A Parable of Idiocy: The Chicago Teacher’s Strike

            Let’s pretend for a moment that you read a story in a newspaper. The story goes something like this: “Pleasant Valley Hospital doctors demands a 35% wage increase for their services at the hospital.” You skip down a few lines in the article and stumble upon this sentence: “The doctors at the Pleasant Valley Hospital have only had a 20% success rate with their treatments. They say that if their wage increase is granted, their success rate will probably go up.” What’s your response? It’s probably not sympathetic to the doctors, is it? More pay, for sub-par results? Yet that’s exactly what’s happening in Chicago.

            The average wage for teachers in the Chicago district is $71,000 or so, according to ABC News. That’s just shy of 75% more than the national average wage of $41,000, according to SSA.gov. Keep in mind, these teachers don’t work 12 months a year, but make a lot more than what most year-round workers make. There are a lot of underpaid and under appreciated teachers in the nation, but the teachers of Chicago aren’t in that group.

            What is more damning of this strike is the results of the teacher’s work: 79-80% of Chicago 8^th graders are not proficient in either math or reading according to the US Department of Education. ThinkProgress.org reports that the elementary schools in Chicago have a school day that is less than 6 hours long, and that many students attend 10 less days a year than the national average.

            Put it all in perspective, it looks like this: A Chicago teacher makes 73% more than the average worker, works fewer days than the average worker, and teaches a shorter class than other teachers. This teacher turns out students of whom 8-out-of-10 are ill prepared in the most basic subjects, and this same teacher is demanding a 35% raise which would pay them nearly $100,000 a year. Because the raise wasn’t granted, they ditched a third of a million children who desperately need education to pursue their own demands of “need”. This is sheer idiocy and why the entire strike is a sad and bitter joke about our educational system.

If the Chicago students were in the top one percentile it would be a pay raise based on the ability of the teachers to produce exceptional students. Even that makes sense for $100,000 a year—being the best teachers and producing the best students anywhere. But there are far better teachers making far less money in other states, and turning out far better students. I should know…I sat in their classrooms. Education News reports the average pay for our local college instructors is $53,000 a year—and they’re grateful for their jobs…unlike some people.

…you stay classy Chicago.