Teachers Can't Teach

Teachers get a bum rap. If Richie can't read and Suzie can't do her sums, it's all the teacher's fault. The failure of our public schools is chalked up to the perfidy of the teachers' unions. Even I have piled on, blaming teachers for the existence of "systemic racism" because they've failed to educate us white folks out of our primordial prejudices.

Of course it's not true--or at least not the whole truth. Richie might be dyslexic, and Suzie maybe isn't very bright. A lot of kids watch too much TV, are obese and unhealthy, have mental health issues, have fallen foul of the law, are smoking too much dope, or, like Suzie, aren't all that smart.

No bespoke third grade curriculum is going to overcome all those handicaps, no matter how good the teacher is.

But I'm still gonna cast some shade on the teachers' unions, because to them it seems it all reduces to not enough money. Teachers aren't getting paid enough--and if only their salaries were doubled or tripled then all the above problems would be solved. Or, as a condition of going back to work after the pandemic, the ventilation system of every school in the country has to be completely rebuilt. Failing that, or perhaps in addition to that, teachers need to be first in line for vaccinations.

If those conditions aren't met, they threaten to go on strike.

Left Voice, a high-quality blog published by a loose collective of New York City college professors and their hangers-on, has the education beat covered. They include this picture of Catholic school students.

(Source)

Alert, physically-fit, neatly attired in bespoke uniforms, hair laboriously primped--these are the kids educated by Catholic schools. The parents have obviously invested lots of money and hours of time into their offspring. The teachers don't do any of this--they don't buy the uniforms, arrange for the extra-curricular dance classes, make sure the kids do their homework, or get them ready for school every morning. The parents do all of that--leaving it to the Catholic schools to take credit for being better than their public counterparts.

And yet it's not enough for Left Voice author Ellie Thomas, who writes about the Catholic school where she works.

In August, my school district gave families the option of either full-time, in-person learning or full-time, remote learning. At my school, more than half of all students returned in person, and in some grades nearly all returned in person. Over the summer, Catholic school teachers in my district were likewise offered the option of teaching in person or remotely, which came as a relief to many teachers who were afraid to contract the virus or spread it to vulnerable family and community members. However, that mandate quickly changed: in the end, all teachers were required to teach both in-person and remote students while in the school building, without any additional compensation for the additional workload. Those who refused were told they could sign a voluntary resignation letter. 

Ms. Thomas seems remarkably ungrateful. With all the obvious sacrifices that parents make to send their children to a Catholic school, it is surely reasonable to expect school employees to reward the effort. We learn later in the article that the school did accommodate the employees with release time, and nowhere in the article does Ms. Thomas claim there was a Covid outbreak--so it's all just one big whine.

Meanwhile, James Dennis Hoff--history professor, union activist, and Left Voice journalist--reports from Chicago (dated 2/11/21)--

After three weeks of fierce negotiating and threatening to strike, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has reached a tentative agreement with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) administration to reopen all of the city’s more than 600 public schools.

Chicago's schools have been closed since March 17th, 2020 (nearly a year ago) on Governor Pritzker's order. Prior to the governor's edict, Chicago's mayor Lori Lightfoot had vowed to keep the schools open. She was forced backtrack on that. While we right wingers occasionally accuse her of not having much of a backbone, there's no question but the lady has heart. Here's what she said (3/13/20):

“In light of this order, the best place for our students to be is at home,” she said Friday evening. “I’m asking residents to remain in your homes. Of course, I know that’s not possible for everyone. CPS serves thousands of children who’re experiencing homelessness or housing instability.” … 

Lightfoot is calling on the business community to accommodate workers who are CPS parents and may not have access to paid sick leave.

“No parent should be forced to choose between staying home with a child or earning a paycheck. That is why my team is finalizing our contingency plan to meet the needs of our children and families,” Lightfoot said. “In Chicago, we know that schools are more than just places of learning.”

Unlike Mr. Hoff, Mayor Lightfoot realizes that public school students are not always like the well-cared-for, intelligent, carefully groomed pupils in Catholic schools. Some of them are hungry and homeless, more haven't showered in weeks, a few are just plain stupid, and many others hugely unmotivated. There are those who are abused, or who live in foster homes, or who are lonely and abandoned.

These kids don't come to school to be educated--instead they just need a safe place to spend the day. If they're lucky, there's a teacher who can spare them a smile. Lori Lightfoot understands that.

Mr. Hoff doesn't. Instead he argues that schools should remain closed indefinitely.

Though they did not go on strike, the CTU managed to postpone sending most teachers to classrooms until it was safer and until all faculty and staff were vaccinated. In a country where right to work laws have increasingly undercut the power of unions, postponing school reopenings for more than an entire month is a significant victory. This was made possible because the CTU members voted overwhelmingly in January to support a strike if needed to win their demands. That strike threat was made all the more powerful, however, by the fact that the CTU had already shown twice in the last decade that they are willing to do more than make idle threats, and that they are ready to strike and strike big. That strike muscle is strong in the CTU and it is the reason why they were able to remain firm in their negotiations with Lightfoot and eventually win their demands.

So who are the teachers gonna strike against? According to Emma Lee, the foe is the evil Lori Lightfoot herself. Never mind that Ms. Lightfoot has humored the unions for nearly a year, keeping schools closed despite increasing evidence that opening them won't spread the virus. Meanwhile, the rightwing media accuse her of coddling the unions--the lady can't win. At the end of the day, she's just the messenger--she doesn't really control the purse strings.

My friends at Left Voice will say battle is against the millionaires and billionaires who supposedly have endless amounts of money stashed away in some safety deposit box. So let's imagine a selfish billionaire who lives not in Chicago but on the North Shore, and she hears that Chicago's teachers are going on strike. "Great!" she says. "Now the state can save money by not paying those stupid teachers. Hope they stay on strike forever." The teachers' union can't win against that attitude.

Or maybe the strike is against middle class homeowners, liable for property taxes, and who themselves depend on the public schools--if only for the sake of civil order. But they don't have a lot of money. Raising property taxes will reduce their home values, and ultimately force them to move. That's happening in Chicago already--the city is losing population.

In reality, the strike is against poor people--people who don't pay any taxes, who live on food stamps and Section 8, who spend time in jail and are functionally illiterate. The French have a word for them: Les Misérables--The Miserables, Those are the folks who the teachers' union really wants to screw over--with help from Mr. Hoff and his friends over at Left Voice.

A kid can't even get a smile anymore.

Further Reading:

• "A Program to Unify the Exploited and Oppressed"
• The Revenge of the Lumpen Proletariat
• Louis Proyect and the More-Poverty Solution