Nicholas Kristof is concerned that in the midst of one of the biggest teacher labor actions in a long time, it’s the children who are the victims. He’s right, the kids are the victims, but they have been for the last twenty years of madness that has been posing as school “reform” in Chicago. The strike doesn’t make the kids victims, the system did that already, when it closed schools, and sent rival gang members to the same campus resulting in chaos and death. The system did when it spent money on consultants, and testing, instead of counselors and social workers. The system did when it refused to set class-size limits, packed students in classrooms with no air-conditioning, then tried to say that classes weren’t that big. Then, the system refused to honor agreements made with teachers, refused to bargain on these issues, and tried to make the union look like the bully. I know what side I’m on in this fight, with the children and the union. Which side are you on?
