and there's nothing corporatists and privatizers hate more than unions.
There's a lot of money to be made in education. Witness the explosion in number of for-profit colleges/training centers. (Google Sen. Tom Harkin, for profit colleges and you'll see.)
That same greed has trickled down to K-12 during GWB's stay in the White House. Brother Neil Bush of Silverado S&L fame started an ed software corp and sold its products to the Florida public schools while other-brother Jeb was Governor. Mama Bush, Barbara, donated $80,000 to the schools in NOLA after Hurricane Katrina with the stipulation that said money had to be spent on Neil's software products. And, for that "gift," Mama got a tax write-off.
In this decade, we're seeing more and more charter schools, some with profit motives, some with religious scores to settle (Google creationism, Texas School Board, textbooks, and others for personal fame (Google Michelle Rhee, cheating).
The unions, both AFT and NEA, are the last obstacles to a compliant workforce. If the unions can be destroyed, they win. Tenure, seniority, wages, hours, and working conditions go out the window.
Morale of the striking teachers is critical.
A really good sign like this one from the financial crisis can add both humor and resolve:
Rework the lyrics to a well known and easy-to-sing song like this stanza from Mack The Knife:
Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacRahm, babe
So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.
( I kinda like that one cuz it suits the Mayor so well.)
Above all, keep those spirits up.
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