Advice to Chicago Teachers: Steer Clear of Weingarten

President of the AFT, Randi Weingarten, emerged today with a statement to the New York Times that  feeds that vitriol that corporate ed deformers are trying to promote against Chicago teachers:

“You have a situation where the teachers feel totally and completely disrespected,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the parent union of the striking teachers. In this case, she said she blamed Mayor Emanuel for an aggressive push to extend the length of the school day and for a promised raise that was later rescinded. “He created the seeds of a lot of frustration and mistrust,” she said.

Why does Randi try to make this about money issues, when it is not?  Because the real issue of corporate control of public schools and the crackpot scheme for evaluating teachers based on test scores have already been embraced by Weingarten.  How could she come out in support of a strike that is all about a policy that she and the NEA prostisuits have already signed on to.  

My advice to Chicago:  don't have Randi Weingarten anywhere close to the microphones in Chicago.  She has shown her fealty to the oligarchs, and she and Dennis Van Roekel of the NEA cannot be counted on to advocate for children or teachers.

The real issues?  From the same NYTimes article:

Outside the schools here, though, in the lines of marchers, the issues seemed ever broader. Many teachers said they were troubled by a new evaluation system and its reliance on student test scores. Teachers spoke of rising class sizes, much-needed social workers, a dearth of air-conditioned classrooms and slow-to-arrive reference books, and, again and again, a sense of disrespect.