Chicago and East

A reminder that I will be at East Wareham School at 3:30 on Thursday, Sept. 20. Stop by to say hello and share concerns and ideas. One question I've received a few times is about the Chicago Teachers Union strike. As of this moment, there is a tentative deal in the works. This episode shows how seriously educators in Chicago -- just as in Wareham and around the country -- take education. Causes for the strike were not just issues of recognition of educators' professionalism and fulfillment of previous promises from the school district, but provision of adequate textbooks and air conditioning to fight against Chicago's lethal summertime heat so students can learn. With a deal in the works, I'm glad to go from a post about how to support Chicago teachers to a post thanking them for laying it on the line, and becoming a target of anti-worker media and politics, in the effort to pursue a fair, accessible, and high-quality education for Chicago's kids.