Why are teachers striking in Chicago? What are teachers unions fighting for? Is it for the students? For the schools? For the union?
Listen to the union officials themselves. You might be surprised.
Teacher+Unions
The Machine: The Truth Behind Teachers Unions
Here is a great video showing why teachers unions — and public employee unions in general — should be illegal.
The Machine: The Truth Behind Teachers Unions
For the first time in 25 years, the Chicago Teachers’ Union is planning to strike on Monday.
That’s because the machine that runs the K-12 education system isn’t designed to produce better schools. It’s designed to produce more money for unions and more donations for politicians. We’re spending more money on education but not getting better results for our children and now america’s public education system is failing.
Our kids deserve better.
For decades, teachers’ unions have been among our nation’s largest political donors. As Reason Foundation’s Lisa Snell has noted, the National Education Association (NEA) alone spent $40 million on the 2010 election cycle (source: http://reason.org/news/printer/big-education-and-big-labor-electio). As the country’s largest teachers union, the NEA is only one cog in the infernal machine that robs parents of their tax dollars and students of their futures.
Students, teachers, parents, and hardworking Americans are all victims of this political machine–a system that takes money out of taxpayers’ wallets and gives it to union bosses, who put it in the pockets of politicians.
“The Machine” is 4:30 minutes.
Video produced by the Moving Picture Institute in partnership with ReasonTV.
Chicago Teachers Union President Blames Woes on ‘Lower Class’ and ‘Students of Color’
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chicago School system is rapidly collapsing. Its graduation rate is a horrid 56 percent, its finances are in tatters, and even though the Chicago Teachers Union was offered a 10 to 15 percent raise, CTU officials still want to strike claiming it isn’t enough. So, what went wrong? CTU President says it’s all because of Chicago’s “lower class students” and “students of color.”
CTU President Karen Lewis recently took part in a strategy conference call with community organizer Jitu Brown, and retired professor and Bill Ayers associate Mike Klonsky. In the released audio of the conference call, CTU President Lewis tries to address the reason for the Chicago Public School System’s woes.
Lewis, it seems thinks that the whole decline of Chicago’s schools is because of lower class kids. Her comments are heard in the last 30 seconds of the audio.
Continue reading “
Chicago Teachers Union President Blames Woes on ‘Lower Class’ and ‘Students of Color’”