Chicago Teachers on Strike

As of yesterday, the Chicago Teacher's Union authorized a strike, meaning as many as 25,000 members could officially go on strike as early as October 7th. This means children could be without school and extracurriculars (including sports), and parents could be without childcare. The union members are essentially asking for two things: better compensation and more support. 

Right now, the union members are disagreeing with the 16% base-pay raise over five years. Instead, they want 15% over three years. They are also asked for things relating to staff, class sizes, and time to prepare for class. Specifically, they are asking that every school has a social worker, nurse, and librarian. They also want more special education support (i.e., classroom assistants and case managers). 

What does this mean for students?

The Good: It is not unreasonable to want a nurse, a social worker, and a librarian in every school. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s legal not to have at least a nurse and a social worker. Of course, every school’s staffing situation is different, but if there is no mental health staff member, then that is most likely violating the legal rights of students in special education who may require that support. Additionally, in an ‘urban’ district such as Chicago, it is imperative that they have access to adults whom they can trust and go to for help. Whether this is someone they can talk to about stress, or someone they can go to if they are feeling sick, every student deserves to have these resources available. The strike may not necessarily happen. Essentially, there are 10 days to negotiate and potentially call off the strike. 

The Bad: A strike means children could be out of school for an indefinite amount of time. This puts parents and guardians in tough positions. They now have to figure out how to care for their children during the day. In Chicago in particular, this could also mean parents could struggle to feed their children, as this is a highly impoverished area in which many kids are on free and reduced lunch. Furthermore, students are now missing instructional time (though it should be noted that any time missed will be made up at the end of the school year). Last time there was a strike, Park District worked with CPS to provide day programs for children affected by the strike, but this time, even Park District workers have a strike authorized, so their help may not be an option this time. 

The Implications: This is a tough situation because honestly, the teachers and union members are not making any unreasonable requests. The question then becomes if they are doing this at the expense of the children. On the one hand, these students will be missing instructional time and won’t necessarily have the structure that they and/or their parents need during the day. But the teachers are planning on doing this partially to benefit the students. Most of their demands (minus the compensation one, which I am not informed enough to speak about) have to do with resources. On the other hand, how good is the quality of their education if they aren’t getting basic needs met at school? 

Yes, it is good that the time that they do end up missing will be added to the end of the school year, but there is a delicate balance that has to be navigated. Even if the teachers do have their demands met, how would systems go about placing librarians, nurses, and social workers? Is it more important to get them into school quicker, or to vet them and make sure they are good quality and a good fit for the students? It’s definitely a catch-22 here!

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cb-chicago-teachers-strike-what-you-need-to-know-20190927-fhdqc6uxynck7dxvdgvpkslhzy-story.html