Public school teachers in Chicago went on strike today after the Chicago Teachers Union and the Board of Education failed to negotiate a fair contract that would better fund schools in low-income neighborhoods, hire social workers for students, raise teacher salaries to accompany the longer school days, and bring an end to citywide school closures.
Similarly, the teachers union in the West Bank in Palestine announced it will hold a two-day strike to protest policies by the current government administration. The teachers call on the Palestinian Authority to pay them adequately for the work they do, to pay them on time, and to place measures aimed at bringing down the high cost of living.
It is absolutely crucial to recognize the common bonds between these struggles. To invest in our teachers and in our schools is to invest in our children and, ultimately, our future. The current state of affairs lays the groundwork for future regression in the labor sector, and as far as I know, these teachers are public servants not indentured servants.
Students — in Chicago, in Palestine, and everywhere else in the world — come first, and so we must make sure that our teachers have the resources, the funding, and the respect they need to empower the youth in their classrooms. The right to a proper education is universal. This is a global cause.
Sami Kishawi
h/t Shirien D.
