Chicago teachers are on strike. I can't imagine what being a striking teacher would be like, but I truly believe voting to strike had to have been the last resort and after a whole lot of give on the part of the union. No teacher who looks through the lens of "what's best for kids" would ever choose a picket line over a classroom if it weren't absolutely necessary to the well-being of their students' education in the long run.
We received an email shortly before the end of the school day this afternoon from our union president asking us to wear red Wednesday in a show of solidarity for our Chicago union brothers and sisters. Several years ago when our own union was really getting squeezed due to budget constraints and a major mistake on the part of the district comptroller (the mistake I will forever refer to as the FICA F-up) our union distributed red t-shirts to all the members. The shirts say "Proud to be a Teacher" on the front, and I am proud to be a teacher.
I am proud to be a teacher despite the fact that I came to be one at the age of 41 and will NEVER make as much as my same age colleagues, despite the fact that I was earning more when I left the business world, a decade before, despite a student loan that I will be paying off until I am 59 (when some of my colleagues will be drawing retirement) which means I work more than one job to earn a decent living, despite classrooms of up to 36 students, despite year after year of being asked to do more - one more committee, one more project, and despite the lack of respect for this profession shown by politicians and the media.
I am proud to be a teacher because I impact young lives in a positive way.
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