PHOTO/DONATED
CHICAGO, IL — In July I attended the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Convention in Los Angeles as a delegate for the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU). Our local passed a resolution rejecting the Common Core national standards. This forced the AFT to address the issue by drafting their own resolution. It basically said that while some teachers supported the standards and others opposed them, ultimately the AFT would support the standards. CTU delegates made a motion to substitute our resolution opposing Common Core standards for the AFT resolution supporting them. We did this to ensure a healthy debate on Common Core.
CTU delegates made their way to the committee meeting early to get a seat next to the mics. When the doors were opened, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) leadership cut in line and moved people’s belongings to monopolize seats near the mics. It’s important to note that the CTU is a bottom up member-driven union. The UFT is a top down organization whose Unity caucus members must sign a “loyalty oath” to be AFT delegates. During the debate, UFT Assistant Secretary LeRoy Barr got physical twice with a female teacher, pushing himself between her and the mic. We lost the vote and the AFT resolution went to the main floor. CTU delegates prepared to vote against it.
When the doors opened the next morning delegates sprinted to seats near the eight mics. When the Common Core resolution came up some folks actually moved chairs near the mics and blocked mics with their bodies. I thought it was interesting that people who spoke against the resolution were primarily rank and file members while those who spoke for it were primarily union leadership.
A Minneapolis teacher, Pia Payne-Shannon, spoke passionately against the standards. CTU’s Sarah Chambers spoke about the impact of Common Core and high stakes testing on her special education students. Michelle Gunderson spoke about how the standards are inappropriate at the younger grades, and that “an early walker is not a better walker.” Carol Caref called them a business plan, not an education plan. I spoke about privatization and profit being the true motive for nationwide standards.
Consider this quote from Joanne Weiss, former CEO of New Schools Venture Fund and original director of Race to the Top: “The development of common standards radically alters the market for innovation in curriculum development . . . Previously, these markets operated on a state by state basis. But the adoption of common standards and shared assessments means that education entrepreneurs will enjoy national markets . . .” The League of Innovative Schools, a product of ALEC legislation whose corporate partners and foundation members have an economic interest in privatizing education shares this sentiment. Their charter states, “The buyer in education is often the individual school district, which means there are more than 14,000 distinct buyers . . . These challenges make it difficult to develop and identify effective products and services and implement them at scale. The League aims to alleviate these barriers . . .”
Common Core is really about developing a common market for educational materials and technology; outcomes for kids come second—after profit.
In the end we lost the vote, but many feel we won the debate!
Tim Meegan is a running for 33rd Ward Alderman in Chicago, IL.
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