The CTU as only Reform Adversary: Thoughts on "STRIKE FOR AMERICA"
Last month, I attended the new Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky interview show at the Hideout. Their interview subject that evening was CTU prez Karen Lewis. It was a jovial event of Karen supporters, Reader readers, retired teachers, and even a few good old-fashioned left-wing conspiracy theorists, who happened to be shout-whispering directly behind our ears for much of the show about "sublimable [sic] messages," probably WTC 7, etc. We giggled through that portion, and clinked glasses every time Joravsky mentioned TIFs as part of my wise-guy drinking game idea.
At the end, a guy behind us asked Karen Lewis to comment on how the CTU's rank-and-file empowerment, born of the CORE caucus principles, has transformed the organization into a more democratic, grassroots, member-driven group than previous top-down union leadership structures. Turns out this guy was Micah Uetricht, a Jacobin writer who closely followed the strike, and then later sold us a copy of his book, "Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity." The book focuses on the Chicago Teacher's Union 2012 strike and the organizing structures the union had in place to have such a successful and well-supported mass action.
The book's title is a wonderful reclaiming of education reform's best lie: that America is in need of non-experienced high-achieving college grads with hearts of gold to swoop in and diminish the "achievement gap" for impoverished children in public schools. "Teach for America" and ilk thus conjure a mirror image of a cynical, defeated teacher who no longer cares about her students or their learning. TFA and other alt-cert programs (I know, cuz full disclosure, I did one) teach you that there are "no excuses" in public education; that students can achieve, no matter what; the problem is that they've had ineffective (read: entitled union) teachers whose interests are at odds with those of the children.
Diane Ravitch wisely reminds us in "Reign of Error" (the tome of good policy; I bow down to it) that "poverty is not an excuse, poverty is the reason" that public schools are in crisis. She says that teachers' unions, as the formal group representing people who CHOSE TO EDUCATE CHILDREN AS THEIR JOB, have an important role to play in discussions of public education reform. She doesn't go too far beyond this mild nod of approval in her policy proscriptions, although she vehemently opposes merit-pay, testing accountability, and value-added measures of teacher evaluation, all tenets of what is generally seen as union-busting, tenure-busting, anti-teacher policy. "Strike for America," as an anthem, book title, and thesis, shows how labor doesn't just need a seat at the table in reform, but that labor, and the CTU itself, is the sole entity effectively opposing school privatization. TFA'ers aren't saving public education; them are the ones staffing charters and siphoning off my school's dollars! Uetricht's title asserts that it's the professionals with an invested and long-term interest in education as a public good who may be able to salvage what is being radically dismantled.
The book starts off with the claim that the 2012 strike was the largest, most successful public sector strike in recent history. If this sounds surprising, I think this is because people often don't think of teachers as militant unionists or labor activists, because teachers are predominantly women. I wondered if this point would be addressed in "Strike for America," but this type of conspiratorial feminist speculation (a specialty of mine) is not within the scope of the book, which, instead, is married to well-observed recent labor economics trends and important anecdotes about reformers and lobbies who have done a nice job of gutting labor of its organizing power in recent years.
The only thing I've read that covers similar ground to "Strike For America" in as much depth is "Mayor 1%," Kari Lydersen's book about Chicago in the era of Rahm. "1%" has a great chapter about CORE, the strike, and Karen Lewis' rise to the top. Like Uetricht, Lydersen points out Lewis' interest in opposing school privatization was piqued indirectly through reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine," thus tracing CORE's ideological lineage to opposing free market zealotry. Uetricht goes deeper, though, talking at length to VP Jesse Sharkey and other CTU movers and shakers about the ground-game of CORE. Interestingly, this book revealed to me that the reasonable, thoughtful, and knowledgeable Sharkey, who my union delegate friends say is pretty uninspiring in person, seems to be the real brains behind the operation. Lewis, I think we can all agree, is the brawn.
Back to the facts. Uetricht does a terrific job of explaining how the CTU, since 2010, built and nurtured relationships with community and church groups, therefore aligning the union with the goals of locals. This created meaningful bonds of support, so that when the teachers wanted to strike, the communities were behind us, no matter how Rahm or others attempted to frame the event as an act of brazen anti-kid entitlement by lazy union members. The bond with communities is in stark contrast to other unions and former CTU union leadership, Uetricht explains. I'd also like to add that this community-building is equally unfamiliar to Chicago reformers, charter school organizations, and turnaround contractors, all of whom push out-of-town billionaire's agendas and yet are funded with local tax dollars. Uetricht focuses on the impact of the movement's free market reform policies on labor; it would be interesting to see how these same policies are reflected in classroom and school culture, too.
[Uetricht didn't go there, but I'd like to... Long aside: A thesis I'm mulling over is how the free market reforms so influential in education right now bear remarkable resemblance to colonial expansion policies. Remember, reformers aren't trying to build charter schools in the North Shore; they're bringing their brand of ACHIEVEMENT COLLEGE READINESS ACCOUNTABILITY 100% to the poorest, least white areas of the city. No wealthy white parent dreams of sending their child to a school with a military-style strict code of discipline and extended blocks for math and reading, with little or no time for physical education, art, or recess in between. You could call the culture and climate of these reformers at charters and contract schools the "white man's burden" complex, where students are taught to to be 100% compliant, 100% of the time, are expelled and suspended at much higher rates than neighborhood schools, and, in some extreme cases as noted in this article about Tennessee charters, are forced to endure humiliating and undignified "consequences" that remind their communities of Jim Crow-era punishments. But I'll get to that thought in my forthcoming book about the cultural imperialism and colonialization of black and Hispanic communities by reform schools. Just kidding. But I should really write that book, shouldn't I? Someone, give me money!]
Anyway, Uetricht's last point is about how the CTU has done a terrific job of not making itself irrelevant and compromised, unlike the NEA and even the AFT, the two national teacher's unions. The Democrats these days are the ones dismantling public infrastructure and privatizing public services like it's 1999, and the unions are still giving them money.
The only way forward, the only way to preserve education as a public good, is to reject the reformers' agenda, wholesale. The big unions can't do it--they're too slow and heavy with their top-down structures and middling leadership. The Democrats aren't doing it--they're the ones who are more gung-ho about charters/school choice/vouchers than Republicans! This means it's left to the coalition of neighborhood organizations, parents, and teachers to oppose the ongoing swift and drastic dismantling of the most important public infrastructure we have for our small citizens. So, in this, "Strike for America" justifies and reaffirms the importance of unions in education, and therefore, is a pretty darn important addition to the growing stack of anti-privatization literature I keep around. I suppose there's nothing else to say but...Hey hey, ho ho, Rahm Emanuel's got to go...hey hey. Maybe if we chant loud enough, and long enough, in perfect unison with our surrounding communities, this wish will come to fruition.
-Ms. P