Entry # 10: Potential strike
another example of 'brutality"
I'd like to write about this week and all the great stuff that has begun
to happen. I'd like to dig into the possibilities for cross school partnerships
that are beginning to develop. I'd also like to write about the exciting
presentation I attended about using a new approach toward ninth graders,
an approach that celebrates them and really works to keep them in school
and on the right track.
I was really looking forward to doing just that, until late today, when
negotiations between the city and the teacher's union broke off, and the
strike began.
After twenty years of relative labor peace, teachers have picked up picket
signs and the future is unclear. A strike is hard enough, but we are in
the middle of a situation where our governor is threatening a state takeover,
whatever that might mean.
It's weird, but I'm remembering tunes and lyrics as I try to make sense
of this incredible mess. First, I thought about Marvin Gaye and "What's
Going On?", especially the verse that begins: "Picket lines and
picket signs, Don't punish me with brutality, C'mon talk to me, So you can
see, What's going on?"
What is going on? What's the story with all the double messages? Who's a
kid to trust? Who are the families supposed to believe? Who really cares
about these kids?
This crisis is just one more example of "brutality" toward our
students. This crisis didn't begin at 3 p.m. though. It started a long time
ago. It started with separate and unequal and has evolved into more of the
same.
Schools that serve predominantly poor and minority communities receive less
funding. These same schools are generally in need of significant repairs.
For example, here in Phila., it's not a good idea to drink the water...old
pipes with lead connections seem to be leaching lead into the drinking supply.
Every morning the custodians flush the systems at 6 am, to "guard"
against contamination, but I don't drink the water. Would you? Would this
situation be allowed to develop in a more affluent community?
Our students get the message
In a host of ways, large and small, our students are shown that they are
not the "Future" with a capital "F". Our words tell
them they are, our bulletin boards do, too, but what does our practice say?
What do our eyes say? What does our government say?
Right now our State government is saying they're going to take over and
run the schools. Let's just imagine that they do...let's say the teachers
are forced back to work without a contract. How will the resentment of the
teachers get played out? Common sense says they will be long on frustration
and short on the motivation to push themselves to excel.
How about our city government? What's the story there? We've got a mayor
who made a big show about being concerned about education. He held town
meetings all over the city. We had one at our school and lots of us felt
hopeful. One of our students even asked to shadow the mayor for a day and
the mayor took his name...it was a night full of promise.
Unfortunately the promise has disappeared, and it's been replaced with picket
lines and student walk outs. The news is filled with images of anxious parents,
who wonder about their children's care next week. Safety concerns come first,
closely followed by the very real fear that our children will fall further
behind in their studies.
Kids are concerned about being bored, missing deadlines for college applications,
losing their holidays to make up time lost in a strike...and the list goes
on.
Teachers are worried about their students and many distributed packets of
work and extra books to help kids weather this unscheduled break in the
term. Teachers are also worried about their salaries and their own families
and bills.
Negotiations will continue, we're told on the news. So here we sit, glued
to our radios and TV's, hoping against hope for an eleventh hour resolution.
The wrong side of the picket line
I mentioned earlier that I was thinking of songs, and now I'm remembering
the old labor anthem, "Which Side Are You On?". On top of my feelings
about our students, lies my personal history as a trade unionist. From the
time I was small, I learned never to cross a picket line.
I now find myself outside the bargaining unit. I'm a teacher without kids,
a staff developer with no teachers to schedule meetings with... Yet in my
new position, I'm obligated to cross the line, if it's there on Monday.
My union has a no-strike clause. If I don't cross, I can be fired or fined.
If I do cross, will teachers be willing to work collaboratively when this
is over? Can I cross and hold on to my principles?
Who wins, who loses, who really cares about our kids, about our teachers?
What's going on?
The countdown has begun, will there be a settlement, will it come in time
to open the schools tomorrow morning? I guess it's time to hurry up and
wait...
(Editor's Update: Philadelphia teachers reached a tentative settlement agreement
on Sunday night and school was in session Monday morning.)
[Editor's note: Deb is co-moderator of the
new MiddleWeb listserve.]
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