The CTU is fighting for all of us

I WANT to thank you for your well-written and insightful analysis about what is going on in the fight between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teacher's Union (CTU) (How can the Chicago Teachers Union win?).

I work as a clinician in the Chicago Public Schools. We all know that there is likely to be a strike, something I fully support. We also realize that, here in Chicago, we are on the front lines of a national crisis--the privatization of education.

The "educational apartheid" that we in the schools witness on a daily basis is very real. The CTU is putting up a much-needed fight against it, and how things turn out here will set the tone for school districts across the country.

The fact that all kinds of laws were passed to try to out-maneuver the CTU (e.g., a 75 percent strike vote authorization, calling for a strike vote during the summer, limiting the CTU's bargaining rights to include only pay and benefits issues) shows the unparalleled bravado with which Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the 1 percent have acted. But we are beating them at their own game, and hopefully we will win.

The latest news, unreported and completely unaddressed in the media: the CPS board has set aside $25 million to spend on a contingency plan should the teachers go on strike, which we all are assuming is imminent at this point.

Now, if they can pay for what will essentially be day camp for kids, couldn't they have used the money to pay teachers the money they deserve for working a longer school day?
Sonia L., Chicago