Teacher Values

By the time I post this blog the Chicago teachers’ strike may be settled. However, this upset to the scene in Chicago’s schools raises some questions.

For over 40 years the Chicago Public School system was under its own taxing district, board of education and administration. When the system ran into financial difficulties, then Mayor Richard J. Daley would jump into the fray and magically find the dollars to make the ills go away, or he would talk privately with the principle players and problems were settled. The public rarely knew what was said or what elements were agreed to for peace to reign. But the Mayor was not in control directly of the schools so that they remained out of the political manipulations other public arenas were subjected to.

Along comes Mayor Richie Daley (the son of Richard J.) and the problems of the CPS have grown so large that he, the Mayor, agreed to take the schools under the large umbrella of the City of Chicago’s government.  For several years education reform was attempted and progress was noted. The teachers’ union was not always pleased with the results but they went along to help be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

Still years later, the problems remain obvious: too costly a salary load for the budget, very little improvement in productivity of the system, still too many teachers who perform below par, and innovation grudgingly gained by sheer strength of personality (some teachers, some principals, and the mayor). Still, the big productivity and innovation gains were realized by charter schools and the entry of private corporations into the educational mix.

Snail’s pace improvement costs a lot: to the public, to the kids, to the competitive stance of the city and its employers, to the city’s sense of self and pride.

Now comes Rahm Emanuel as the new non-Daley mayor. He is fired up for reform: new forms of education to meet the challenges of a diverse student population; innovative teaching methods that fire up the teachers themselves and their sense of professionalism; removal of underperforming teaching staff from the classroom where they endanger healthy preparation of students for a new millennium. Emanuel also seeks strong budget controls so the future price of public education is affordable and effective.

Standing in the way of all of this, however, is the Chicago Teachers’ Union. Built on political format of olden times, the CTU is remarkably out of step with the modern labor movement. It is also counter to what the students need. And it is severely out of focus with what the public can afford.

The CTU has been repeatedly invited to the table in the past to create a new partnership with the city and the school administration. The partnership was hoped to be innovative and experimental while delivering the best education custom-made to the individual needs of the diverse student body, at least as much as possible. But no. This golden opportunity is spurned for: benefits, salaries and tenure standards. These are the old sticking points. Why? Because they add up to unaffordable obstructions to budget reality.

The schools must evolve to a new format if they are to successfully prepare the next generation of students for a productive and meaningful life. And then subsequent generations as well. The old ways will not work any longer.

Educator Taylor Mali shared this thought over the Internet the other day:

            “What teachers make//You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write, write, write. And then I make them read. I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again. I make them show all their work in math, and hide it on their final drafts in English. I make them understand that if you got this (brains) then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).”

Now that’s what I mean by education. That professionalism of purpose and spirit. I wonder all the time if the union in Chicago allows or encourages such professional growth and success. The public thinks not. The CTU needs to prove to the public that this is what they stand for and are working towards. Until they do they will not have earned the public’s support and loyalty for future teacher contracts.

Mayor Emanuel is right. School reform is needed. Not for budget purposes, although that will likely be a result. No; reform is needed so the kids have the best teachers and education possible. That way they have a good chance to have a good life. And America has the opportunity to build future years of innovation and exciting lives.

Hopefully this will be the result of the most recent strike.

September