Chicago Teachers Strike 2019

My mom, Gail a retired Chicago Public School teacher of 34 years. She holds a sign from one of the strikes she participated in over the course of her teacher career, spanning almost 4 decades. This week she spoke of a strike that happened weeks before Christmas in the 1970s. CPS just stop ?? paying teachers. On paydays, teachers would receive no paycheck, they had 'payless paydays'. In the brutal cold of December in Chicago, teachers took to the picket line. They used their last resort to right an egregious wrong.

This fall, I entered my 11th year teaching in Chicago Public Schools. I’ve been forced outside of the classroom twice to strike because of the choices of those at ‘The Top’, a select few that make decisions for millions.

Together, my mother and I have a combined experience of 44 years, nearly half a century teaching children of Chicago. I like many of us take for granted the power of our phones to record and document history as it unfolds. In a moment we can record and pull back the curtain on injustice: broadcast it to the world and let them decide for themselves to support the cause or not.

That is why we march and stand together to use our communal voice for those that are silenced. Compromise is part of the process and there will be give and take for all sides.

As you walk through the streets of Chicago, stop and talk to the people in red. Ask them about their students, schools, their lives. Hear their stories.

Open your heart to a stranger, perhaps you both will be transformed and walk away with understanding of our differences and similarities as human beings.

#putitinwriting #ctustrike #faircontractnow #chicago #chicagoillinois #sweethomechicago #teacherstrike #familyofteachers #chicagonative