The Bigger Picture on Chicago Teachers Strike, Op-Ed

September 12, 2012

Photo Credit: solidarity-us.org

The issue that pushed teachers in Chicago to strike was not necessarily compensation. The CTU strike is centered around the issue of teacher evaluations. While the education system in the United States has desperately needed reform, there has yet to be a reform implemented that actually does what it says, reform education with the outcome of delivering a quality education. I think that everyone has a consensus on the fact that there needs to be educational standards, a way to measure student achievement, and a way to hold educators accountable. However, initiatives to address all three of these things are not necessarily the most adequate.

For one, every state has different standards and standardized tests. Across the nation there is no uniformity as to what students should be learning and the benchmarks. Secondly, the measures currently used – standardized tests – have been proven time after time to be an unreliable source to measure student learning. Third, evaluations of teachers are important to help teachers grow in their profession and hold them accountable for doing their best at educating their students.

Photo Credit: solidarity-us.org

In regards to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike, teacher evaluations have been changed to allow student performance on standardized state tests to account for ¼ of the teacher’s evaluation. Indeed, CPS teachers should be scared under these new teacher evaluation provisions because there is so much more that goes into educating a student than just teaching to a test. Unfortunately, the implementation of standardized testing in the United States has led many teachers to teach to the test in order to achieve appropriate student achievement. Including such a high percentage in teacher evaluations only puts added pressure on teachers to plan their lessons around these tests. But ask any teacher, and they will say a quality education is much more than a student being able to do algebraic computations, knowing proper grammar, and scientific notation. To further illustrate this point, let’s take a look at what colleges and universities look for in students applying for admission.

When I applied to college, what universities were asking for was a personal essay, application that allowed you to list any merits/awards and extra-curricular activities, a good GPA, ACT/SAT test scores, and perhaps a teacher recommendation. When I applied to graduate school, they asked for a statement of purpose, application, transcripts, 3 letters of recommendation (2 academic and 1 professional), and GRE scores. In high school, my GPA was 2.9, had no extra-curricular activities under my belt due to having a part-time job, and scored a 22 out of 36 in my ACT scores. My ACT scores broken down were 25 in math, 22 in writing, and 19 in reading. I was accepted to college, because I met the requirements. Fast forward to graduate school. When I applied to graduate school my GPA was 2.75, my GRE scores were 1070 out of 1600 (640/800 in quantitative, 430/800 in verbal, and 3.0/6.0 in writing). The requirements for the graduate program I was applying for were 3.0/4.0 GPA, and 500/800 in each section of the GRE with a 4.0/6.0 in writing. I did not meet the requirements at all, but I somehow managed to get accepted into a very tough program. A teacher in the program I applied for said that they had denied admission to a student that had a 4.0 GPA and 1300/1600 on his GRE scores due to other factors. Somehow, colleges and universities realize that standardized tests do not predict how well a student will do in college or university. They evaluate individuals wholly by looking at how they balance school work and extra-curricular activities, their passion about pursuing a higher education and specified fields of study, and letters of recommendation from teachers/professors and professionals that can speak on behalf of the applicant on their ability to do well academically and professionally.

So why are we so stuck on measuring student achievement through standardized tests scores alone? And why, if they have been proven to be unreliable, are officials trying to have tests scores account for 25% of a teacher’s evaluation?

This is was the drop that tipped the glass for Chicago teachers. They were fed up with being undermined and treated with disrespect by not taking into account their experience as teachers to help create an educational reform that gives children what they deserve: a quality education. Teachers know that there are more factors that contribute to student learning such as home environment, violence, poverty, etc. – things that teachers have absolutely no control over, yet they are the only ones being accountable for whether or not these kids meet achievement goals.

Photo Credit: solidarity-us.org

Instead of creating an environment where teachers are in fear of losing their jobs every day, where they feel devalued, where they are being sanctioned for low student performance, education reform needs to create an environment where teachers feel that they are appreciated and understood, where resources are offered to them to help them help the students achieve educational goals – goals that should encompass more than just math, reading, and writing. The strike is not about the money or about teachers trying to avoid being accountable, it’s about a group of public servants standing up against the joke that the education system has become and they couldn’t have picked a better time to do it. With elections coming up and Rahm Emanuel being an advisor to President Barack Obama, the failure of Rahm’s administration to solve this issue in a timely fashion will reflect on President Obama. Candidate Romney has already used the situation against Obama. So the pressure is on Rahm from above and from the bottom (47% of Chicago citizens stand behind the strike and opposed to 39% who are against it – from the Chicago Sun Times).