Voice Of The People: Involving teachers would improve school reform June 25, 2001 Some might say that ProActive Chicago Teachers and School Employees' (PACT) caucus victory in last month's Chicago Teachers Union election was surprising. We believe it is the failure over many years of CTU leadership to challenge the Board of Education's flawed contention that teachers are the reason Chicago's public school students fail to achieve greater academic gains. Teachers now see that the union leadership's ''peaceful'' relationship with management was more a by product of ''co-option'' rather than ''cooperation,'' and effectively removed teachers--the hard-working, frontline professional personnel being held the most responsible for student performance--from important decisions about school reform. Instead of respecting the contributions of teachers, arguably the best-educated, most highly trained teacher force Chicago has ever had, administrators experimented with one reform model after another, with limited success. From reconstitutional to remediation, and re-engineering to intervention, school reforms have consistently targeted ''bad teachers,'' rather than using a committed teaching force to move toward deep change in the system. Academic experts would argue with the notion that the most successful reform models are executed by teachers who are empowered to take ownership of those reforms. The future of reform, especially as it relates to key issues such as reduced class size (the most successful road to improving performance), attracting and keeping good teachers and the controversy surrounding standardized testing, is dependent on the active participation of teachers. The union's 33,000 members look forward to sharing their ideas and energy with school management. We hope they listen closely, and then work to provide the resources and respect all teachers need to do the best job possible for all of Chicago's public school students. Deborah Lynch-Walsh, president-elect, Chicago Teachers Union -- This is the CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
