CPS/Rahm vs. CTU

"CPS Rahm and others are saying its about the kids. No our children are the unfortunate pawns in this mess."

How does Mitt Romney feel about all of this "Teachers’ unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children, and today we are seeing one of the clearest examples yet."

For those who may know on Monday, September 10, 2012 the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike for the 1st time in 25 years.  25 years ago when they went on strike I was in the 1st grade.  Now they are on strike, my son is in the 2nd grade but even if my child were not in school this strike effects us all.  Too many people read about and hear about issues and if they are not directly affected by them they shake their heads, turn the page and that is the end of it.

We have to look at the bigger picture of what is going on right now in Chicago and what this means for teachers unions and unions in general.  Yesterday I had an aha moment when I learned that Chicago's Charter School students would not be affected by the strike because their teachers are not a part of the union.  Immediately I thought to myself no wonder why my friends mom was against Renaissance 2012 and Charter schools years ago, it means PRIVATIZATION!  Private workers in and union workers out.

Here is a quick tidbit on what a union is and what the purpose is thanks to www.wiki.com "
A union is any organization consisting of two or more people. A labor union is an organization consisting of two or more workers. For example, there is a plumber's union, an electrician's union, an auto worker's union and many more. Labor unions serve two purposes. First, they negotiate salaries with the management. And second, they defend a member when he is mistreated by a vindictive boss. By having the union negotiate salaries, each individual does not personally need to ask for a raise. Instead, the union does that. By having the union keep vindictive bosses in line, individuals do not need to fear absolute jerks in managerial positions. (In this regard, the labor unions sometimes do stockholders a favor. Boards sometimes become enamored with a jerk like "chainsaw," who promises to come in and clean out the dead wood. Instead, he destroys the company and all stockholder equity. He walks away from the company with a "golden parachute." When a board knows the union will protect the workers from such an idiot, there is no danger they will hire him to run the company into the ground.The states of the United States joined together in a union. That was a political union. The states joined with each other. One purpose of creating a union was to keep a foreign power from conquering the individual states on at a time because an attack on one meant an attack against all. Another reason was to have a forum to settle squabbles between the states. A union could do that.
A number of countries in Europe have created "The European Union." It began as a free trade zone but has become an area with some laws uniform.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_union_and_what_is_its_purpose#ixzz26AIcfXVm"

Ok, moving on, many on social media and in the news have expressed how this strike is affecting the children.  Parents have no where for their children to go and have to come up with plans for day care etc.  Well for many students summer break ended on September 4th so it shouldn't be that difficult for parents to make arrangements.  Granted many organizations that are open to parents in the summer are not in the fall nevertheless trust many parents scramble to figure out what to do with their children once school ends anyway.  Most school days end at 2:45 most parents work traditional 9 to 5 shifts or even more hours.  Few students are bused and after 3rd grade for most students busing isn't an option.  Day cares only accept children up to the age of 12 and social programs are few and far in between.  So that leaves many children latch key kids and having to find their own way to school and home anyway so for the most part now you have a child at home a few more hours than they usually would be.

Others are afraid that violence will remain as students are out on the street.  I would guess that most students involved in violent activity rarely attend school and when they are in school are barely paying attention.

So...here is my twitter rant from yesterday :-)

While schools are on strike if you child is affected what will you be teaching them at home? Or are they having an extended break?  Parents step up step in and teach your children because their is A Lot they will not learn in school! 

Here's my 2 cents. Most are worried about kids not being in class and being on the street:  "I'm worried about a child being in class and not learning anything.  I'm worried about the illiterate parent that is a product of the CPS that now has an illiterate child in the CPS.  I'm worried about children being taught based on their zip code and socioeconomic status and not off their ability to learn.  I'm worried about the 50% HS graduation rate of our children.  I'm worried about the state of some of these schools and how the look of the schools invokes despair and not encouragement.  I'm worried about the children in 3rd and 5th grade that can't read that are prime candidates to end up in a jail cell.  I'm worried about our people taking to social media and ending their cause there.  I'm worried about our people waiting on the government to solve our problems and be our solution.  I'm worried about radio personalities and artist that speak increase the peace yet support an unproductive violent culture.  So for me as a parent this strike is the least of my concern. Push come to shove I can teach my own child. I'm his first teacher anyway.  Hell they don't even teach us about us in history so we are bred to be a culture of inferior people when we are not.  So to those that say the children are suffering. They are suffering whether in class or not.  Let's not speak on violence with shoot outs in school games and kids being best to death on their way from school.  We were taught the mind is a terrible thing to waste and this generation is truly learning what that means!  I'm worried about people that feels there is no hope because they can't afford college.  There are plenty of skilled jobs out here but folks have no skills or don't learn trades.  Why am I worried because technically I'm from the hood I was blessed to have a mom that explored her options within the school system.  I was blessed to have parents that taught me how to read write and do arithmetic before I was in the 1st grade.  Had someone not shared with my mom and poured into her I may have ended up in my neighborhood school.  The worst part of it all students shouldn't have to be bused to get a better education.  Same students same neighborhoods sent to different schools that placed different demands produced different results.  The major difference was the demand and expectations placed on the child.  Children should be inspired in school it shouldn't be about teaching to pass a standardized test.  Oh I'm also worried about the students that act up that are bored out of their minds but are labeled problem children.  I'm worried about teachers who know their material but have no clue what to truly do with the non cookie cutter students.  They know the system is broke and they have no interest in fixing it so just like our violence problem. What are we going to do for our own?"

Be blessed and be a blessing,
Epiphany Essentials!