Effects of Chicago Teacher's Strike and Homicides in Chicago

Effects of Chicago Teacher's Strike and Homicides in Chicago

Introduction

Chicago is going through different serious issues such as mismanagement in the educational area and high rate of murders in the city. For the first time in 25 years, Chicago Teacher's Union called a strike on the 10th of September 2012 causing about 350,000 students to stay out of the school for a week. Recent murder cases in the city have also caused restlessness in the minds of the citizens of Chicago. Parents feel their children insecure when sending them to school and children love to stay in home more than in school. Such situation is impacting the children of the city negatively; school going children are serving more time in streets talking about lack of security, murder cases and mismanagement in their schools. In this paper, in depth analysis of the effects left by the recent Chicago Teacher's Union strike and high rate of homicides on the residents of Chicago, especially on children or students is made. This paper will base on two main sections, the first one dealing with CTU's strike and the second one about the high murders rate in Chicago. In both sections, the main causes of the happenings, the aftermath and their effects on the society will be discussed. Different cases and quotations will be cited to add the views of different citizens of the city.

Chicago Teacher's Union Strike

The Cause of Strike

It was for the first time in the history of 25 years of educational industry of Chicago that a strike was called by the Chicago Teacher's Union (CTU). The strike was meant to save the educational system of Chicago that was en-route to a miserable disruption. For many years rights of the teachers of Chicago were being ignored by the higher authorities causing the system to follow a destructive path. The government had been cutting the educational budgets for the interests of corporate, their allies and in the name of defense. CTU had been fighting for the rights of teachers and against the privatization of many public schools but everything was ending up useless. The recession period further accelerated the course of destruction of the educational system of Chicago. Whenever, this issue was brought up, CTU was told that there is no money for education, while on the other side the government was continuously cutting the taxes of the rich and corporations and the military spending was raised as well.

The Strike

Finally, on the 10th of September 2012, 30,000 teachers stood up to defend the educational system of the city and called a strike. This resulted in a total cease of education of about 350,000 students of Chicago. The teachers fought for the right of equal access to public schools providing quality education. It was not only a fight for the worsening condition of the education system and low wages of teachers; it was a struggle that will revolutionize the educational system of not only Chicago but throughout the ...