Support Chicago Teachers: Wear Red for ED Monday

Let me tell you about Rahm Emanuel. He used to be Obama’s chief of staff. Have you ever heard him talk? Well, make sure your children are not around when you do, since he is crude and foul mouthed with every other word F…..
Not really professional for the President’s Chief of Staff, don’t you agree?

He decided to run for Mayor of Chicago when the incumbent retired and when he won, he decided to improve the Chicago schools with his multi-faceted plan. Rham Emanuel with the support of the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ entity called Democrats for Education Reform would set qualification standards for teachers. (And you know these hedge fund managers’ children don’t go to the Chicago public schools and so are not subjected to high stakes testing; they   attend schools that have a rich and varied curriculum.)

Rahm would create a pool of the best young teachers, and reward new teachers by elevating them to top scale pay in as little as eight years. He would require every principal to sign a five year contract tied to student performance goals.

His most controversial proposal would allow a majority of parents at any Chicago public school to vote to declare the school failed, and give them the right to decide how it should be transformed–called the “parent trigger” reform sweeping parts of the country.

Parents would be permitted to effect change “through administrative changes, by bringing in new operators or by shutting the school down and starting over with a charter, a school of excellence or any other model.”

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2010/12/12/rahm-emanuel-unveils-plans-for-chicago-public-schools/

The policies pushed by Mayor Emanuel include: weakening teacher tenure, lengthening the school day, merit pay pitting teacher against teacher, evaluating teachers and schools on the basis of student test scores, closing schools and replacing them with “for-profit” charters (by removing teachers who have been a major part of students lives, you also remove the stability needed in the lives of young children and by the way there’s been  an increase in Chicago violence since Emanuel became mayor) and removing teacher protections. The union is saying enough is enough.

Doesn’t Mayor Emanuel realize that teachers’ working conditions are children’s learning conditions? What kind of a Democrat is he that would take away the collective bargaining rights of workers? Dr Diane Ravitch has in her blog reminded us that tomorrow may be the day that the Chicago Teacher union may strike. To remain in solidarity she is wearing red and recommends teachers across the country wear red on Monday

Here is Diane Ravitch’s column.