Education Reform: Chicago Teachers’ Strike Hurts our Kids
Education Reform: By Terry M. Moe, Special to CNN,updated 10:04 AM EDT, Tue September 11, 2012
Education Reform: Thousands of Chicago teachers and their supporters take to the streets on Monday after contract negotiations broke down.
- Chicago teachers are on strike for the first time in 25 years over contract disputes
- Terry Moe: Collective bargaining is about teachers’ jobs, not children’s education
- He says because of union rules, it’s very difficult to get rid of bad teachers
- Moe: Teachers unions have used their political power to weaken education reform
Education Reform: Editor’s note: Terry M. Moe is the William Bennett Munro professor of political science at Stanford University, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a member of the Koret Task Force for K-12 Education. He is the author of “Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools” (Brookings, 2011).
(CNN) — It is easy to see the Chicago teachers strike as an unfortunate incident that will soon pass. This is, after all, their first strike in 25 years. The norm is that the district and the Chicago Teachers Union have regularly negotiated their way to contracts every several years. So it might appear that, almost always, collective bargaining “works.”
But does it? The purpose of the Chicago school system â and of the American school system more generally â is to educate children. The way to assess collective bargaining is not to ask whether it works to bring labor peace. It is to ask whether it promotes the interests of children in a quality education. And the answer to that question is no, it does not. Not even remotely.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/opinion/moe-unions-teachers/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Today, CPS is charged with a simple mission â provide students with a world-class education in every community and ensure they graduate college and career ready. That starts by having an honest dialogue about the quality of education in our schools and talking about how we can work together to make sure the needs of our children come first as we move forward with reinventing CPS to boost the academic success of our studentsâŠ
http://www.cps.edu/Spotlight/Documents/AchievementGapCPSTrends.pdf
Chicago Board of Education Vision:
“We transform lives by building a foundation for excellence and a pathway for every member of the CPS community to dream, achieve and contribute to a global society”.
http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/The_Board_of_Education/Pages/TheChicagoBoardofEducation.aspx
Despite Some Progress Made, Chicago Public Schools is Not Meeting the Needs of Students for College Readiness, Graduation Rates and Closing Achievement Gaps:
http://www.cps.edu/Spotlight/Documents/AchievementGapCPSTrends.pdf
==================================================================
To Discuss how these Solutions will add value for you, your organization and/or your clients, Affinity/Resale Opportunities, and/or Collaborative Efforts, Please Contact:
Tom McDonald, tsm@centurytel.net; 608-788-5144; Skype: tsmw5752