Teachers Strike Hurts Families

When you put the interests of your paycheck ahead of the children you're teaching, you shouldn't be surprised that when you go on strike children are hurt.  Jeff Jacoby looks at the impact: The true long-term impact of the Chicago teachers strike may not be known for some time. But there is no mystery about its impact in the immediate term -- anxiety, panic, and disruption for myriad mothers and fathers left in the lurch when 30,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union walked away from their classrooms last week just as a new school year was getting underway. "Parents and guardians frantically sought last-minute child care, pleaded with their bosses for leniency, and hoped that their kids would return to school sooner rather than later,"reported the Chicago Sun-Times. "Citywide, for thousands of families, stress was high." The paper quoted Martina Watts, a mother in West Garfield Park, one of the city's rougher neighborhoods: "I might be losing my job over this. As long as they're on strike, I can't work. I'm not getting paid." Construction worker Allen Packer told a TV interviewer that he had to switch from full-time work to a part-time night shift so he could be home with his young daughter during the day. "I kind of understand what they're trying to do," he said of the striking teachers. "But this is not just them." He gestured toward his daughter. "It's her education, first of all. Then my paycheck for the food."
Socialist Teacher Block Deal in Chicago

Socialist Teacher Block Deal in Chicago

[media-credit name="EAG" align="alignright" width="300"][/media-credit]The Chicago Tribune reports that hard core socialists within the teacher's unions are blocking a deal to get teachers back in the classroom. It's amazing they have so much influence and power . . . or is it? Chicago teachers were anxious this morning as they walked the picket line for the seventh day, worried whether union officials will decide today to call off the strike that has kept 350,000 students out of the classroom. “I’m hoping the delegates come to their senses and know that our kids need us,” Mary Silva, a CPS social worker, said outside school headquarters. [...] But as in many labor organizations, Lewis is faced with uniting a membership that spans the political spectrum. In CTU, that ranges from high-ranking officials who have written for socialist websites to more traditional members simply concerned with working conditions. Some of those more radical factions inside and outside her labor organization are now attacking her and others in union leadership. Leaflets calling Lewis a “sellout” for concessions agreed to with CPS were distributed to union delegates at Sunday’s meeting. That phrase surfaced again among frustrated delegates as they left the meeting with few concrete details about the contract proposal and with serious concerns about what they were being asked to sign.

Teacher's Union Bosses: 30% More Taxpayer Money and Less Work or We Strike!

Teacher's in Chicago, Illinois have voted to authorize a strike over their demand for a 30% pay increase (funded by the taxpayers) and smaller classroom sizes. The union wants a two-year deal that reduces class size and calls for teachers to receive a 24 percent pay raise in the first year and a 5 percent pay raise in the second year. The strike would start at the beginning of the next school year should the union not come to terms with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. With their neighbors on one side in Indiana enacting a Right to Work statute and their neighbors on the other, in Wisconsin, enacting reforms to save taxpayers money, it is clear Big Labor in Illinois hasn't gotten the message. Taxpayers want reform, choice, efficiency and freedom. That message will take root in Illinois soon. Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the public schools cannot afford a strike. "At a time when our graduation rates and college enrollments are at record highs – two successes in which our teachers played an integral role – we cannot halt the momentum with a strike," she said. "Our teachers deserve a raise, but our kids don't deserve a strike and taxpayers cannot afford to pay for 30 percent raises." You might remember this video from a previous Chicago/Illinois Teachers Union staged event titled "Give up the bucks!"    

Teacher's Union Bosses: 30% More Taxpayer Money and Less Work or We Strike!

Teacher's in Chicago, Illinois have voted to authorize a strike over their demand for a 30% pay increase (funded by the taxpayers) and smaller classroom sizes. The union wants a two-year deal that reduces class size and calls for teachers to receive a 24 percent pay raise in the first year and a 5 percent pay raise in the second year. The strike would start at the beginning of the next school year should the union not come to terms with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. With their neighbors on one side in Indiana enacting a Right to Work statute and their neighbors on the other, in Wisconsin, enacting reforms to save taxpayers money, it is clear Big Labor in Illinois hasn't gotten the message. Taxpayers want reform, choice, efficiency and freedom. That message will take root in Illinois soon. Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the public schools cannot afford a strike. "At a time when our graduation rates and college enrollments are at record highs – two successes in which our teachers played an integral role – we cannot halt the momentum with a strike," she said. "Our teachers deserve a raise, but our kids don't deserve a strike and taxpayers cannot afford to pay for 30 percent raises." You might remember this video from a previous Chicago/Illinois Teachers Union staged event titled "Give up the bucks!"    
Wisconsin -- unions vs. kids

Wisconsin -- unions vs. kids

From the NY Post by Michelle Malkin: Students were the first and last casualties of the ruthless Big Labor war against fiscal discipline. To kick off the yearlong protest festivities, the Wisconsin Education Association Council led a massive “sickout” of school personnel. The coordinated truancy action — tantamount to an illegal strike — cost taxpayers an estimated $6 million. When they weren’t ditching their students, teachers were shamelessly using other people’s children as their own political junior lobbyists and pawns. A Milwaukee Fox News affiliate caught one fourth-grade teacher dragging his students on a “field trip” to protest against Walker at the state Capitol building. The pupils clapped along with a group of “solidarity singers” as they warbled: “Scott Walker will never push us out, this house was made for you and me.” According the WisconsinReporter.com, cash strapped state affiliates also coughed up major sums to beat back Wisconsin’s efforts to bring American union workers into the 21st century and in line with the rest of the workforce: “The Ohio Education Association made a $58,000 in-kind contribution May 30, followed a day later by a $21,000 contribution from the Pennsylvania State Education Association. New York State United Teachers gave $23,000 on June 1, the Massachusetts Education Association gave $17,000 on May 31, and a group of unions based in Washington, DC, poured in $922,000 during the past week.”