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Chicago Teachers Prepare To Strike

October 17, 2019 By Catherine Henchek, Liberationnews.org , , , ,
The Chicago Teachers Union has been working without a contract since June, and 94 percent of members recently voted to authorize a strike. SEIU Local 73, which represents school workers such as special education classroom assistants, school custodians and bus aides, as well as Park District workers are also set to strike on October 17. The last strike of Chicago teachers in 2012 was a major victory for labor and working people in the city, and helped inspire the wave of teacher strikes that has taken place across the US over the past few years.

Chicago Teachers Vote By Wide Margin To Move Toward Strike

October 2, 2019 By Yana Kunichoff, Chalkbeat.org , , , , ,
Chicago teachers, clinicians and paraprofessional union members voted by a wide margin to authorize a strike, setting the stage for a walkout less than six months into Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s term. Educators could walk out as early as Oct. 7. The union said 94% of its members voted in favor of a walkout. With ballots in from 90% of schools late Thursday night, the vote meets the 75% threshold of support from all active union members required by state law. “This is a clear signal from the members of the Chicago Teachers Union that we need the mayor and the Board of Education to address critical needs across our schools,” said union President Jesse Sharkey.

Teachers Are More Stressed Out Than You Probably Think

October 1, 2019 Steven Singer, Gadflyonthewallblog.com , , ,
When I was just a new teacher, I remember my doctor asking me if I had a high stress job. I said that I taught middle school, as if that answered his question. But he took it to mean that I had it easy. After all – as he put it – I just played with children all day. Now after 16 years in the classroom and a series of chronic medical conditions including heart disease, Crohn’s Disease and a recent battle with shingles though I’m only in my 40s, he knows better.

Nation’s Largest Teachers Union Threatens Walmart Boycott Over Gun Sales

August 12, 2019 Stephen Gandel, Cbsnews.com , , , ,
Walmart could suddenly become a whole lot less busy this back-to-school shopping season. The American Federation of Teachers, the nation's largest teachers union, is threatening to boycott the giant retailer if it continues to sell guns. The labor group also wants Walmart to stop making financial contributions to politicians who oppose gun control. "If Walmart continues to provide funding to lawmakers who are standing in the way of gun reform, teachers and students should reconsider doing their back-to-school shopping at your stores," AFT president Randi Weingarten wrote in an Aug. 7 letter to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

Teachers’ Role In The Puerto Rico Uprising

August 4, 2019 Jeff Bryant, Independent Media Institute. , , ,
As Americans lament the current sorry state of democracy in Washington, D.C., government by the will of the people was very much alive recently in Puerto Rico, where a prolonged general strike that virtually shut down the island forced Governor Ricardo Rosselló to announce his resignation. During the strike, huge crowds mobbed the governor’s mansion around the clock, closed highways in the capital of San Juan, and persuaded some presidential candidates in the Democratic Party to join in calling for the governor to resign. Protesters had multiple grievances, but a “final straw” seems to have been a series of text messages leaked to an independent news organization in which the governor and his closest associates insulted political opponents and allies, members of the news media, and the LGBTQ community.

The Roots Of The National Strike In Honduras: An Interview with Bayron Rodríguez Pineda

June 14, 2019 Beth Geglia, Nacla.org , , ,
As the 10-year anniversary of the coup d’état in Honduras approaches, Hondurans are entering into their second week of a national strike that has shut down main highways throughout the country, drawn massive street mobilizations, and reignited calls for the president’s resignation. Led primarily by teachers and doctors under the leadership of the national Health and Education Defense Platform (La Plataforma), the strikes represent staunch opposition to the Juan Orlando Hernández government’s reforms to the health and education systems.

Baltimore Teachers Unseat Incumbents, Who Demand A Do-Over

June 11, 2019 Samantha Winslow, Labornotes.org , , , ,
What happens when new leaders run for office and beat an eight-term incumbent? In the Baltimore Teachers Union, it seems, the incumbent tries for a second bite at the apple. A slate called “The Union We Deserve,” backed by two rank-and-file caucuses, ran for office this spring. Its platform was to open the union up to its own members and join with parents to fight for fully funded public schools. To the surprise of many, the challengers won the union presidency as well as the 19 executive board seats for teachers. The incumbents held onto the 20 paraprofessional seats, producing a split board.

Democrats Must Choose Between Teachers And Charter Schools

June 8, 2019 Jeff Bryant, Truthdig.com , , ,
For years, the safe havens for education policy debate in the Democratic Party have been expanding pre-K programs and providing more affordable college, but in the current presidential primary contest, another consensus issue has been added to the party’s agenda: salary increases for K–12 classroom teachers. Kamala Harris has gotten the most press for coming out strongly for raising teacher wages, but other frontrunners including Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Bernie Sanders have also called for increased teacher pay.

Baltimore Teachers Unseat Incumbents, Who Demand A Do-Over

June 1, 2019 Samantha Winslow, Labornotes.org , , , ,
What happens when new leaders run for office and beat an eight-term incumbent? In the Baltimore Teachers Union, it seems, the incumbent tries for a second bite at the apple. A slate called “The Union We Deserve,” backed by two rank-and-file caucuses, ran for office this spring. Its platform was to open the union up to its own members and join with parents to fight for fully funded public schools. To the surprise of many, the challengers won the union presidency as well as the 19 executive board seats for teachers. The incumbents held onto the 20 paraprofessional seats, producing a split board.

Who Shows Up For Teachers? Coalition-Building In The Era Of Educator Activism

May 25, 2019 By John Waldron, Edweek.org , ,
It's OK—they were rose-colored anyway. Three years ago, I was a high school social studies teacher, content in my world. But that world was changing. Ten years of budget cuts were stressing Oklahoma education to the point of no return. I decided to run for office to try to do something about it. I was amazed by the people who came out to support me, an ordinary teacher, and gratified when I won election to the statehouse. Friends and strangers came out to help me knock doors, hold events, and raise the dollars that are critical to competitive campaigns. I am humbled when I think of those volunteers and supporters.

The Teachers’ Revolt And The Fight For Social Equality

May 14, 2019 Staff, WSWS.org , , ,
Like teachers across the US, educators in Detroit are angered over stagnant real income and the indifference of corporate-controlled politicians who will not provide adequate resources to address the needs of our students. Three years ago, Detroit teachers were the first to organize sickouts and protests that exposed the crisis of public education to a national and international audience. Since then, hundreds of thousands of educators, from West Virginia to Oregon and Los Angeles to Denver, have walked out of their classrooms to fight over the same issues.

Oregon Teachers Are Walking Out, Forcing 600 Schools To Close

May 12, 2019 Holly Yan, Cnn.com , , , ,
Tens of thousands of frustrated teachers were airing their grievances at protests across the state Wednesday. But unlike with other teacher walkouts, these educators aren't fighting for higher raises. They're fed up with overcrowded classrooms and a lack of support staff, including school nurses and mental health counselors. "Nearly 45% of all reported classes in Oregon have 26 students or more," said John Larson, a high school English teacher and president of the Oregon Education Association.

Privatization Is Fundamentally An Attack On Democracy. The Teachers Strikes Show Why.

March 16, 2019 Jeremy Mohler, Inthesetimes.com , , ,
One key feature of the Trump era is a renewed public focus on the issue of democracy. Last year’s congressional elections had the highest midterm voter turnout since 1966. Americans across the country have poured into the streets and packed the halls of Congress to protest President Trump’s power grabs. Over one million people convicted of felonies have regained the right to vote in Florida, thanks to a successful statewide ballot measure. New York City residents pushed their elected officials to all but force the world’s richest person, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, to walk away from $3 billion in tax breaks.

How Teacher Strikes Are Changing

March 15, 2019 By Madeline Will, Edweek.org , , ,
When West Virginia teachers walked out of their classrooms last month and swarmed the state Capitol in protest, it almost felt like déjà vu. The two-day statewide strike was nearly a year to the day after teachers from the Mountain State staged their initial walkout over low pay—and lit the match for what became a wildfire of teacher activism. But this time, teachers' demands were different, a reflection of the changing flavor of strikes nationwide. While last year's teacher walkouts were focused primarily on stagnant wages and crumbling classrooms, the strike demands now are more far-reaching. Teachers are pushing back against education reform policies such as charter schools and performance-based pay.

Denver Teachers’ Strike Was A Rejection Of Education ‘Reform’

March 15, 2019 Jeff Bryant, Blackagendareport.com , , , , , , ,
Former superintendent of Denver Public Schools Michael Bennet pushed privatization measures as well as changes to the ProComp teacher pay program. “I definitely drank the education reform kool-aid,” recalls Alex Nelson, a Denver teacher who, along with over 5,300 fellow teachers and school support staff, walked off the job earlier this month in a four-day strike that resulted in the teachers having most of their demands met. Now in his sixth year at Denver Public Schools, Nelson is at Bryant-Webster Elementary where he teaches Math, Science, and Spanish to third- and fourth-grade students.
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