Why I am "On Strike"

Hey Friends,

I have been truly overwhelmed by the support that friends from all over have shown me this week as I stand strong for a population that is not yet able to stand for themselves. Friends from D.C., Mississippi, Seattle, and California have texted, worn red, and “liked” my post to show their love, support, and understanding. I wanted to put some things into perspective for those who may not know what it means to be a teacher, yet alone a teacher in the country’s 3^rd largest district that also services 80% of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch (aka poverty). My feelings have been crushed at some of the comments that people have made about teachers and the 1% signs (flipping of the middle finger) that more than a hand full of white men driving BMWs or Mercedes have flashed me this week.

Beginning Monday afternoon, instead of holding an “On Strike” sign I held a sign that read, “Please ask me why I am on strike before you say something ugly or tell me to go back to work. I want to share my stories. I want to help you understand. PLEASE stop me and ask. J” I did this for people who I encountered on the street and just as I write this message to you whom I cannot talk face-to-face with. If something is unclear PLEASE send me your questions. I truly want to help you understand my students’ and my perspective on what this strike means for the future of public education in CPS and ultimately my students and your (future) children.

There has been much confusion/concern about why CTU is striking. Legally (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1177&ChapterID=19), we can strike over OUR compensation, OUR working conditions, and OUR evaluations. We cannot strike over things for students such as their class size. CTU’s rights were limited with provisional bargaining and it is the choice of CPS as to what we can bargain over. For example, we asked for a 30% raise, knowing we wouldn’t get it, so that CPS would open bargaining concerning student issues such as money for supplies/materials, technology, smaller class size, etc. We made wild demands to force CPS to allow us to talk about the things that our kids need. So when you see in the news that CTU is striking over compensation, working conditions, and evaluations know that within those issues that we can legally strike over are dozens of student issues that we can only “fight” for.  

Why I am striking/fighting…

Students who came out to picket with us on Wednesday. 

A Better School Day (Fighting):

I am ALL for more time with my kids. Last year I was told by my Network (a sub-division of CPS) that I was NOT to teach social studies AT ALL and that I was not to teach science during “peak testing windows” which equates to between 2 and 4 months/year. Remember…this came from CPS. Each day my students attended 40 minutes of “resource” which consisted of them going into a computer lab with either a highly qualified art teacher OR a day-to-day sub to work on standardized test prep materials on a computer based software. My students attended this type of class 4 out of 5 days per week. They did not attend music, foreign language, or library (for one, we did not have funding for these positions from CPS) but instead spent their time doing a task that has NOTHING to do with their ability to be successful in the real world much less assist them in being college and career ready. With this “Better School Day” CPS is delivering a low blow to teachers saying that it is our fault that students were not receiving these necessary extras when in reality their absence was coming straight from CPS.

Air Conditioning (Fighting and Striking):

Have you ever tried to be productive/motivated/successful when it’s above 90…even 80 inside of your office?  My students and I withstand this heat for 4-6+ weeks each year. It’s 2012 and the only air circulation that we have comes from 3 box fans that I bought with personal funds. Students often have to go home because they get sick in the heat. We must have a plan for installing, at the least, window units, in all classrooms if we want our students to be engaged for a longer/better school day and year.

Why Shouldn’t CPS teachers ask for air conditioning:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-shouldnt-chicago-teachers-ask-for-air--conditioned-schools/2012/09/12/453c61fe-fc34-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_blog.html

Wrap Around Services (Fighting):

Staff such as nurses, social workers, psychologist, speech therapist, etc. are assigned to no less than 5 schools with a case load of well over 100 students. This means that my students who require any of these services only receive them once per week, given the staff member isn’t ill, at a mandatory CPS meeting/professional development, or something else.  Most of my students who need these resources rely on them at the school level. Without them students continue to suffer from emotional, developmental, and physical conditions which may not be cared for by a professional outside of school.

Technology (Fighting):

The technology provided to me by CPS consist of one overhead projector (yes, the one with the hot bulb inside) and a refurbished “teacher” computer. Through donations from generous friends and Kyle and my personal funds my students also have 3 refurbished computers, a laptop, an iPad, a LCD projector (hooks up to the computer), digital camera, and a flip video camera. Most students NEVER learn how to use these other resources until they reach high school…if even.  How can CPS expect my students to be college and career ready when they are still 20+ years behind in technology?  With these resources students conduct research, engage in social science projects that include Skyping, interviewing, and analyzing data, record and analyze their fluency in order to set goals and monitor their growth, and much more. (I would LOVE to tell you about all the cool things we are doing!!!)

Teacher Evaluations (Striking):

I am all for fair teacher evaluations. When done professionally and correctly they serve as a means for teachers to receive praise for their strengths and support for their biggest needs. The modified Charlotte Danielson rubric that principals will be using this year is 100x better than the check list they have used in the past which included, and I kid you not, whether teachers had posters hanging around the room. Some concerns are that principals are not receiving adequate training on the evaluation process and that the way students’ standardized test scores will be factored into MY evaluation is anything but a true representation of my ability to teach. In my west side school, over half of the students enter my room reading well below the expected third grade reading levels. Some students are as low as kindergarten level and barley recognize letter-sound relationships. There are a multitude of reasons behind this issue: the fact that there have been 30+ other students in their classrooms between PreK-3^rd grade so their teacher was not physically able to provide them with the intensive differentiated instruction that they needed, our school’s specialized service teachers (speech therapy, psychologist, nurse, social worker, etc) only come once a week and have 100+ other students on their case load, they need glasses or the ones they have are broken/the wrong prescription, and many more that I would be happy to explain further if you are interested.

One person wrote this on FB about teachers being held accountable: 

“All I am saying is, there needs to be an awareness that there are other people who work just as hard for longer periods of time (whether its extra hours or not) and do a better job at what they are doing.”

Let me give a quick analogy in terms of a coaches being held accountable for their teams’ successes or failures. Imagine that the football team you are coaching consist of players whom you were not able to hand pick. You must take them all. Homeless, hungry, emotionally, physically, and developmentally disabled, players with behavioral issues, and those who are not highly motivated. Now mind you, you are working hard…long hours, little respect…you are giving it you’re all. But you see there is this other team (Charter schools) who get to hand pick the students that they accept onto their team, they also receive additional resources, and are free to “let go” of players who do not fit with their teams’  philosophy and mission. Oh and by the way…you get those kids as well as kids who have missed most of their other games or who have been kicked off of other teams…during the middle of a game throughout the season. You may be thinking…you know what I can still do this. All kids deserve a chance. BUT then the head of the league tells you that you can’t actually have footballs or pads. If you want, YOU can buy the helmets though…after all you are making $1,400 more this year. Additionally, players will need to spend about 1/2-3/4 of practice taking a few tests to see if they are ready to play.  Good luck…oh and if you’re players don’t measure up you’re fired. May the odds be forever in your favor! J

Teachers have such a small amount of control over students’ lives outside of the school day.  Relying so heavily on student test scores is an unfair way to evaluate teachers without taking outside factors into account. Have you ever had to come to school with stitches IN your eye because the man in your mother’s life was actually married and during a domestic brawl he threw a glass coke bottle at your face? What about the kid who’s father was killed one week and then forced to take one of these standardized tests the next or else he would have to go to summer school? Diontae, the one in the picture with the glasses...his glasses were broken AND the wrong prescription until Christmas time when Kyle’s generous boss donated money for ME to take him to get a new pair. Oh and his house burnt down causing him to have to bounce from house to house throughout the year… These stories follow most (not all) of my students and affect their school/learning lives.  Count your blessings if you know none of these struggles, came home to a stable family, and were supported in private or affluent schools growing up.

The proposed teacher evaluations will simply run off good teachers from the areas where they are needed the most. Who would be motivated/willing to devote themselves and their family’s livelihood to working in a place with such unpredictable outcomes? In this evaluation system when you fail to measure student growth (while in my class) and instead focus on unreliable standardized testing the cards are stacked against teachers, including me.

Time spent on standardized tests (Fighting and Striking):

Within the first week of school (4 days mind you…) I was mandated to give my students a total of 7 tests from either my network or CPS. Each test took at least 30 minutes, was culturally biased, and is used by our network/CPS to evaluate ME. Let me set the stage…there are 22 eight-year-olds, its 85 degrees, my kids are begging to continue with their personal narratives that we started the day before during Writers’ Workshop, and I have to stop them to administer two of these tests. They worked hard for the first 10 minutes or so but then began to lose it. Remember now, half of my class is below the expected grade level and are doing their best to decode any word they can…then come the melt downs. “Mrs. Moore, I really am trying…Mrs. Moore my stomach hurts, can I get water…” and then just the silent tears. I quickly realized that everyone needed a Popsicle break and pep talk. Soon thereafter I abandoned the tests because I know that my students are more than test scores and that my time with them is best spent TEACHING!  Each year between January and March the same thing happens. I am mandated to teach towards standardized tests instead of providing students with authentic, engaging, critical thinking driven activities. Of course the achievement gap grows daily…when will testing skills outweigh those actually needed to be a productive citizen?

And finally the most talked about issue:

Raise (Striking): Everyone has seen the e-card that reads, “I became a teacher for the money...said no teacher ever.” The news is reporting that the average teacher in CPS makes 75K. That figure was found after they added in teachers’ benefits package. In truth, the average teacher brings home less than 56K a year. Keep in mind too that CPS teachers MUST live in the city of Chicago therefore making the cost of living higher. Last year we were promised a 4% raise and were then told that the board was out of money. Fine. Okay. It happens. BUT CPS then found $150,000 for any school willing to commit to working an hour and a half longer school day. (PS-The teachers did not receive this money even if their school signed off on it…)While I know this amount would not have been enough to finance a 4% raise for all 30,000 Union members…just the fact that we were lied to and tricked into unfair labor made me question Rahm and Brizzard. Fast forward to this past July when the fact finder published his report saying that based on the additional work load CPS was asking from teachers, a 19% raise would be fair.

Who are we kidding, no one, not even CTU, honestly thought that CPS would even entertain that figure. Karen Lewis, CTU President, said Sunday night before the strike that the issue of raises was close to being settled. Teachers will probably receive less than 3% during the first year and 2% for the following 3 years. Hey, any raise is fine by me. I completely understand that many people in the country haven’t received a raise in years---that’s not fair either and I wish that they had a collective bargaining group to stand up for them. Just because one person hasn’t been given something they deserve doesn’t mean that another group shouldn’t either.

Earlier this week I was asked, “Since the raise wasn’t the biggest issue for most teachers, will you and others be putting your raises into a fund for students?” My response was this: Most teachers spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars every year on school supplies, copies, field trips, incentives, and other miscellaneous items that are needed to maintain a successful classroom environment. Many of my students come to school without so much as a pencil let alone any additional “supply money” for things such as subscriptions to A Time for Kids, science manipulatives/materials, or books for the classroom library. Every year Kyle and I spend over $1,200 buying needed materials for my classroom. No one is asking for a pat on the back here because I know that all of my friends would do the exact same thing in my situation, however, I would like to know how much people in the business world give back to their companies…My point being that, yes, I will continue to support my students financially.

Kyle and I have no children of our own (yet) so the students of Chicago are my children. I dream about them, worry over them, devote myself to them, and show them the love that I hope all of my future children receive from their teachers. If Kyle would let me, I’d bring some home with me too. I hope that my story has helped you to have a better understanding of why I am on strike. Believe me, we would all rather be in the classroom. The emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion from a strike is far worse than a 90 degree classroom in a community with the 3rd highest murder rate in the city…

I am honored to be a part of this strike. I am making history and being the change that I want to see in the world. I invite anyone to come into my west side classroom once the strike is over in order to get a true idea of what public education looks like. Stare inequality in the face, see the hard work that we do, and then form your opinions about teachers.

Thank you for your support!

Georgia Anne Moore

3^rd Grade Teacher, Reading Specialist, and National Board Candidate

Signs with my students' faces that read:

• "How motivated/successful are you in 95 degree heat? My students withstand this heat for  4-6+ weeks per year. I love my students and stand strong for them!"
• "This is NOT about MY pay...I will always measure up. This is about my kids...they are NOT standardized test scores. They ARE our future and they deserve MORE."
• "Please stop and ask my why I am striking before you say something ugly or tell me to go back to work. I want to share my stories with you. I want to help you understand. PLEASE stop me and ask." 

Video:

Student Leading Chant at Rally

This is an outstanding speech from a lawyer, taxpayer, and CPS parent:

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3314&section=Article 

Excellent research based information about issues being negotiated:

http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/the-schools-chicagos-students-deserve

Additional “Why I am striking…”

http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-teacher-this-is-why-im-striking-2012-9

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/15068666-452/hard-facts-behind-union-board-dispute.html

If you like, you may choose to donate to our classroom here: http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/1493934?active=true Please do NOT feel like you should do this. I wrote this post to inform others but have had a few emails asking how people can help. Thanks for reading! :)