Last Tuesday, 350,000 children and corresponding parents were reassured they would return to the classroom as a month-long strike between Chicago union teachers and Chicago Mayor Emanuel came to a culminating resolution for both sides.
The month lasting tension between Chicago teachers and Emanuel came to a climax as union leaders announced Sunday, Sept. 9, they would begin a strike the next day. This resulted after the Union and Chicago School System failed to generate an appeasing contract for both sides.
The Union teachers had ample reasoning for discontent, being disgruntled over wages, job security and teacher evaluations. And with a stand of more than 20,000 teachers, the discontented Union stated they would press on until they achieved a reasonable contract.
But where does this leave the children?
As the strike continued, over a quarter of a million children were blocked from attending school, forcing parents to make last minute childcare arrangements. Many parents either had to bring their children to work or, even worse, not go at all.
The union may have sufficient reason to strike, but that leaves the children without a school to attend and uncomfortable circumstances for the parents. For many working parents, their entire itinerary revolved around their children’s school; and every day a child is without school is a major loss for Chicago families widespread. This would be the reality for parents who couldn’t afford to commute to another school or afford private school.
I don’t support the union’s initiative of striking for as long as it took to get an improved contract. Imagine if it took weeks, months, or even an entire semester to create a sufficient contract. Think about how back-tracked each student would be for missing an entire half of a school year. They would essentially be held back a year.
Amidst the chaos, Tuesday, Sept. 18 the Union formally signed-off the official end to the Teacher’s Strike and the results were pacifying to both sides. The revised contract included a 17 percent wage raise over four years, a seven hour school day and an aim to hire from a pool of qualified laid off teachers.
I certainly empathize with the parents’ distress of uncertainty for the future of their children’s educational prospects, as well as the anxiety of dealing with the sudden question of where to put their children, who normally had a structured environment from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays. We also cannot turn a blind eye to the parents who were forced to miss multiple days of work or unexpectedly paid more for a day care facility.
In retrospect, a multiple-month long dispute has been resolved as teacher’s get the recognition for the long hours they put in and a teacher’s potentially unreasonable conditions is given national spotlight. Although it was a short lived catastrophe for thousands of Chicago residents, teachers can return to class with better circumstances. Their power in numbers proved triumphant for this union as a celebrated epitome for teacher’s everywhere.