As we were discussing yesterday, the advantage in this election belongs to the president. But things can happen to change that. The teacher’s union in Chicago, his old stomping grounds, is doing what it can in that regard.
Not that I think it will hurt him that much, but they’re doing their best.
Why would the rest of us care about a labor dispute in Chicago, of course, except for its potential impact on a national conversation.
This is one of those moments in which Democrats and their constituencies do their best to live down to the very worst portraits that Republicans paint of them.
The Republican (or Viable Libertarian) Party dislikes public education, because it costs money, for which taxes must be paid. So it paints public education as a vast patronage machine, run by people who care little about actually educating our society, but only about their own prerogatives and self-interest. The legitimate interest of the public in an educated populace, this argument goes, is held hostage to public employee unions.
This, of course, is a grossly unfair characterization (and grossly inaccurate in SC, where we do not have collective bargaining for public employees, and therefore have no teachers’ union), except for when it is dead on.
Argue all you like about any supposedly legitimate grievances these union members have. It really doesn’t matter. When I Google “chica” — that’s all I have to type — I get a Chicago Tribune story that is encapsulated on the search page with these words: “More than 350,000 children will be locked out of Chicago public schools for a second day as striking teachers and the school board remain at…”
News stories out of Chicago are replete with the disruption to the lives of children who ought to be in school learning something. Here’s how it plays, from the Tribune story. This is in reference to the city’s effort to provide the parks as safe places for working parents to drop off their kids during the strike:
But Rachelle Cirrintano, who works at the University of Illinois at Chicago, still worried about her 8-year-old son Rocco. The boy has a hard time adjusting to change, she explained. When she dropped him off this morning, he sat on a bench alone because he didn’t know anyone.
She focused her frustration at the teachers.
“There was no reason to do this when they just got situated,” Cirrintano said. “All the teachers should be let go for their irresponsibility to the children and their families.”
And who is the wicked boss the union is striking against, as far as the world can see? Why, Rahm Emanuel, the president’s former chief of staff. The mayor’s sin was to try to implement some basic education reforms. The union claims the mayor “disrespected” it.
Republican critics of public education couldn’t have written a better script for illustrating their argument that the greatest barrier to education reform is the very people who work in public education.
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“The Republican (or Viable Libertarian) Party dislikes public education, because it costs money, for which taxes must be paid.”
Well, that isn’t too much hyperbole, is it?
There is a huge difference between your misrepresentation of the views of Republicans and/or Libertarians and the truth.
If there is a concern about spending on public education it is based on performance and value for the dollars spent, not that it should be spent at all.
The Chicago School District is facing a $3 billion dollar deficit over the next three years even before considering the 16% raise the teachers want over the next 4 years. 80% of the students in Chicago are on free and reduced lunch and the graduation rate is around 56%.
An attempt to implement vouchers for the poorest students in the worst schools was shot down by Democrats. The state rep for one of the poor districts was literally crying when she begged the legislature to give the kids in her district a chance. No dice.
With Chicago’s crime rate and poor education results, there is little that can be done to fix it.
Doug, why are you arguing with me? Just force of habit? Did you even read the post? The entire thrust of it is… Oh, never mind. I’m on my phone now, and I weary of repeating myself…
When you make assertions about Republicans and Libertarians in regards to education that are completely false, it undermines the rest of your argument.
It’s like you feel the need to ding Republicans in any post where the Democrats are clearly on the wrong side. The untrue dig at Republicans and Libertarians was unnecessary.
Chicago teachers average pay is $76,000 before benefits. They only pay 3% of their healthcare costs. This is what unions get you. But the downside is when the money runs out, everyone in the union suffers.
Probably not the best timing. Still, this doesn’t seem like a game changer.
Doug you have no problem with someone stealing, I mean, earning hundreds of millions of dollars from a Hedge Fund then sheltering that money in the Cayman Islands yet you get all worked up over a teacher making $76/k in and expensive city like Chicago. Frankly you’ve got your priorities backwards. I say to the teachers of Chicago good for you earning a decent wage.
And so do I. And then I say, get off the damn’ picket line and go EARN that good pay…
Unfortunately, teachers have been their own worst enemies when trying to explain what is happening with educational reform. The movement to evaluate teachers on the basis of their students’ standardized test scores is spreading. This is unfortunate, in part because the tests are flawed measures of teacher performance but most of all for what this approach promises to do to students. You get more of what you reward, and in this case that means students wasting their time memorizing what is needed for these tests when they need to learn everything from the process of scientific inquiry to the importance of responsible decision-making in their own lives. Sadly, there are a lot of self-promoting educational reformers running around whose only tool is a hammer (standardized test) so everything looks like a nail (something that is best measured by a standard multiple choice test). If they want to reach the public, teachers should talk less about what is happening to them, and more about what is happening to students. And no, I’m not a teacher defending her turf, just a concerned citizen who has done a lot of reading on this topic.
@Bud
Any of those teachers is welcome to start a hedge fund and duplicate Romney’s success. He didn’t steal a dime. Or are you aware of some criminal investigation into his business dealings that noone else in the world is aware of?
The teachers are free to ask for whatever salary and benefits they want. But they reap what they sow. Since there isn’t any money to meet their demands, we’ll see who blinks first.
Where would you suggest that Chicago gets the funds to cover a 16% salary increase, smaller class sizes, 97% coverage of healthcare costs, etc. while also dealing with a $3 billion dollar deficit? I know, I know… raise the taxes on “the rich”.
The bubble is bursting on public worker unions.
You can’t “start a hedge fund” on a teacher’s capital.
Of COURSE you can! Just borrow the money from your parents! Where have you been?
@Kathryn
Why not? It’s so easy to make money (or steal it) ANYONE can do it.
Those teachers have the benefit of being right there at the Chicago Board of Trade. A couple thousand bucks on some pork belly options and you’re off to wealth and prosperity. It’s simple (according to bud).
Why just this morning I day traded my way from 100 shares of K-Mart to a leveraged buyout of WalMart. All it takes is luck.
Re Doug: Or are you aware of some criminal investigation into his business dealings that noone else in the world is aware of?
Absolutely not.
Just wish he would follow his dad’s leadership and unveil his tax returns.
Obviously there is no criminal issues — but there may be some ethical ones. And, come to think of it, when you talk about the White House, they are one and the same.
@tired old man
So Romney needs to unveil his tax returns so that ethical issues will be revealed. Because he is guilty until proven innocent. And apparently the IRS didn’t bother to check his returns for any errors or fraud.
All the Democrats want is more fodder to blame Romney for being rich. They’ll nitpick items and cherry pick “facts” to ramp up the class war.
That’s not how a hedge fund works. Take it from a former securities lawyer.
@ Doug
No, the issue is not that he is rich.
The issue is HOW he got to be rich, and who became less rich in the process.
If someone wants a bigger piece of the pie than someone else has a smaller piece.
If Romney wanted to stay home and enjoy being rich is one thing. For him to want to be president, and thus able to set an agenda that might take away some of my pie is very much a real concern.
I did not ask Romney to be either rich or politically ambitious. The first issue, of being rich, is not my problem — unless he takes something from me or someone else to add to his pile.
When he asked me to consider voting for him he left that wonderfully comfortable environment — and if he cannot take the heat, maybe he needs to stay private sector.
His private sector became a public sector issue when he chose to from one to the other.
And, quite frankly, he is the very poster child of the utter need from time to time to have a class war.
Yes, Doug, you can invest and win. That’s great if you have money (I’ve done so,carefully). But, if you’re raising kids on that sort of budget (remember, this is Chicago, not Columbia), you can’t afford to lose that money (been there, done that,too).
I don’t have anyone but me. I’d never have been able to afford the chance if I’d had dependents. It is not a level playing field. It never will be, but can we try to make it a survivable ‘field’ for everyone instead of a Shiloh?
Isn’t this $76,000 salary based on a 9-month teaching contract?
Doug,
You make it sound like this is all about money. The coverage I’ve heard say money is not the issue that the teachers are striking over, but rather the proposed evaluation system and other conditions/resources that affect the children. I am not against an evaluation system that exacts consequences for teacher quality in theory – I just have grave doubts that the people in charge of assessing supposed teacher quality will have the knowledge, patience, skill, or will to do it appropriately. There are an awful lot of variables. It would take an awful lot of energy and effort to gather enough information to get a true picture. I really don’t think that my principal even truly understands what my job is yet some would give ultimate power to the principal. So since I don’t trust them to gather the appropriate information, and the people in charge who they are likely to default to in the absence of appropriate information gathering don’t understand my job – going to this kind of evaluation system gives me pause. I suspect that similar issues are in play in Chicago from what I’ve read.
So no we don’t have Unions in SC, but we do have this issue. Zais is pushing moving to this same type of evaluation system in SC right now.
“But Rachelle Cirrintano, who works at the University of Illinois at Chicago, still worried about her 8-year-old son Rocco. The boy has a hard time adjusting to change, she explained. When she dropped him off this morning, he sat on a bench alone because he didn’t know anyone.”
This just tore me up. I’m lucky enough to have a wife that can care for our daughter full time. The thought of a lonely kid just being dropped off a park kills me. Alot of kids have seperation anxiety too. Imagine pushing to get your child to feel comfortable at school only to get stymied by a strike.
That too me is the big lost here. Not a stupid squabble over money.
Doug, the reason there is so much pressure on Romney to release his tax records is because he is auditioning for the role of President of the United States and the people tasked with making that decision, the voters, deserve to have all relevant information about each candidate available for consideration. His tax records are part of that relevant information because he may be utilizing tax breaks that are available only to certain wealthy individuals and that could be a factor in how he governs. Most folks concede that he is not hiding anything illegal. Probably not but why not prove it? Maybe he took advantage of certain amnesty programs that would call into question his ethical conduct toward supporting his country financially. Afterall he did dodge the draft in a way that comes across as less than honorable. Why wouldn’t he do the same with his finances? If he didn’t his tax records would exonerate him and the story would end. Given his stubborness we are left only to speculate. And that’s just not fair to the voters.
$76K doesn’t go nearly so far in Chicagoland, and finding a summer job isn’t so easy for teachers. These are college-educated professionals, most with masters degrees. We trust them with the future and our children.
@Karen
There are plenty of people who have gone from nothing to millionaires. Beyond the constant refrain of luck having a big part of it, there are specific skills and personal traits that make some people better at it than others. There is no way to “level the playing field” when it comes to intelligence, insight, ambition, perseverance, aversion or acceptance of risk, etc.
I accept the fact that others are better than me at investing and running a business. It is a skill. I don’t complain that Chipper Jones has had some kind of advantage to make him a Hall of Fame baseball player and I’m not. He’s better than me at baseball. I don’t complain that Phillip Bush is in the top 0.1% of pianists (right behind Lady Gaga 🙂 ) He just is.
Mitt Romney is rich. Good for him. There is no evidence he stole the money. He paid all his taxes legally — and pays more in a year than most of us do in a lifetime. Taking more of his money away from him isn’t going to change the fundamental issues in our economy or our society.
@bud
All you can offer is “maybes”… if Romney hasn’t been audited and hasn’t been found guilty of any wrongdoing, then just MAYBE he is innocent. Taking advantage of loopholes he didn’t create isn’t unethical. If he becomes President, his investments will move into blind trusts that he has no control over.
@Scout
I never said it was just about money. But I don’t think the unions will accept any agreement that doesn’t include a salary increase – the one offered by Chicago of 16% apparently wasn’t enough.
As for the evaluations, they are being driven by the Department of Education’s “Race to The Top” initiative implemented by Obama.
… which, as I understand it, the teachers’ unions hate.
I like that Romney and Ryan realized that backing Rahm on this was a win-win for them — get the teachers’ union to denounce them for taking sides in a local matter, and embarrass da mayor.
Of course, if voters take the next logical step, they realize that what they’re praising is the kind of reform that this administration has championed. But they’re betting on voters not taking that next step. Which, unfortunately, is very often a safe bet.
Phillip Bush is in the top .01% of pianists because 1.he was born into a family and 2. a country that enabled him to have the kind of opportunities 3. to develop his innate talents, 4. instead of having to forage for food or 5. fight a war, and 6. he put in the 10,000 hours to become an outlier. A combination of luck and effort.
Ixnay on the ucklay! It always sets Doug off…
Even though, you know, it’s true…
In fact, I will posit that everyone does the best he or she can with the cards s/he was dealt, which include such crucial trump cards as temperament and physical and mental health, including mood stability.
#walkamileinmyshoes
Beyond the constant refrain of luck having a big part of it, there are specific skills and personal traits that make some people better at it than others.
-Doug
Inherited skills and personal traits are certainly a function of luck. There is an ad currently running showing Shaquille O’Neil sitting in a Buick extoling the virtues of it’s large interior. Now Shaq certainly could have been a failed athlete even with his large size but now that he’s attained a bit of fame he’s able to exploit that even further by doing promotions. There’s no special skills or exceptionally hard work involved yet he can make a fair amount of money simply because he is a big, famous man. How on earth can anyone say luck doesn’t play a role in wealth creation?
@Kathryn
My shoes are pretty well worn, thanks. Very few people know the personal struggles each of us has been faced with in our lives. Where we end up is a result of the response to those difficult situations.
I haven’t met a whole lot of successful quitters.
@Doug
“I never said it was just about money. But I don’t think the unions will accept any agreement that doesn’t include a salary increase – the one offered by Chicago of 16% apparently wasn’t enough.”
And yet if the sticking point and reason for the rejection of the deal is said to be the evaluation system, on what basis are you able to claim that the salary offer “apparently wasn’t enough.” If it was enough but was coupled with an unacceptable evaluation system, the offer would be rejected in spite of being enough. I’m just saying we don’t know enough information here to draw that conclusion.
“As for the evaluations, they are being driven by the Department of Education’s “Race to The Top” initiative implemented by Obama.”
Yes, I am aware of that. I still have reservations as previously stated. I’m still not saying it can’t be done right or that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if done right – I just don’t think the people in charge have a good track record of getting these sorts of things done right – and the consequences of getting it wrong are pretty immense. It’s a great way to disincentive teachers if they feel they may be judged unfairly and penalized accordingly. It’s a hard enough job without that.
@Scout
From CNN:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/10/what-are-key-issues-in-chicago-public-school-strike/
One of the key issues is salaries and benefits for teachers and their families.
What the teachers want: to maintain their existing health benefits, as well as salary increases.
“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation,” the Chicago Teachers Union said in a news release. “However, we are apart on benefits.”
So it’s still about money.. and other things. I bet they’d take more money/benefits and give up on the evaluation issue quicker than they would do the reverse.
Doug, the fact that successful people don’t quit is irrelevant to the reasons why others might, or might not start. It’s the fallacy of the converse. While winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win, at least in the games they quit, that has absolutely no bearing on the abilities and difficulties faced by “quitters.”
Good for the people who can win. They still get lots more good stuff than those who fall by the wayside.
@Kathryn
My issue is with those who make no effort, who willingly choose to create difficult situations. Why should the rest of us get up and work every day for them? For example, the increasing number of children born to unwed mothers – at what point do we as a society say “Enough!”?
And buying Cadillacs for them, right, Doug?
@Brad
Huh? If you’re talking about the mythical Cadillac driving welfare mom, that’s not my issue. There are plenty of people who take advantage of the unaccountable government systems in place right now but I’m talking about people who choose paths that place a burden on the rest of us. Not those who are down on their “luck” or ill or otherwise constrained – the people who make bad choices purposefully. Having a kid when you aren’t married and can’t support it isn’t bad luck, it’s a poor decision that impacts the rest of us.