Chicago Teachers Strike
By Tomorrow morning, the Chicago teachers are going on strike. This is a power struggle between the union-busting mayor and Democratic National Convention speaker Rahm Emanuel and the teachers who are fighting for decent pay, small classroom sizes, and to retain the ability to strike.
This is a big deal strike for a couple of reasons. First, Emanuel has been at the forefront of Democratic politicians looking to bust teacher unions and given the size of Chicago, this will set an important precedent. Second, Rahm’s prominence and possible presidential run in 2016 is wrapped up in this. What kind of a political party with the Democrats be going forward? What will the relationship between organized labor and the Democratic Party look like? Finally, what is the future of teachers unions around the country?
Given Rahm’s close relationship with President Obama and the president’s willingness to listen to school “reform” nonsense such as what his own Secretary of Education espouses, the union will certainly get no help from on high.
I will definitely have more on this going forward.
…More from Mark Naison at Diane Ravitch’s blog.