Some news reports have suggested that Chicago teachers strike was not triggered by disputes over money. AFT President Randi Weingarten says it is because teachers (90% of who voted to strike) feel "completely disrespected." Other issues, especially the evaluation of teachers using student test scores, are said to have been the final straw. But that isn't really the full story...
That the fight is not about money is true only in the narrow sense that the two sides appear to have settled the wage issue. The city has already conceded "a 16 percent pay increase for teachers over four years." In addition, the Mayor's prior rescinding of a 4% raises may have had something to do with the acrimony of the collective bargaining negotiations.
But the issue of money in the school system must be understood more broadly. It is really about how schools are organized, which is for the benefit of adults, not students. This helps explain why increased education spending does not always produce much improvement in student performance.
Most of the issues in question--such as performance evaluation, a longer school day, and whether teachers who lose their jobs when failing schools are closed should be prioritized in hiring at other schools in the district--are all about job security. As Terry Moe has found in a survey of teachers, many teachers value job security more highly than compensation taken in isolation. That is partly because job security is a big piece of compensation. Knowing that you probably won't be fired, transferred, disciplined, or pressured on the job is worth something (probably a lot) that is not captured in the fact that the average Chicago teacher makes $76,000 a year. Finally, bargaining over work rules is also about money because they define exactly how much work must be done on a day to day basis by teachers.
But the issue of money in the school system must be understood more broadly. It is really about how schools are organized, which is for the benefit of adults, not students. This helps explain why increased education spending does not always produce much improvement in student performance.
Most of the issues in question--such as performance evaluation, a longer school day, and whether teachers who lose their jobs when failing schools are closed should be prioritized in hiring at other schools in the district--are all about job security. As Terry Moe has found in a survey of teachers, many teachers value job security more highly than compensation taken in isolation. That is partly because job security is a big piece of compensation. Knowing that you probably won't be fired, transferred, disciplined, or pressured on the job is worth something (probably a lot) that is not captured in the fact that the average Chicago teacher makes $76,000 a year. Finally, bargaining over work rules is also about money because they define exactly how much work must be done on a day to day basis by teachers.
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