Posted on 09/13/2012 7:05:24 PM PDT by SmithL
Watch Chicago. A strike by teachers there demonstrates public sector unions' struggle to find their footing in an era when even their friends are turning on them.
"I don't think it's hard to see footprints" between the Windy City and events elsewhere, said Bob Bruno, a labor expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Writ large, this is another of these stories about collective bargaining in the public sector under siege. It's been unfolding since 2010."
About 26,000 Chicago teachers went on strike this week over everything from pay and how much student test scores should count toward teachers' evaluations to training and facility maintenance. It's the union's first walkout in 25 years.
The strike displaced 350,000 students and risks a backlash against teachers who – like firefighters and police officers – usually enjoy positive PR.
More broadly, Chicago highlights a split between unions and Democrats that are traditionally allied. In this case, it's Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – President Barack Obama's former chief of staff – vs. the city teachers union.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
When Scott Walker stands up to them, he’s Hitler. When Rahm Emanuel stands up to them, he’s “disappointing.”
BTW, 26 thousand teachers and 350 thousand students works out to an average class size of 13.
thanks SmithL.
Not at all....it’s a Democrat-controlled, corrupt (but then, I repeat myself), cesspool of political cronyism, and the Unions will NEVER be slapped back into line with Taxpayers’ desires.
Could this hurt Democrats in Chicago by bring to light how badly the unions teach their children and treat tax payers?
And THIS should be shouted from the highest mountain! 26,000 teachers for 350,000 students! 13 students per teacher.
My stepmom lived and worked for the mayor of Chicago for decades. She quips that it is virtually illegal to be a Republican in that city.
I think it’s 26,000 teachers and “support staff.” The ratio of “support staff” to teachers probably approaches 1:1, which is one of the many problems with public education.
Yep, and if I recall right, my class sizes were a minimum of 26 and up to 32. We learned just fine because we had some teachers instead of the "self-actualizers" that are posing as teachers today.
It's amazing what counts as a 'teacher' in a modern public school. I live in NC where free public education is a right written into the state constitution. So various liberals and judges have pushed that to mean that even kids who cannot be educated (way too mentally challenged) have to go to school on the public dime even if they are, literally, incapable of learning.
Our system pays 'teacher's whose sole job is change diapers, spoon-feed their charges and make sure they don't fall out of their wheelchairs. The real teachers are disallowed under penalty of law from taking pictures or even mentioning these 'students'. The student-teacher ratio for this crowd is about 3:2. And yet all these employees are counted as teachers on the books while real teachers have classrooms of 30+ students. But I'm sure there are other so-called teachers in the system that n.ever crack a book or stand in front a room full of kids
How do I know all of this? My wife is a former teacher for many years at a public school but is now, thankfully, at a charter school.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.