Current Event

        In a recent article by Peter S. Goodman, Business Editor of the Huffington Post, entitled "Chicago Teachers Strike A Push-Back To Education Reform," Goodman informs his readers of what the reforms were and why the teachers do not like them.

         Rahm Emanuel, the person who made this drastic reforms to the chicago educational system, "revoked a 4 percent raise that had been promised to teachers under their existing union contract." Emanuel thinks that test scores should depend on the raises the teachers get. Emanuel also stated that students get "the shaft" since the teachers just get the raises instead of earning them through the students test scores.

         The teachers, as anyone in there situation, didn't react to kindly to these new changes. They say that this isnt fair because they "are effectively getting stuck with accountability for complex social problems that extend far beyond their control." They go on to say that "no one in Chicago runs the risk of losing their job for failing to supply enough low-income housing. No one must satisfy a numbers-based standard for increased employment in impoverished communities. No one is on the hook to ensure that students show up well-fed and well-rested. All of these issues roll down to teachers, they say, directly influencing conditions in their classrooms. Yet they alone find themselves having to answer for the sole measured result: achievement on test scores."

       While reading this article I couldn't help but side with the teachers. No matter how good they are at teaching, some students will do bad on tests no matter what. The teachers shouldn't loose thier hard earned money because of it. Especially if it was already promised to them in a contract. These changes are unfair to the teachers that work hard to give there students the education they deserve and cutting their pay is not a good way to show appreciation for that hard work.

           I completly side with the teachers, something I thought i would never do, on this topic. The reforms should be changed back to the way they were. I would be irate if my pay, pay that was already promised to me, was cut due to circumstances beyond my control. I have said all i have to say about this topic, but i leave you with a question. If you were in these teachers shoes would you fight for your pay or would you just sit back and take it?