Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Teachers

By Jim Byrne

Tucson, AZ – As COVID-19 rates and deaths continue to rise in Arizona, as many as 750 educators in the districts of Chandler, Dysart, Peoria and Deer Valley are planning a sick-out to resist the order to return to in-person instruction.

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By Christina Kittle

Florida teachers rally at Old Capitol Building in Tallahassee,  January 13.

Tallahassee, FL – Well over 1000 educators, school bus drivers, custodians, counselors and other public school workers, dressed in red, rallied at the Old Capitol Building in Tallahassee on January 13 to demand lawmakers invest in public schools during the 2020 state legislative session. The 60-day legislative session begins January 14 and lawmakers will have a sea of red from the previous day to take with them to deliberation.

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By staff

Trafficked teachers and their supporters gather outside the Garland ISD

Garland, TX – On May 28 members of the community, together with some of the affected teachers, confronted the Garland school board about the board's failure to act to help teachers who had been trafficked from the Philippines to work in the Garland school district.

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By staff

Denver, CO – After all night negotiations the Denver School Board, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) announced that they had reached a tentative agreement to end the teachers strike. It was announced that the strike officially ends this Friday, but teachers were free to go back to work today, February 14.

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By staff

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Chicago, IL – Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) educators at four CICS schools struck for the third day, February 7, with management dug in on exchanging wage parity with CPS educators for higher caseloads for counselors and social workers, larger class sizes with no enforcement language, and no written guarantee not to cut student services or resources. Management wants to increase the student-to-counselor/social worker ratio, which is already well over nationally recommended ratios, giving management the wiggle room to lay off some frontline staff.

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By Marisol Márquez

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Los Angeles, CA – This morning, January 22, LA Mayor Garcetti, the Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent (and former Wall Street banker) Austin Beutner, along with United Teachers of Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl announced a deal. On day six of the UTLA strike, LAUSD and UTLA came to a tentative agreement, which includes reducing class sizes, wage increases, hiring more support staff like librarians, psychologists and nurses, increasing spending on special education, putting a moratorium on charter schools, and investing more in community schools.

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By Sol Márquez

Striking UTLA members and supporters at City Hall.

Los Angeles, CA – At 6 a.m., January 14, over 50 teachers, students, parents and supporters joined the picket line at Breed Street Elementary. Breed Street Elementary, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, is under attack by the mega-charter corporation Kipp Charter. Kipp Charter is trying to build a new charter school only one block away from Breed Street.

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By staff

Picket line at Acero Tamayo.

Chicago, IL – Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff at 15 charter schools run by the UNO/Acero charter network are striking for a third day, December 6, and extending picket times to two shifts at each school.

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By staff

Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey Announces strike authorization vo

Chicago, IL – Strikes are on the agenda. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) made this perfectly clear, turning out more than 250 people on October 24 for a rally to announce strike authorization votes at 19 charter schools next week. The votes will occur at two of the largest charter networks: Acero (formerly UNO, famous for scandals) and Chicago International Charter School (CICS).

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) rallied at the Minneapolis Schools District Headquarters to demand decent wages for over 1500 ESPs, October 9.

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