The Chicago Teachers Union strike has become a national story that is playing out across cable news and national newspapers.
A new poll from Rasmussen says that 42 percent of Americans believe teachers should not have a legal right to go on strike. Another 46 percent do believe that they should be able to walk the picket lines. Rasmussen has the exact wording of the question.
Read all of Patch's strike coverage.
As I have been out covering the strike these past three days I have talked to dozens of teachers and parents about the issues that are serving as their rallying cry. Local and national figures have also weighed in on the issue affecting families across Chicago.
Mitt Romney even jumped into the debate issuing his own statement:
“I am disappointed by the decision of the Chicago Teachers Union to turn its back on not only a city negotiating in good faith but also the hundreds of thousands of children relying on the city’s public schools to provide them a safe place to receive a strong education. 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.”
A bit closer to home, a Sun-Times poll released Tuesday found that 47 percent of Chicago voters support the striking teachers, while 39 percent are opposed.
Here at Patch we care about what our local readers think. So vote in our poll and leave comments about your position on the strike.
Do not excerpt and misrepresent my statements, please!
"It's not about money", Fine, then since Chicago teachers area amoong the highest paid pre contact hour of ANY major city, they should have no problem getting only longevity and lane change increases, right? OF COURSE NOT! It IS all about the money, otherwise how do you explain giving 16% raises when CPS is borke and will have exhausted ALL cash reserves by the end of the year. " It's about fairness to the students (40+ students per teacher is not a good thing!)" Right. That's why what will get the CTU back in school is gutting the evaluation program so that poorly evaluated teachers can keep their jobs AS LONG AS THEIR POOR PERFOMANCE DOESN'T GET ALOT WORSE! For once, SS get sopme facts before you spout off. Check the CPS report cards. Average class sizes in CPS are about 19 for high school and 25 for elementary school students. If there are 40 kids in a class becasue of ibnadequate facilities (staffing is MORE than adequate)blame the Dem Alderman that isn't doing their job taking care of their WARD (Matt O'Shea).
BTW, everage class sizes in Chicago aren't anywher NEAR 30 students per class. Check out the school report cards. HS average class size in only 19. Speaknig of "19" did you know that the average ACT score of CPS teachers who took the ACT is 19? State average in Illinois is 20.6. Average CPS ACT is 17.7 It seems we're PAYING for the best and the brightest, but somehow racial and political patronage seems to ensure that's NOT what we're getting. Low achieving teachers = low achieving students. It's a simple equation!
Any "trained chimp" can get in front of a class, spew out a lecture on a elementary subject, direct students to do an assignment, then collect and grade the papers. THAT kind of teacher is worth no more than $40K per year. A QUALITY TEACHER will have the talent to make the subject come alive for the students, engross them in the subject, and find ways to connect the student to the lesson in their own lives. These teachers make the faculty around them better, and will FIGHT to get rid of those teachers who are cheating the children and taxpayers. There are MANY teachers in CPS like this. The problem is that arrogant, obese, gluttonous "leaders" like Karen Lewis aren't supporting the GOOD teachers. They serve, and are elected by, the poor quality staff in CPS which apparently are the majority in CTU! Until we find a way to empower the QUALITY teachers and get rid of the greedy political parasites, we're doomed to CPS being an embarrassment to the city and our state. I believe giving the option to the quality teachers to start Charters and give vouchers to reward successful schools is the only way to repair the system. the parasites won't go away until we cure the system of their presence.