By Ali Palmieri
In the current political climate, the Chicago teacher strike, finally reaching its conclusion, is a hot button issue. The Chicago Teachers Union represents 26,000 teachers. Chicago has the nation's third-largest school system with some 35,000 students, and its teachers are among the highest paid in the country. With both Democrats and Republicans treading lightly around the issue, and trying to figure out the best strategy, the public was trying to be informed of what issues were behind the strike and how the resolution was reached.
A Resolution is Reached
Chicago schools went back to business as usual on Wednesday, September 19. It appears the teachers have decisively won, according to a labor expert. There is an average of 17.6% for raises over 4 years. Also, a merit pay program that would have been tied to increased emphasis on student test scores has been taken out. In terms of the City of Chicago gaining some ground, the school day and year will be extended, and teachers backed off on their insistence that laid-off teachers be given even more consideration for jobs. The main point that remains in the contract is that scores will count for a lower percentage of teacher evaluations.
The Role of Race to the Top
Race to the Top and its influence on evaluations, which relates directly to President Obama's education reform agenda, was one of the central issues along with the length of the school day correlating with compensation and potential job losses. Accountability, performance and evaluations are at the heart of Race to the Top and the Chicago teachers have had a problem with how this policy ties evaluations to test scores. Chicago Public Schools encompass an area that has a high percentage of low income families; 87% to be exact. The teachers say they should not be evaluated based on test scores when the lives of their students are much more difficult than other areas of the country where test scores may be higher. Since Race to the Top is a program that relies heavily on test scores and performance year to year, it doesn't appear that the Chicago Teachers Union will be able to change this policy any time soon.
President Obama has supported Race to the Top, which in return caused many states to drastically change their education laws in order to try to go after the $4.35 billion in funding. A New York Times editorial stated, “The Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative has shown that competitive grant programs can be a powerful tool to spur innovation in education.”
A Storm Brewing
With this program continuing, Illinois was one of the states that faced issues when the unions including the Chicago Teachers Union would not support Race to the Top. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) was signed into law in January 2010 and stated that by September 2012, each Illinois school district must establish a new method for evaluating performance for teachers and principals. The language was very close to Race to the Top, stating that test score "growth" must be a "significant factor" in evaluations. Some think that PERA was enacted just to get Race to the Top funding.
Education Reform in the Spotlight
Our political system leads to many different views being expressed and this is part of what makes America an innovative country. The Chicago Teachers Union exercised their right to spur change and this put the spotlight on a political issue. The public was able to debate education and see the points of view of teachers, unions and municipalities. If programs like Race to the Top create change, we can only hope that the education system will continue to evolve to the benefit of all students.