Classes are canceled in Chicago today. Kids might celebrate the long weekend, but their education is suffering for no good reason.
Friday marked the second day of the Chicago Teachers Union strike, with roughly 25,000 educators walking out and protesting, leaving at least 300,000 students stranded with no idea when they’ll see their teachers again. Teachers say they’re striking for more support staff, smaller class sizes, and increased wages. That might sound reasonable enough, but a closer look reveals that the teachers union strike is about greed, plain and simple.
Day 2 of the teachers union strike in Chicago. Nearly 400,000 kids go another day without learning…
Chicago teachers earn on average $79,000
Chicago public school spending per student: $13,488
Average private school tuition cost in Illinois: $7,913#SchoolChoice NOW! https://t.co/v3VAltFnry
— Tommy Schultz (@Tommy_USA) October 18, 2019
The union has taken the drastic step of shutting down schools and leaving students without access to education and school support services, all in an effort to demand more money. But despite the common narrative that teachers are underpaid, this is clearly not the case in Chicago. According to USA Today, “Chicago teachers on average earn nearly $79,000, and even a second-year teacher earns nearly $54,000.” Imagine that, earning well over 150% of the national median personal income in just your second year out of school.
Those aren’t exactly starvation wages, especially for a job that only takes up 10 months out of the year. Oh, and the president of the national teachers’ union, Randi Weingarten? She makes nearly $600,000 in annual salary.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s greed is even more apparent when you consider that they’ve rejected the district’s offer of a 16% raise over five years, demanding even more. As Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass wrote, “In political Chicago, public education has never really been about the kids. They’re just leverage.”
From 1992 to 2014 Illinois increased per pupil spending by 56%
But average teacher salaries DROPPED by 3%
What makes them think *more* funding increases will go to teachers salaries this time? pic.twitter.com/rfHL8cQH2i
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) October 18, 2019
Even so, perhaps CTU does have some valid concerns — for example, that class sizes in Chicago public schools are too high. The statistics show that the average classroom size in the Chicago school system is 18 students, below the state average of 20. This isn’t a crazy high number, but the union is right that lowering it would be good for students.
Yet they focus their ire on the wrong target. Rather than demand taxpayers take on even more of a burden to dump money into the public school system, they should instead target the money that’s currently being spent on unneeded patronage positions. It should be used to fund decreased class sizes instead. Illinois leads the country in administrative spending at $1 billion, spending nearly twice as much per pupil on administration than the national average, according to Chalkbeat.
Teacher strikes are just free advertising for #CharterSchools pic.twitter.com/mWtequJWuz
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) October 17, 2019
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