If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Too much is at stake not to stand up. I know what it might mean if students are out of school for another week. I also know what it will mean to continue denying them the resources needed to provide the education they deserve.
I believe the Chicago teachers strike is an important stand in the battle to improve, even save, public education in the United States. As Karen Lewis said, "This fight is for the very soul of public education, not just only Chicago but everywhere."
The seemingly out-of-the-blue Chicago teachers strike is deeply complicated, very important, and a potential political game-changer. Every question about American education and the presidential race is part of the strike.
The timing of the strike couldn't be worse for the Democrats, and therefore packs a potent punch nationally because it lays bare how toxic the relationship between teachers and Democratic Party leaders has become in recent years.
If Chicagoans fail to recognize the deeper systemic issues underlying their failing schools, the teachers' strike may play right into the hands of Emanuel, who stands to profit politically, and the charter school corporations, which stand to profit financially.
The biggest news no one is talking about from the Charlotte convention is that Democrats are talking about Obamacare on national television in front of God and everyone just like there's nothing wrong with it.
The suits who run Chicago Public Schools never would have tried the stunts they recently pulled at Chicago's Social Justice High School had it been a largely white, middle-class school on the city's Northwest Side.
At a recent speech to the City Club of Chicago, Juan Rangel defended Chicago's billionaire elites. Why would he be kissing up to the wealthy that support the efforts to break the unions and privatize schools? His annual salary is around $266,000.
Civic marketing is helping cities tap the economic benefits of expressing a brand identity. Art and technology are key assets in that equation, as I discovered while undertaking an ethnographic study of Houston's creative economy.
As a taxpayer and a public school parent, I want to believe that some thoughtful analysis went into the decision to turn Roberto Clemente High School into a so-called International Baccalaureate high school.
In a recently released video, Chicago Teachers Union shows the games played by wealthy elites to smear the Union in the midst of heated contract negotiations.
Michelle Boone and Lord Cultural Resources have defied the expectations of many Chicagoans by actually opening the Chicago Cultural Plan up for discussion and input. Now we hope to see the process into reality.
Top-down management style employed by the new crop of school administrators leave educators feeling frustrated, dejected and ready to throw in the towel. Educators need respect.
Former Mayor Richard M. Daley helped transform Chicago from a place that had been beset by scandal and racial divisiveness to one of America's best-run cities. Here, Mayor Daley talks about the importance of building trust, maintaining relationships, and inspiring teams; all with an eye on moving the core agenda forward.
While yesterday's settlements are a step in the right direction, Chicago and its mayor must deal with outstanding issues before it can truthfully say that it no longer is on the wrong side of the Chicago police torture scandal.
Most Popular
