Striking Ending

The strike is officially over. Tomorrow morning I will be among the lucky ones who get to board the buses and go to school! I haven't been this excited about school in a long time! So, so thankful. 

This weekend I offered to write an article for our campus newspaper, The Beacon. In celebration of the end of strike, I decided to post it here. It's earlier than when The Beacon is published, but in the grand scheme of things, not many people on my campus will read it here before they read it there. 

So, here it is, my opinion article on the Chicago Teacher's strike that officially is over.

First week of school. I was in a high school with approximately the same number of students that walk NWC’s campus. There were 150 some odd freshmen passing through our classroom. I was attempting to learn names; they were re-learning how to go to school. 

And then the walk out happened. After four days of school, teachers were outside holding signs and chanting, rather than inside the classroom teaching. Students were not in the classrooms. And I was not fulfilling my student teaching requirements. Slightly problematic on all accounts. 

If you listen to the main stream media, chances are the teachers and union are being cast in some pretty dim light. They are “depraving students of learning opportunities, being unfair in their demands, asking for too much,” etc.

There is a lot of misinformation out there. From my experience, very few teachers really wanted to strike. Most saw this as a last resort. Negotiations had been in the works since last November and getting nowhere fast. 

As I walked down the streets of downtown Chicago engulfed in a sea of red shirts and picket signs Monday afternoon, there were some words of wisdom being held that say it better than I do:

“I’m doing this to get rich,” said NO teacher ever.

Teacher’s working conditions = Student’s learning conditions

1/29^th of my time isn’t good enough. 

You can’t but students first if you put teachers last. 

The Chicago teachers are getting a lot of backlash from a lot of people who don’t take the time to get the facts. It doesn’t matter what side you stand on, as long as you do your research and know what’s going on. 

As for me, I’m standing with the teachers. They are fighting for their rights, for the student’s well being. And they are fighting for my future in this city, a fight that legally I’m not allowed to be a part of as a student teacher. 

Yes, it is a crappy situation. Parents are scrambling for child care, teenagers are at home bored, teachers are chanting in the streets. But despite all this, it has been beautiful to see a huge population of Chicago come together, strong and united. Not just teachers supporting teachers, but students and parents and community members supporting teachers. My favorite was the firemen and policemen joining with the chanting as the teachers rallied down the streets. 

Hopefully by the time this article is published, we will all be back where we belong, in the classroom, back to reading books and grading papers. Through this all, it’s clear that no one hates kids being out of classrooms more than teachers. Why else would they spend so much time taking attendance every morning? 

Until next time, call me Ms. Trease.