The Chicago Teachers Union is currently on the front lines of a fight to defend public education. On one side the 30,000 members of the CTU have called for a contract that includes fair compensation, meaningful job security for qualified teachers, smaller class sizes and a better school day with Art, Music, World Language and appropriate staffing levels to help our neediest students.
On the other side, the Chicago Board of Education—which is managed by out of town self-styled "reformers." In this video after the jump, you will see how Mayor Rahm Emanuel relied on help from the Michigan Tea Party and paid protesters to stifle the voices of teachers and the community that supports them. You will see Stand for Children's Executive Director admit that they made up a statistic about Chicago's school day for Emanuel to use as a campaign bullet point.
As the mayor and his charges played political games, teachers, parents and community supporters in Chicago have fought valiantly—marching, filling auditoriums at hearings and parent meetings, even occupying a school and taking over a school board meeting. Most recently, 98 percent of our members voted to authorize a strike.
Further Reading: Unless the Board of Education Gets Serious, Chicago Educators May Need to Strike