Ever since the union clashed with local parents and activists in the Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhood of New York City in 1968, the struggle for equitable, community-based public education has been contested over the fault lines of race and class. And policy tensions between parents and unions persist. Clearly, teachers unions are dedicated to preserving and extending job security and teacher due process through the tenure system. Pro-labor parents groups and largely poor communities of color, on the other hand, are often torn between the need to assure a quality education to each and every child and an insistence on an equitable decision-making process for underperforming teachers. Zakiyah Ansari, a parent activist and advocacy director for the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) in New York City and an organizer for the national Journey for Justice, says: “Labor can be threatened when we claim an independent identity as parents…. We do have differences, but they are getting smaller.” That relations are improving is thanks in part to the way teachers unions have broadened their vision. The Chicago Teachers Union and its leader, Karen Lewis, have modeled a new breed of union leadership by responding to privatization aggressively and reimagining public education collaboratively. When the CTU struck in September 2012, its agenda focused not just on teacher benefits and wages, but on quality education—“the schools our children deserve,” including a decrease in high-stakes testing, smaller class sizes and paid prep time. As a result, the strike won significant support from parents and community allies. Lewis notes, “Across the city, more and more people trust CTU. We stand up for the little guy. CTU was not about narrow self-interest during the strike, and now we are fighting for what will make a difference for our community and the child.”
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 21:53:37 +0000
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