Why the Chicago Teachers Union strike is an important national conversation

My father (the most loving conservative I know) visited me recently and asked me my thoughts on the Chicago strike, so I shared that this was an important moment in the history of our country for education.  It didn't seem that this strike had ANYTHING to do with wanting more money or to not be accountable (as he believed based on his heavily based Fox news input) but it had to do with being a stand for being paid fairly for longer days and to have a COLA increase-see actual raise below, it's laughable- while refusing to further endanger the lives of their already at risk children by risking high teacher turnover engaging in a faulty evaluation system. My father shared that he had heard starting salaries were at almost $80,000 per year and that teachers were ultimately getting a 16% raise.  I informed him that this was the propaganda machine hard at work to continue to make teachers seem evil.  Putting aside my personal belief that starting salary SHOULD be at $100,000 per year, the reality is that the median salary for Chicago teachers (INCLUDING VETERANS!!) is about 56k per year.  How news stations/propaganda machines can ethically report a starting salary of 80k is appalling.  In addition, the average COLA increase for social security recipients (government regulated) is 3.6% per year.  Over 4 years...this would be close to 14.5%. When asking conservatives if this seems fair for social security benefits, I'm certain this COLA would be fine...UNLESS you're asking this to count for teachers.
What did the teachers get? 
Straight from the contract: Year 1: 3% Year 2: 2% Year 3: 2% OPTIONAL Year 4: 3% (CTU may decide to take the additional year under the existing terms or begin bargaining new Agreement).  

A WHOPPING 10% OVER 4 YEARS!   This includes an extra week of work per year for elementary and two weeks per year for high school teachers (basic math tells us the increase in hours is actually about 2.8% for elementary and 5% for secondary, meaning high school teachers are working MORE their first two years for free).  So, they are UNDER average COLA and have added hours of work time per year.  Can someone tell me ANY profession where fighting for this would be the atrocity conservatives are making this?!

In addition, the really big argument was how to implement the state law that requires state testing as part of the evaluation.  There are MAJOR, MAJOR issues with this philosophy and method of implementation.  First off, state tests have been proven highly ineffective at assessing learning. In addition, there are so many other factors to consider in how/why children learn or don't learn AND how they show that learning.  These factors include poverty, hunger, quality of the teachers in years past, safety and climate of the school and the neighborhood and THE PIECE WE CAN AND SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR, the quality of the tests.  Given that there is so much controversy and movement to create effective tests, what profession in THEIR RIGHT MIND would agree to be evaluated by results on an ineffective testing system?! Teachers have stated over and over that they are fine to be accountable to results, but to commit professional suicide by allowing the current system that has massive flaws to play a major role in evaluating teacher effectiveness simply tells us what we've always known.....that teachers are smart.  And, that they care enough about the kids and the profession to ensure they fight for their low paying, never glorifying jobs to support having consistency and experience in the classrooms that need it the most.  

Diane Ravitch in The Death and Life of the Great American School System breaks down a few important elements of the tests, how they are regularly ineffective at measuring progress and often "dumbed down" by states who are afraid of the repercussions of NCLB.  Linda Darling Hammond tells us repeatedly how testing in Finland and Australia puts our testing to shame.  Given that the latest reform movement (Race to the Top) has states looking to completely revamp their testing AND that in 2014 we will be rolling out new common core standards, thus rolling out new assessments that will likely require several years to work out the kinks, WHY IN ANY COMMON SENSE THINKING does it exist NOW to incorporate state assessments as part of teacher evaluation?
Since my daddy taught me never to complain without a few solutions, I offer an answer.....include teachers heavily in the development and piloting of highly effective tests like authentic assessment and open ended questions that ask students to evaluate, predict and synthesize.  Get rid of multiple choice assessments and invest in our young people's creativity and multiple intelligences. When we do that, we will see the creative juices of teachers begin to flow as they shed fears of mandates and bubble test results. We will see classrooms full of lively debate and engaging critical thinking as multiple intelligences are honored and allow for a variety of ways to demonstrate proficiency in skills. And, take time to implement this thoughtfully. When we have it right (which really doesn't have to be that hard since several countries are ALREADY doing this well by having authentic assessment and amazing conditions and pay for teachers), then we can talk about using effective measures to increase accountability.  
But for now, failing schools, systems and policy making is where we should be directing our anger. The kids are not failing, and for the most part, the teachers are not failing. They are being asked to do brain surgery (often with limited training and support) on the fly, in a war zone and being asked for high rates of survival.  It's a joke.
Should teachers be accountable?  Absolutely.....but first, let's get real about the blatant irresponsibility and gall of policy makers, systems leaders and testing corporations  and how they are blowing smoke and mirrors movements that are PROVEN to be ineffective; charter schools, merit pay and our testing linked to evaluations.  Reform of our compensation and preparation for teachers coupled with creating an effective assessment system would DRAMATICALLY increase our society's critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and shift the positional power in our nation.  For us to ALLOW these same people in power to run a propaganda machine that seeks out teachers as the bad guys for simply demanding fair conditions to continue to attempt to engage in a system designed for failure, and the incredible amount of people who buy it, is further proof of how effective our current school system is.  WE ARE DUMBED DOWN. Until we, as a nation, are willing to stand up to those with historic positional power and wealth (which the CTU did this month), we should be clear that we are getting EXACTLY what the system is designed to create; workers that don't ask hard questions, don't fight and do what they're told. We're not a nation that has an education system designed to create powerful contributors in a democratic society, because those with the wealth and power are perfectly happy with things the way they are. It works for them and the movement to demonize teachers is clear evidence of the fight to keep it the way it is.
Wake up, shake it off and get mad!  We are smarter than this, our kids deserve to have their brilliance shine and blossom, and we are being fooled into believing that an appalling minimum effort is actual reform.  TO END, I want you all to really know what the CTU members won this month.....and ask yourself, are THESE the bad guys? 
Their new contract has provisions such as adding $1.5 million dollars for more special education teachers, a promise to hire more social workers, nurses, and counselors, a guarantee to have textbooks on the first day of class, an increase from $100 to $250 given to teachers for supplies, new clauses about including parents on class size monitoring committees, $.5 million dollars for class size reductions, allowing teachers to follow their own lesson plan formats instead of using the top-down mandated one, an anti-bullying clause against workplace bullying by poor administrators, and 600 new music, art, and gym teachers.  The CTU also stopped the collaborative-culture-crushing idea of merit pay, preserved steps and lanes in the salary schedule to ensure we value experience and education in our teaching workforce, and kept the use of student test scores in teacher evaluation to the legal minimum. (http://mskatiesramblings.blogspot.com/2012/09/dear-mrmayor-there-is-hope-for-chicagos.html?spref=tw&m=1)

What jerks.

Occupyyourbrain people....if not for you, for the brilliant minds of our children who are inheriting this disaster.  

What my relationships with men would look like if men were feminists.

As a white woman who is committed to living my life as an anti-racist, there are a few important things I choose to practice in my thinking/looking/living.  First, from the teachings of Derrick Bell and Critical Race Theory, I believe in the Permanence of Racism~that racism is consistently present in our thinking and actions. For me this means that being an anti racist, regardless of any level of consciousness or my best intentions, is having to constantly examine where the indoctrination of racism appears in my mindset (no matter how seemingly small) and ensure that I am making intentional choices in how I choose to move forward vs. falling back on any default behaviors.  This is no easy way of being. It means constantly acknowledging how my whiteness shows up in my thinking and how others skin color impacts that thinking.  This leads to the second practice for me in this commitment which is remembering that identifying racist thinking and actions in myself does not make me a racist.  It means that I WAS TAUGHT TO BE ONE by society and the art of interrupting starts with acknowledging there is something to interrupt!  Pretending there is nothing there because of our fear that we are racist or believing that consciousness about racism is sufficient, is actually being committed to racism.  When I look, sometimes racism shows up for me as an internal dialogue that says "I know best" or a Great White Hope saves the day story, which leads to lessening my listening to other perspectives. Other times it shows up as having a visceral response to a person of color, often someone I don't know, that generates an unfounded fear or suspicion.  Being honest about this is hard...but NOT being honest about this perpetuates racism, which is the opposite of my declared and practiced commitment.  Finally, remembering that the people most IMPACTED by racism are NOT responsible for helping me to see how racism plays out in me is essential.  Asking those that bear the burden of any "ism" to add more to their burden by helping me with my "blind spots" is one of the ways in which the privilege of the oppressor rears its ugly head and perpetuates oppression.
So...I'm clear about this as it relates to racism and how I choose to engage interrupting it.  Why is this less clear for me as a woman who seeks partnership with men?   Oh, I know...my internalized sexism would have me believe that I'm not worthy of the following consideration.

Imagine how this would play out...
First, a commitment from any man that I'm in ANY relationship with that misogyny and sexism always exists in our dynamic.  There would be no debate about whether or not patriarchy is playing out in our relationship, just acceptance that it must be something to look for if we are committed to interrupting it.  Also, it would mean that men (and women) would be practicing that finding examples of sexism in our thinking is NOT what makes us sexist.  We'd remember that patriarchy is the way we've been trained and, if we want to dismantle that training, the work is for men to look for how they are perpetuating the oppression of women and for women to look for how we are accepting/expecting that oppression. Woah.  When I look, I see how I'm supposed to keep it all together to serve and support men and put my needs last.  I see when my perspective is blown off and not considered how 1. misogynistic that is and 2. how sexism plays out in my reaction when I second guess how valuable my perspective was in the first place and 3. how quickly I move to smooth things over, as if disrupting the comfort of men is a problem. As if disrupting the comfort of men is a problem.  If all men were willing to get to the root of their thinking when misogyny appears and practice the belief that women are equal and worthy instead of whatever they were thinking when the awareness of their sexism was showing up, WE ALL would be making much greater headway in the world. Period. (Pun intended).
Finally, depending on me to point this out to you (and often fighting it while I am) is added weight on the already absurdly long list of burdens I bear as a woman dedicated to being treated as the brilliant, worthy, and powerful human being I am.  Just believing in my brilliance, worth and power makes me TIRED. Practicing that and demanding that I am seen that way has me REAL TIRED.  So, men....can you do me a solid and do the work on your own to look for where YOU treat us as if we're lesser than you? Even if you are "CONSCIOUS" and belong to some communities that are down for women? In fact, especially then.  I promise I'll have a lot more energy, you'll benefit from my gratitude and happiness and the world will be a much better place with you working to leave no trace of patriarchy behind you.
Now, the question is...are you READY for me to have a lot more energy?  This is me tired.  :)