The Political Poem that Was Bullied Out of Me by Molly Meacham

I had never been small

until I heard how evil I am
for being a teacher. With the lie levels
rising in newspapers, emails,
interviews, announcements,
the steady flood of anti-
teacher propaganda
dissolves dignity
past patience
until I am in-
visible and
taste of
salt.

Me—

the frightening muse of room 202
is this incredible
shrinking
violet.

I’ve often told students to absorb

environment and squeeze it
into writing, but I, hypocrite, cannot
check my mail without earplugs
and blinders now. There is always a top
story that burns my cheeks ashen,
and I am scattered by breath.

But there’s no headline for me

or for colleagues who’ve sold houses,
who’ve taken on loans and grey-streaked temples
to brace for the fight.

These headlines are about these politicians,
their pockets, and their pride. Articles
full of double speak and forked-tongue
hissing. The mayor and the board deal students
as playing cards in stacked decks.

They know nothing of the kids themselves:

Her grammar jokes, his zombie impression. That he’s afraid his father
is never getting out of jail and his mom has breast cancer.
That she is the first in her family to go to college
and got a full ride. That he came out of the closet, and his mother is praying
for evil to cease its possession. That she reinvents the world
on the page and then stages it. These kids swirl
in cutbacks, media overload, starved affections, and poetry.
They swear and swagger and smile metal.

The fact these kids are alive and breathing knowledge

in deadly communities is more miracle
than Lazarus rising. And they do—they baptize
their papers in ink and wash drafts clean
with red. They highlight, spotlight, moonwalk. I mean,

they are teenagers…There are mad dashes through

the halls, too many tardies and dress code violations.
But they are green and sprouting: dandelions
and dahlias, ivy, wisteria, and willows.

I am a simple gardener, tilling

with words, preparing the ground—
loam, sand, silt, clay. The clay models itself
into familiarity. Into the expression
of understanding that’s unique to each child.

The board wants me to see only numbers,

to measure the kids with percentages,
to see them as payment and value-added.
But I am an English teacher.
Numbers have never been my thing.

I see that their learning is the shape of a yellow raft

on a green river. We are the river dwellers.
There is no salt in our water.

It feels wrong to hate politicians who have never met me,

but they made us feel miniscule—buzzing winged
things like gnats or mosquitoes—for being teachers.
It makes me hunger for Biblical
retribution. And I will be an insect…
in a plague of cicadas. We will be dressed as
a river of blood, a torrent of chant and noise.

There is no poem for this fight, for watching
the mild mannered lose their voices
from screaming chants, feet raw with marching.
Hands, callused for chalk, will be rubbed with new blisters
from holding signs.

If we are faceless, let us be the drought, the blight,

the salt in this freshwater city
so our students will not be nameless, faceless scores
in a city that hunts them for statistics.

We will be living the politics.
Not writing a poem.
I invite you (and ask you) to stand with me,
for them.

--Molly Meacham

Chicago's Teachers "Won't Back Down" and Inspire Teachers throughout the Nation by Mark Naison

Whatever the outcome, the Chicago Teachers strike shows that cross section of the nation's teachers are fed up with being made the whipping boy for the nation's failure to reduce racial and economic inequality and provide equal educational opportunity for its citizens. You do not mobilize tens of thousands of people to put their jobs at risk and take to the picket line without a powerful undercurrent of frustration and rage with the way they have been treated.

The strike won't stop Education Reformers, who have the support of the nation's biggest corporations, from cementing their stranglehold on education policy on the local and national level and from consolidating their influence in both major parties. But it pulls aside the facade of support and compliance with the Obama Administration's education policies that the Democratic National Convention hoped to project and reveals how wildly unpopular Race to the Top is with many of America's teachers and a small, politically-savvy group of public school parents. The strike also provides a powerful antidote to the propaganda campaign for the new Hollywood teacher-bashing movie "Won't Back Down," which hits American theaters at the end of the month. The sea of red shirts marching through Chicago, and the teachers around the country wearing red in solidarity, show that teachers may not be as easy a target as the movie's backers anticipated.

The Chicago Teachers Union has flipped the script on Michelle Rhee, Democrats for Education reform and other backers of school privatization and showed how a teachers’ union can be a militant advocate for the right of students to have a school experience which includes music, art, sports and class sizes small enough to receive individual attention. There is no guarantee that the strike will achieve its major goals, but it has already succeeded in giving America's teachers a huge emotional lift and in forcing the media to recognize that teachers’ voices cannot be marginalized and suppressed without significant consequences.

“Mark Naison is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham's Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports...”

http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2012/09/chicagos-teachers-wont-back-down-and.html

The Profit Motive by Jeff Fecke

It is that last sentence that should get your attention. The leaders of the “education reform” movement — the Michelle Rhees, the Bill Gateses, the Walton family — have been pushing hard to make education function more like a business, profit motive and all. We are told that overpaid teachers are all that stand between us and a well-educated nation. We are told that more testing (designed by and run by private firms), more charter schools (which can and do earn profits), and Teach for America (a federal program that replaces experienced teachers with recent college grads) can fix all the problems of America’s school.

Among the solutions pitched are using Rosetta Stone language software instead of hiring foreign-language teachers, eliminating classroom instruction in favor of online classes and hiring “data-driven” leaders, who view education not as a mission to impart knowledge to the next generation, but rather a service to be delivered at the lowest-possible cost.

Therein lies the basis for myth of our failing schools. Education is big business. Literally every American is required to get schooling in some form for some time. Today, the vast majority of those students go to public school for free, where they’re taught by teachers whose only goal is to teach. If those students can instead be funneled into for-profit charter schools, supported by government money, they can become the same sort of profit-generators that for-profit online colleges have become.

There are a few things standing in the way of business and all this money, however. Chief among them are the teachers, women and men who chose a career that is not especially lucrative, and indeed is constantly disparaged. The vast majority of teachers decided on their career not because they wanted to get rich, but because they truly want to help children learn. They understand that providing education to every American free of charge is the precise opposite of running education like a business, and thank goodness — because business would spend less time educating the “unprofitable” kids.

We can, and should, continue to strive to improve our education system. We should not be satisfied with an education system that gets diplomas into the hands of only 88 percent of adults. But neither should we pretend that this system is badly broken, or in decline.

Improving educational outcomes does not depend on breaking the unions, or converting our public schools to charter schools. Rather, it depends on our ability to address problems outside of school — poverty, access to health care and child care, access to early childhood education. These are not problems our school system can fix. Indeed, as long as we continue to cut social services, these are problems that will only get worse.

Our schools have done a great job of improving outcomes over the past 70 years, despite a general lack of support. Our schools are not failing. Despite the demands of high-stakes testing, the attacks on educators as a group, the continuing sneering as schools in general, our education system just keeps doing what it’s always done — educating children, as best they can with what little we give them. They don’t deserve a free pass, but neither do they deserve the opprobrium heaped on them. Our education system is better now than it has ever been. For that, educators deserve nothing but respect.

Take Action!

Sign the petition supporting the Chicago Teachers’ Union in their strike!

Fecke’s article was originally printed at Care2 make a difference: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-myth-of-the-education-crisis.html?page=3

One of the Several Issues of the CTU Strike

“...Lawmakers in Illinois, as part of the state’s bid under Race to the Top, passed legislation last year requiring that at least 25 percent of a teacher’s rating be based on student test scores.

“In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel drew the ire of the Chicago Teachers Union in part because he wants to increase the weight given to student test scores over five years, with the scores ultimately accounting for 40 percent of a teacher’s job performance rating. Those with consistently poor ratings would lose their jobs.

“Emanuel is not alone in placing a heavy value on student scores. In at least 13 states, test scores account for 50 percent of a teacher’s rating, according to the Education Commission of the States. Still, measuring good teaching is complex, and unions and experts who have studied evaluation systems say student scores should not make up 50 percent of a teacher’s job rating.

“Some states are now considering plans that would give as much as 50 percent of the weight in teacher evaluation and compensation decisions to scores on existing tests of basic skills in math and reading,’ 10 leading academics wrote in a 2010 paper published by the Economic Policy Institute. ‘Based on the evidence, we consider this unwise. Any sound evaluation will necessarily involve a balancing of many factors that provide a more accurate view of what teachers in fact do in the classroom.’

“Critics say the emphasis on test scores places too much pressure on teachers and students, creating a ‘teaching to the test’ mind-set, narrowing the curriculum and, in the worst cases, resulting in cheating scandals…” (Lyndsey Layton, Issues at heart of Chicago teachers strikeplaying out in classrooms nationwide).

A few David Reber questions to ask: “…Are police required to eliminate [a certain percentage of] crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate [a certain percentage of] fires? Are doctors required to cure [a certain percentage of] patients? Are lawyers required to win [a certain percentage of] cases? Are coaches required to win [a certain percentage of] games? Of course, they aren’t.

“For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there’s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education.

“If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burn downs his house, suffers third degree burns and then goes to jail, we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault.

“And if someone – anyone - tries to tell you otherwise, don’t listen. He must be a teacher” (David Reber, In What Other Profession).

The Chicago strike is typical of American politicians' war on teachers by Michael Paarlberg

Teachers were once revered, with cops and firefighters. Now, the bipartisan consensus says bullying their unions is good politics. The Chicago teachers' strike is barely a [few days] old, and the teacher-bashing is already well underway with great gusto.

As you may have heard, these teachers are greedy, lazy bullies who are holding kids hostage in their mad lust for power. Their choice of profession is not at all motivated by an interest in child betterment, but entirely by the obscenely lavish salaries they receive – some even approaching those of skilled jobs that actually contribute to the public good, like sales managers and insurance underwriters. All this at – never forget – taxpayers' expense. Even liberal bloggers warn that this strike will leave children forever scarred and ruin their future earnings, or at least their test scores.

Teachers might respond that they're not striking over money: both the teachers' union and the school board acknowledge the two sides are close to agreement on wages. They might point out that their demands that are the real sticking points – smaller class sizes and air-conditioned classrooms – are entirely reasonable things most parents also want for their kids. Or they might point out that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's key demand to tie teacher evaluations to student test performance reflects a bureaucratic zeal to replace more and more of the curriculum with standardized tests (one Chicago teacher says 18 to 25 days of the school year are already lost to testing) – an ethos and aim that many parents, and certainly most students, do not share.

They could say all of this, but it wouldn't matter. Any union negotiator or human resources manager can tell you that contracts are never settled by who has the best argument. Bargaining is a question of clout, and which side has more of it. Unions have been losing ground for years, public sector unions in particular, and no unionized profession has been more vilified – by politicians, think tanks and two Hollywood movies so far – than teachers.

Looking back, this is remarkable. There was a time when teachers were lauded as local heroes: overworked, underpaid pillars of the community who could – with their credentials – earn more elsewhere, but chose to pursue a career sharing the joys of learning with kids. Politically, they were untouchable, up there with cops and firefighters. Endorsements by their unions were prized by politicians hoping to run as "the education candidate."

Then, at a certain point, teachers' unions woke up to find their favorability rating hovering somewhere between al-Qaida's and herpes. This didn't happen overnight, but a confluence of state budget crises, urban blight and suburban flight, a well-funded school reform movement and private charter school industry created the need for a scapegoat for bad public schools. Could it be their financing structure, dependent locally on grossly unequal property tax revenues? Or their unaccountable school boards, such as the one appointed by Rahm Emanuel? Might poverty and unemployment not be to blame? The drug economy? Poor parenting?

No, none of the above. Its teachers and their pesky insistence that they know how best to educate kids simply because they spend most of the day with them.

Teachers' unions were slow to realize their scapegoating and its dangerous consequences. They were slow to defend against some of the more salacious – but fact-challenged – charges against them. And they have not responded effectively by articulating why teachers should have pensions, job security and collective bargaining rights when other workers were either losing theirs or never had them in the first place.

These failures opened the way for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to make trashing teachers the centerpiece of his political career, in turn setting the stage for Scott Walker in Wisconsin and others. Hard as it is to imagine candidates running for office on a "screw the troops" platform, this is essentially the climate teachers find themselves in today.

Unfortunately for the Chicago teachers, they are unlikely to see a change in the political weather any time soon. Their union is betting, in no small part, that the embarrassment the strike will cause the Democrats in an election year will push Obama to pressure Emanuel to fix a settlement. Signs point to no such outcome. President Obama sees this as a lose-lose situation – he'll be seen either as betraying his labor allies or as caving to special interests – and has explicitly stated his intention to remain uninvolved.

Instead, the strike presents less conflict-averse Democrats like Emanuel the opportunity to posture and show off his business-friendly bona fides for Independents and Republicans (Paul Ryan has already given him words of encouragement). And nothing has more bipartisan support than blaming teachers for problems mayors and congressional representatives can't solve.

Originally printed at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/11/chicago-strike-union-teachers?INTCMP=SRCH Tuesday 11 September 2012 11.59 EDT

The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve [from the Chicago Teachers’ Union]

Research-Based Proposals to Strengthen Elementary and Secondary Education in the Chicago Public Schools

The following are essential:

1. Recognize that Class Size Matters. Drastically reduce class size. We currently have one of the largest class sizes in the state. This greatly inhibits the ability of our students to learn and thrive.

2. Educate the Whole Child. Invest to ensure that all schools have recess and physical education equipment, healthy food offerings, and classes in art, theater, dance, and music in every school. Offer world languages and a variety of subject choices. Provide every school with a library and assign the commensurate number of librarians to staff them.

3. Create More Robust Wrap-Around Services. The Chicago Public Schools system (CPS) is far behind recommended staffing levels suggested by national professional associations. The number of school counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists must increase dramatically to serve Chicago’s population of low-income students. Additionally, students who cannot afford transportation costs need free fares.

4. Address Inequities in Our System. Students and their families recognize the apartheid-like system managed by CPS. It denies resources to the neediest schools, uses discipline policies with a disproportionate harm on students of color, and enacts policies that increase the concentrations of students in high poverty and racially segregated schools.

5. Help Students Get Off to a Good Start. We need to provide age-appropriate (not test-driven) education in the early grades. All students should have access to pre-kindergarten and to full-day kindergarten.

6. Respect and Develop the Professionals. Teachers need salaries comparable to others with their education and experience. They need time to adequately plan their lessons and collaborate with colleagues, as well as the autonomy and shared decision-making to encourage professional judgment. CPS needs to hire more teaching assistants so that no students fall through the cracks.

7. Teach All Students. We need stronger commitments to address the disparities that exist due to our lack of robust programs for emergent bilingual students and services for students faced with a variety of special needs.

8. Provide Quality School Facilities. No more leaky roofs, asbestos-lined bathrooms, or windows that refuse to shut. Students need to be taught in facilities that are well-maintained and show respect for those who work and go to school there.

9. Partner with Parents. Parents are an integral part of a child’s education. They need to be encouraged and helped in that role.

10. Fully Fund Education. A country and city that can afford to take care of its affluent citizens can afford to take care of those on the other end of the income scale. There is no excuse for denying students the essential services they deserve…

Excerpt from http://www.ctunet.com/blog/text/SCSD_Report-02-16-2012-1.pdf

 

What is the Chicago Teachers’ Strike About? (A Response to the Chicago Tribune)

“If the Chicago Teachers Union strike ends before this column appears, the damage has been done and can't be repaired. To the union's reputation. And especially to the children, who have been taught the meaning of greed…” –Dennis Byrne, Collateral Damage, Sept. 11, 2012

What is the Chicago Teachers' Strike about?

·         It’s about fighting against discriminatory, evaluative procedures compelled by corporate-interest groups that want to reduce the “art of teaching” to high-stakes, data-driven test scores and merit pay;

·         It’s about the need for smaller class sizes to produce the best possible teaching and learning for public-school students;

·         It’s about rectifying the scarcity of textbooks and other essential materials for Chicago’s public-school students;

·         It’s about the need for more school libraries and for enriched curricula that include music, art, theatre, creative writing, and physical education;

·         It’s about classrooms that need air conditioning so teaching and learning will occur during hot or humid weather;

·         It’s about students needing more social workers, counselors, nurses and other support staff;

·         It’s about the proper calculation of teachers’ raises and the rescinding of fair compensation for longer school hours;

·         It’s about rehiring public-school teachers that were laid off;

·         It’s about better health benefits, productive teacher training, and job security for public-school teachers;

·         It’s about attacks on teachers’ due process rights and collective bargaining;

·         It’s about opposing the villainy of government officials and corporate-financed media and their attacks on public-school teachers’ professionalism and self-respect;

·         It’s about fighting against corporate-educational reform and the privatization of public schools by profiteers;

·         It’s about protesting ineffectual Value-Added Assessment, Race to the Top, and No Child Left Behind;

·         It’s about the closing and destruction of Chicago Public Schools and the systematic and resultant destruction of their communities;

·         It’s about the disparities between charter schools and public schools’ economic resources for enhanced programs;

·         It’s about propagating skewed data regarding student outcomes from charter schools that are the result of an inequitable policy to accept only the brightest and wealthiest students, despite the fact that most charter schools “under perform” public schools;

·         It’s about forced “turnarounds” subsidized by billionaires and their officiousness (for example, the Gates and Broad Foundations) to “control and take over” public schools for self-interest, profit, and more charter schools;

·         It’s about creating disposable teachers, via Teaching for America and the online teaching craze;

·         It’s about the deliberate failure to address the root causes of the problems facing public education: the inequality of property taxes that primarily fund public schools in Chicago (and elsewhere in Illinois); and the poverty, dispossession and violence in Chicago and the self-perpetuating impact this has upon teaching and learning in Chicago public schools;

·         CTU Teachers are on strike for the above-mentioned reasons, and greed is not one of them.   

-Glen Brown

 Read "What Do We Do Best as Teachers"