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Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity
The Chicago Teachers Union strike was the most important domestic labor struggle so far this century—and perhaps for the last forty years—and the strongest challenge to the conservative agenda for restructuring education, which advocates for more charter schools and tying teacher salaries to standardized testing, among other changes.
The teachers took on the bipartisan, free market school reform agenda that is currently exacerbating inequality in education and waging war on teachers' livelihoods. In the age of austerity, when the public sector is under attack, Chicago teachers fought back—and won.
The strike was years in the making. Chicago teachers spent a long time building a grassroots movement to educate and organize the entire union membership. They stood up against hostile mayors, billionaire-backed reformers out to destroy unions, and even their own intransigent union leadership, to take militant action. The Chicago protest has become a model for how reforms to the school system can be led by teachers and communities. It offers inspiration for workers looking to create democratic, fighting unions. Strike for America is the story of this movement and how it triumphed in the defining struggle for workers today.
The teachers took on the bipartisan, free market school reform agenda that is currently exacerbating inequality in education and waging war on teachers' livelihoods. In the age of austerity, when the public sector is under attack, Chicago teachers fought back—and won.
The strike was years in the making. Chicago teachers spent a long time building a grassroots movement to educate and organize the entire union membership. They stood up against hostile mayors, billionaire-backed reformers out to destroy unions, and even their own intransigent union leadership, to take militant action. The Chicago protest has become a model for how reforms to the school system can be led by teachers and communities. It offers inspiration for workers looking to create democratic, fighting unions. Strike for America is the story of this movement and how it triumphed in the defining struggle for workers today.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
11 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
Micah Uetricht
6 books188 followersMicah Uetricht is the managing editor of
Jacobin
magazine and the host of the Jacobin Radio podcast The Vast Majority. He is the author of two books:
Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity
and, with Meagan Day,
Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism
. He is currently at work on a collection of oral histories of radicals from the New Left era who "industrialized," getting jobs in industries like steel and auto in order to organize.
His writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Intercept, the Wall Street Journal opinion page, the Nation, the Chicago Reader, Bookforum, and elsewhere. He is a former labor organizer and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in Chicago.
His writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Intercept, the Wall Street Journal opinion page, the Nation, the Chicago Reader, Bookforum, and elsewhere. He is a former labor organizer and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
June 16, 2018
Almost a whole month on this book is embarrassing, but I had a lot going on and...I'm not going to lie, it was just hard to read about a strike with members that worked so hard together while also working with my union and feeling frustrated by my members.
I don't have a lot to say about this book other than Uetricht brings up great points about how you have to work together with the community and make those strong relationships in order to win the battle with a union. It's so frustrating how universally hated unions are when they do so much to protect the everyday man and not big business--why are people rooting for big business? It's never done anything positive for the every day man. Unions are the reasons we have great things like weekends and vacations and anything you've ever liked. Whatever, I'm missing the point.
By making strong ties with the community, you prove the worth of unions not just on the members itself, but the communities they serve, so when the big bad men from the top try to turn the community against the union, the community knows better.
Looking back on the latest effort with my union, I suppose that was an issue we didn't deal with...but I'm struggling to think of how my rep and I could have gotten our members to interact more frequently with the community outside of work hours (since it obviously can't be done during work hours). It was already so hard to get people to wear shirts/pins, let alone do anything above that. This book has left me kind of spinning, in that regard.
Unlike Jeff Hobbes, Uetricht didn't make the book feel weird or disrupt the flow when he is actually involved in the narrative. It's not an unnecessary introduction of himself.
Uetricht uses the word "neoliberal" way too often. It's absolutely distracting. There are occasions it's on a page three or more times. I understand there aren't a lot of synonyms for it, but shit, was he getting extra money for every time he used it? If so, he was very successful.
No dogs barking, because why would there be?
I don't have a lot to say about this book other than Uetricht brings up great points about how you have to work together with the community and make those strong relationships in order to win the battle with a union. It's so frustrating how universally hated unions are when they do so much to protect the everyday man and not big business--why are people rooting for big business? It's never done anything positive for the every day man. Unions are the reasons we have great things like weekends and vacations and anything you've ever liked. Whatever, I'm missing the point.
By making strong ties with the community, you prove the worth of unions not just on the members itself, but the communities they serve, so when the big bad men from the top try to turn the community against the union, the community knows better.
Looking back on the latest effort with my union, I suppose that was an issue we didn't deal with...but I'm struggling to think of how my rep and I could have gotten our members to interact more frequently with the community outside of work hours (since it obviously can't be done during work hours). It was already so hard to get people to wear shirts/pins, let alone do anything above that. This book has left me kind of spinning, in that regard.
Unlike Jeff Hobbes, Uetricht didn't make the book feel weird or disrupt the flow when he is actually involved in the narrative. It's not an unnecessary introduction of himself.
Uetricht uses the word "neoliberal" way too often. It's absolutely distracting. There are occasions it's on a page three or more times. I understand there aren't a lot of synonyms for it, but shit, was he getting extra money for every time he used it? If so, he was very successful.
No dogs barking, because why would there be?
May 2, 2014
Why you should read this book?
1) Well, they won some stuff, that's rare in itself at the moment.
2) They led a decade-long struggle to win leadership of their union based on democratic control, militant rank-and-file struggle and a different vision of education counter-posed to that of the neo-liberals and the TU bureaucrats.
3) Once they took leadership, they transformed it into a union rested upon working-class self-activity and a new, radical left-wing vision of society, not a top-down style of trade unionism, but a social-movement unionism, reliant and rested upon an active membership, not an overwhelmingly bureaucratic leadership.
4) They didn't simply fight an economistic struggle. They confronted racism, linked up with community groups, parents and students, attempting to broaden and deepen the struggle as much as possible.
5) Before even striking, they used direct action tactics, demonstrations and blockades as well. Often willing to confront bosses, mayors like Rahm Emmanuel and other shifty capitalist pigs.
We need to learn these lessons, they are crucial for militants today and radicals today.
1) Well, they won some stuff, that's rare in itself at the moment.
2) They led a decade-long struggle to win leadership of their union based on democratic control, militant rank-and-file struggle and a different vision of education counter-posed to that of the neo-liberals and the TU bureaucrats.
3) Once they took leadership, they transformed it into a union rested upon working-class self-activity and a new, radical left-wing vision of society, not a top-down style of trade unionism, but a social-movement unionism, reliant and rested upon an active membership, not an overwhelmingly bureaucratic leadership.
4) They didn't simply fight an economistic struggle. They confronted racism, linked up with community groups, parents and students, attempting to broaden and deepen the struggle as much as possible.
5) Before even striking, they used direct action tactics, demonstrations and blockades as well. Often willing to confront bosses, mayors like Rahm Emmanuel and other shifty capitalist pigs.
We need to learn these lessons, they are crucial for militants today and radicals today.
March 24, 2014
“Strike for America” is as much about the fate of public education as it is a tract on the virtues and need for radical democratic unionism in the United States.
Michael Uetricht's account of a strike by Chicago teachers against the city school system and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to close scores of schools as part of his reform is no even-handed monograph.
Before us is an unabashedly positive account of changes in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), over a few years, that led to the installation of an activist, left-wing leadership slate.
According to Uetricht, the CTU leadership had grown sclerotic and comfortable, a charge often associated with unions where officer turnover is limited to deaths in dotage.
After a false start with one reform slate, a group of activists within CTU formed the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), “rooted in an organic community-teacher coalition against school closures, a broad left politics, and an uncompromisingly combative and democratic unionism whose raison d'être was in a perceived need to end union capitulation to neoliberal education reform.”
(raison d'être? John L. Lewis, judge us not!)
From CORE's perspective, “The combination of public school closings and charter school expansion will likely erode the union's membership, redirect public money to privately run charters that lack basic mechanisms for public accountability, slash teachers' salaries and benefits, and cause massive disruption in the neighbhorhoods where the closures would take place.”
Uetricht's is an insider's account and one clearly affected by emotions associated with the
American left coming out of the shadows for that strike in the demonstration of its common and legitimate components and size. People pulling together and getting behind the needs of others can make you feel warm, fuzzy and less alone in an atomized and unkind culture.
Some labor watchers view the strike as a wash in terms of the contract reached and the fact Emanuel proceeded to close 49 public schools and open 63 new charters.
Nonetheless, the strike was a triumph as an organizing exercise and in its willingness to take action, even direct action, when confronting powerful adversaries. The CTU blueprint places the hoary old tool of the strike back in play when circumstances are right and proper tactics applied.
That said, radical democratic unionism as a source of vitality, both to organizing and bargaining, is not a new idea and, as an old one, has a spotty success rate.
It is still a less-practiced form of labor activism than the “business unionism” Uetricht readies for the dustbin. It has a tendency to turn a class of workers with bargaining unit representation into full-time activists or politicians.
Not every rank-and-file is as well-suited to its demands as say, a group of educated, up-to-date, reading-prone teachers. It is more apt to take root when workers are shoved to the wall, the same place they were when the idea of a union got their goat in the first place, and which may be the subtext to this particular saga.
“Strike for America” does a very good job of laying out what the issues in the Chicago strike were, beyond wages, and into the communities served by the schools under attack. The author then ably connects those issues to what is happening in education nationally.
The Obama administration and Democrats do not come off well, and Uetricht asserts that unions need to reassess their long and fruitful relationship with the Donkey Party, given the impact certain of its enthusiastically forwarded policies are having on labor's ranks.
He writes, “From the very top of the national Democratic Party to the local level, the consensus is unabashedly in favor of transforming public education into a market commodity.”
“Strike for America,” is an interesting book for those monitoring the pace and particulars of change roiling American education, labor, and progressive politics, as well as their intersecting trajectories.
Michael Uetricht's account of a strike by Chicago teachers against the city school system and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to close scores of schools as part of his reform is no even-handed monograph.
Before us is an unabashedly positive account of changes in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), over a few years, that led to the installation of an activist, left-wing leadership slate.
According to Uetricht, the CTU leadership had grown sclerotic and comfortable, a charge often associated with unions where officer turnover is limited to deaths in dotage.
After a false start with one reform slate, a group of activists within CTU formed the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), “rooted in an organic community-teacher coalition against school closures, a broad left politics, and an uncompromisingly combative and democratic unionism whose raison d'être was in a perceived need to end union capitulation to neoliberal education reform.”
(raison d'être? John L. Lewis, judge us not!)
From CORE's perspective, “The combination of public school closings and charter school expansion will likely erode the union's membership, redirect public money to privately run charters that lack basic mechanisms for public accountability, slash teachers' salaries and benefits, and cause massive disruption in the neighbhorhoods where the closures would take place.”
Uetricht's is an insider's account and one clearly affected by emotions associated with the
American left coming out of the shadows for that strike in the demonstration of its common and legitimate components and size. People pulling together and getting behind the needs of others can make you feel warm, fuzzy and less alone in an atomized and unkind culture.
Some labor watchers view the strike as a wash in terms of the contract reached and the fact Emanuel proceeded to close 49 public schools and open 63 new charters.
Nonetheless, the strike was a triumph as an organizing exercise and in its willingness to take action, even direct action, when confronting powerful adversaries. The CTU blueprint places the hoary old tool of the strike back in play when circumstances are right and proper tactics applied.
That said, radical democratic unionism as a source of vitality, both to organizing and bargaining, is not a new idea and, as an old one, has a spotty success rate.
It is still a less-practiced form of labor activism than the “business unionism” Uetricht readies for the dustbin. It has a tendency to turn a class of workers with bargaining unit representation into full-time activists or politicians.
Not every rank-and-file is as well-suited to its demands as say, a group of educated, up-to-date, reading-prone teachers. It is more apt to take root when workers are shoved to the wall, the same place they were when the idea of a union got their goat in the first place, and which may be the subtext to this particular saga.
“Strike for America” does a very good job of laying out what the issues in the Chicago strike were, beyond wages, and into the communities served by the schools under attack. The author then ably connects those issues to what is happening in education nationally.
The Obama administration and Democrats do not come off well, and Uetricht asserts that unions need to reassess their long and fruitful relationship with the Donkey Party, given the impact certain of its enthusiastically forwarded policies are having on labor's ranks.
He writes, “From the very top of the national Democratic Party to the local level, the consensus is unabashedly in favor of transforming public education into a market commodity.”
“Strike for America,” is an interesting book for those monitoring the pace and particulars of change roiling American education, labor, and progressive politics, as well as their intersecting trajectories.
August 1, 2015
Good friend, former co-worker, and brilliant thinker/writer Micah Uetricht threw himself in the thick of the Chicago Teachers Union strike of 2012, an event that carries great significance for me as a labor organizer, son of a retired CTU steward, and first-time father of a daughter born on the strike’s first day.
As one of the most important labor events in recent years, the strike deserves much attention. Strike for America was written in a condensed time frame for a Jacobin magazine series of books published by Verso. So it is to be expected that there is a mx of reportage with the analysis and that the intended audience is lefties.
So, not surprisingly, the book perfectly explains how the strike (and the development of the union’s reform caucus that brought it about) was a victory for the Left. We are reminded throughout how the strike was a referendum on neoliberalism, a rebuke to an anti-union mayor, etc. However, it scarcely hints at how (or, if, for that matter) the strike was a victory for the schoolchildren, for their parents, and for the neighborhoods in which they live. Yes, the strike made the union stronger, it gave hope to other Chicago progressives, it built capacity for the Left, etc. But the book doesn’t tell us how the strike materially or psychologically improved the lot of Chicago’s school children. Indeed, the book tells us little of what it meant for teachers themselves *in the classroom.*
A related complaint of the book is that we don’t hear the voices of schoolchildren, their parents, or even many of the teachers. What did the strike mean to them? How were their relationships transformed? How were their self-conceptions transformed? How did their conditions change?
Part of the reason why events like this one should be a victory for the Left is precisely because it produces tangible improvements in the lives of the people that matter to the Left. The development of a healthy movement is related to the development of the health of its constituents.
As one of the most important labor events in recent years, the strike deserves much attention. Strike for America was written in a condensed time frame for a Jacobin magazine series of books published by Verso. So it is to be expected that there is a mx of reportage with the analysis and that the intended audience is lefties.
So, not surprisingly, the book perfectly explains how the strike (and the development of the union’s reform caucus that brought it about) was a victory for the Left. We are reminded throughout how the strike was a referendum on neoliberalism, a rebuke to an anti-union mayor, etc. However, it scarcely hints at how (or, if, for that matter) the strike was a victory for the schoolchildren, for their parents, and for the neighborhoods in which they live. Yes, the strike made the union stronger, it gave hope to other Chicago progressives, it built capacity for the Left, etc. But the book doesn’t tell us how the strike materially or psychologically improved the lot of Chicago’s school children. Indeed, the book tells us little of what it meant for teachers themselves *in the classroom.*
A related complaint of the book is that we don’t hear the voices of schoolchildren, their parents, or even many of the teachers. What did the strike mean to them? How were their relationships transformed? How were their self-conceptions transformed? How did their conditions change?
Part of the reason why events like this one should be a victory for the Left is precisely because it produces tangible improvements in the lives of the people that matter to the Left. The development of a healthy movement is related to the development of the health of its constituents.
March 2, 2018
How can teachers unions grow stronger? This right here is the plan. Essentially, don't just fight for contracts, but fight for the children, their families and better public education as well. Work with community organizations. Be vocal and public against standardized testing, austerity, privitization and poverty. Do it by becoming an activist union rather than a service or "business" union.
The book details how the Chicago teachers did it. The writing is occasionally repetative—it could have used another edit before publishing. It's dig into what austerity means can be a little heavy, too, but running study groups on that very subject was part of coalescing the teachers' reform movement. Plus, austerity is in the title.
I'm thankful this is out here.
The book details how the Chicago teachers did it. The writing is occasionally repetative—it could have used another edit before publishing. It's dig into what austerity means can be a little heavy, too, but running study groups on that very subject was part of coalescing the teachers' reform movement. Plus, austerity is in the title.
I'm thankful this is out here.
February 1, 2019
This book came out five years ago but it feels prescient and wildly relevant given the recent wave of teachers strikes. The elements of an activist union are shown to develop out of difficult work done by average people that becomes contagious around key confrontations. You can sense the excitement that a fighting union can generate when it surprises with some wins. The analysis holds up after years of dramatic change on the American left and I can imagine rank-and-file educator groups reading this book as they try to feel their way through their own local struggles.
November 16, 2015
CORE's 2010 takeover of CTU and CTU's 2012 strike were amazing and inspiring actions that changed the trajectory of my own life. But what's happened politically in the three years since the strike should raise some doubts about the bold claims made (by Uetricht and others) in its immediate aftermath. I found some of the procedural details of this recent history useful but, with the advantage of greater hindsight, some of the analysis lacking.
March 29, 2016
Micah Uetricht's lucid account of the now-iconic 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike, and his research into the years of rank-and-file organizing that paved the way for it, are an invaluable contribution to a history that may well prove to be the watershed moment for class struggle in the United States during the neoliberal era.
August 14, 2023
solid, concise book that gives a recap of the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike, the Caucus Of Rank-and-file Educators that reshaped the union, and the impact it could have on the broader politics of education, neoliberalism, and labor.
new to me was learning about the frustrating austerity contracts that preceded & fueled the rise of CORE, all the organizing they did with community groups to fight school closings before they even ran for leadership, and some of the context of CTU compared to other teachers unions. his points about the specific struggles of public sector unions, and their need to build deep partnerships with working class + POC communities if they want to win transformative demands was also insightful.
it's a teeny bit repetitive at times, and wish it included a few more quotes or stories from CORE or CTU members because i want to know more details lolol, but i get that that's not the point of this book.
new to me was learning about the frustrating austerity contracts that preceded & fueled the rise of CORE, all the organizing they did with community groups to fight school closings before they even ran for leadership, and some of the context of CTU compared to other teachers unions. his points about the specific struggles of public sector unions, and their need to build deep partnerships with working class + POC communities if they want to win transformative demands was also insightful.
it's a teeny bit repetitive at times, and wish it included a few more quotes or stories from CORE or CTU members because i want to know more details lolol, but i get that that's not the point of this book.
June 7, 2021
Useful account of the Chicago teachers' strikes and the organising behind them. A lot of lessons to be learned, arguably a must-read for those interested in organising in the education sector!
July 3, 2015
Just because I'm in agreement with an author's bias doesn't mean it's necessarily enjoyable to read biased writing. I liked getting some additional information, the historical context, and the way the book put some of the smaller pieces from my memory into a "big picture." But the uneven and clearly biased writing (example: using the word "militant" at least once per page) means this might not be the greatest piece for convincing anyone who's on the fence about what the 2012 strike accomplished.
July 22, 2015
A great quick read about the Chicago Teachers strike in 2012 that has important lessons for everyone concerned about the labor movement, inequality, austerity, and racial justice. I don't agree with every bit of it, like it has that lefty hope that more union democracy will make the labor movement more militant, but the book as a whole is very compelling. It's not often we get to read an in-depth case study of how a political success came about.
December 25, 2015
While at times overly polemical and triumphalist of CORE/CTU (what else would you expect of a Jacobin Publication) this work provides a brief and entertaining summary/analysis of recent union opposition to neoliberal reform in Chicago. An important read for anyone interested in US education reform, and particularly valuable for its breakdown of the key organizing strategies and tactics that allowed CORE to build real collective power against financially empowered opponents.
January 21, 2019
A breezy summary of the CTU’s historic strike for the schools of Chicago. I enjoyed this book, but found that I didn’t learn much from it, being a CTU member. For anyone outside of union teaching and outside of Chicago, I highly recommend to gain familiarity with the topic. But for those on the inside of the community, I don’t think you’ll learn anything you haven’t seen in local media and union politics in the last ten years.
January 12, 2015
One of the best modern accounts of a labor strike, providing detailed background and context of the Chicago Teachers Union, the rise of the community-oriented Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE), and the challenges from the neoliberal and pro-privatization administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. A great work from Verso's new Jacobin series
February 11, 2016
Clear, concise analysis of the 2012 CTU strike and why it won the victories that it did - a model of organizing beyond a union's self-interest to win battles against neoliberalism for the good of an entire community
June 11, 2014
Easy read and write up on the Chicago Teachers Union strike of 2012, giving important context of the larger push back on neoliberal education reform efforts.
September 6, 2014
Here’s the story of the Chicago Teachers Union strike of 2012. Informative and fast for educators, Chicagoans, and those interested in union history.
January 10, 2016
Excellent history of the 2012 Chicago teachers' strike, as well as a guide to mobilizing workers, defending democracy, and pushing back against the neoliberal agenda.
July 29, 2017
Nice to read a book about a labor union winning out over corporate neoliberalism, and knowing that it's actually non-fiction!
March 5, 2018
This book was recommended to me by a friend who works in labor negotiation, and I don’t regret a minute of the time I invested in reading it.
December 12, 2020
I'm giving this four stars because I do believe it was well written and pitched its case thoroughly.
Once upon a time I was a hard core anti-union no-tax-dollars-for-anything kind of guy.
Then I grew up and stopped living in a delusional bubble.
The one strike against this book is that it's seriously out of date. It could use a good update to include examples of how for-profit education has failed students. For example, since 2013, 95.5% of all colleges that have failed have been for-profit schools. It could also be pointed out that 94% of credits earned at for-profit schools cannot transfer to other schools - even other for-profit schools!* (and that's just colleges!)
K-12 education, in what are often termed Charter schools, have their own history. According the the Washington Post (left of center), in an article from August 6, 2020 entitled, "New report finds high closure rate for charter schools over time," the statement is made that, "Failure rates ranged from 47 percent to 54 percent. Earlier reports from the Network for Public Education detailed fraud and waste in charter schools, finding that the U.S. government had wasted up to $1 billion on charter schools that never opened, or opened and then closed because of mismanagement and other reasons."
It would seem for-profit doesn't necessarily translate into for-student.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/educat...
Such an updated book would be able to expound on Trump University and the fiasco that nightmare has put students through.
For the same reasons we long ago realized Police Fire, Water, Sewer, DPW and in some cases Ambulance and Waste Management services need to be publicly funded entities to ensure everyone receives equivalent services, so, too, must education not be placed in a for-profit domain where corporations are deciding the quality of education for your child - often with non-elected boards of education unaccountable to parents, or citizens in general.
I won't argue that unions are perfect or that public education is a perfect model for all education all the time. I know it's not. It is not necessary to argue either/or. It is simply necessary to understand the public good stops being served when profit becomes the dominant feature over our responsibility, in this case, to grow intelligent children.
*Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknew...
That's Forbes, ladies and gentlemen. Not precisely a bleeding heart liberal resource.
Once upon a time I was a hard core anti-union no-tax-dollars-for-anything kind of guy.
Then I grew up and stopped living in a delusional bubble.
The one strike against this book is that it's seriously out of date. It could use a good update to include examples of how for-profit education has failed students. For example, since 2013, 95.5% of all colleges that have failed have been for-profit schools. It could also be pointed out that 94% of credits earned at for-profit schools cannot transfer to other schools - even other for-profit schools!* (and that's just colleges!)
K-12 education, in what are often termed Charter schools, have their own history. According the the Washington Post (left of center), in an article from August 6, 2020 entitled, "New report finds high closure rate for charter schools over time," the statement is made that, "Failure rates ranged from 47 percent to 54 percent. Earlier reports from the Network for Public Education detailed fraud and waste in charter schools, finding that the U.S. government had wasted up to $1 billion on charter schools that never opened, or opened and then closed because of mismanagement and other reasons."
It would seem for-profit doesn't necessarily translate into for-student.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/educat...
Such an updated book would be able to expound on Trump University and the fiasco that nightmare has put students through.
For the same reasons we long ago realized Police Fire, Water, Sewer, DPW and in some cases Ambulance and Waste Management services need to be publicly funded entities to ensure everyone receives equivalent services, so, too, must education not be placed in a for-profit domain where corporations are deciding the quality of education for your child - often with non-elected boards of education unaccountable to parents, or citizens in general.
I won't argue that unions are perfect or that public education is a perfect model for all education all the time. I know it's not. It is not necessary to argue either/or. It is simply necessary to understand the public good stops being served when profit becomes the dominant feature over our responsibility, in this case, to grow intelligent children.
*Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknew...
That's Forbes, ladies and gentlemen. Not precisely a bleeding heart liberal resource.
July 5, 2025
A very useful account of the formation of CORE and the 2012 CTU strike and its challenge to business unionism and neoliberal reformers. I assigned it to my students this summer in a course on the labor history of education. I would have liked more focus on the strike itself - it gets an entire chapter, but the book would not have suffered if it had occupied even more space. I have one major quibble, which is a sectarian one, I suppose - on page 12 Uetricht writes that Occupy was “hampered in part by its anarchist roots, was unable to articulate any clear demands on the state, much less mobilize public support for a new program of reform.” Occupy was a sprawling mess of a movement, for better and for worse, but where those anarchist roots were strongest, the inarticulability with demands on the state and the inability to mobilize support for reform were not born of inability but rather incommensurability with a politics that could produce such outcomes. This was Occupy’s strength, not its weakness.
January 2, 2021
A relatively short read, much of the book is spent talking about the evolution of the CTU into it modern incarnation of a more militant union, as well as the damaging neoliberal forces of "reform" public education faces. The actual time spent on the strike itself is unfortunately brief, but the greater message is effective.
Pros:
-Good breakdown of CTU, including its not-that-distant problematic history and how it moved past that
-Clearly spells out the forces in play, taking time to highlight missteps
-Despite spending a small portion of the book on the strike itself, effectively explains the outcomes
Cons:
-Very little time spent on the strike itself. The included content is great, but would've expected more in a short read specifically about the strike.
-Some instances of redundant passages, verbatim at times
Pros:
-Good breakdown of CTU, including its not-that-distant problematic history and how it moved past that
-Clearly spells out the forces in play, taking time to highlight missteps
-Despite spending a small portion of the book on the strike itself, effectively explains the outcomes
Cons:
-Very little time spent on the strike itself. The included content is great, but would've expected more in a short read specifically about the strike.
-Some instances of redundant passages, verbatim at times
July 25, 2024
4 🌟
First tip: look up a definition and understand what neoliberal education is. If you don’t, you won’t get the 90 times it’s referenced in 135 pages.
I wish I would’ve read this earlier, closer to the beginning of my CPS/CTU career in 2014. It would’ve engaged me in the union more but earlier. I could’ve understood so much more about the history of the powerful union, CORE, etc.
That being said, I think I appreciate this book now more than I would’ve 10 years ago. I understand it more, having been involved with CTU and the previous two contract negotiations and events I’ve attended.
First tip: look up a definition and understand what neoliberal education is. If you don’t, you won’t get the 90 times it’s referenced in 135 pages.
I wish I would’ve read this earlier, closer to the beginning of my CPS/CTU career in 2014. It would’ve engaged me in the union more but earlier. I could’ve understood so much more about the history of the powerful union, CORE, etc.
That being said, I think I appreciate this book now more than I would’ve 10 years ago. I understand it more, having been involved with CTU and the previous two contract negotiations and events I’ve attended.
August 4, 2022
Strike for America comprehensive and thorough guide to the Chicago teacher's strikes. Uetricht leaves no stones unturned: he exposes those at fault on both sides of the political aisle as well as their failed policies.
This is a necessary read for those interested in politics, unions, and education policy.
This is a necessary read for those interested in politics, unions, and education policy.
July 6, 2025
"While most American unions have been terrified to break with any section of the Democratic party, even those pushing neoliberal policies that are throwing those unions' very existence into question, the CTU (Chicago Teachers Union) has not. That willingness was key to its ability to win its strike and build power."
April 25, 2019
Solid and quick read about the historic Chicago Teachers Union strike. Overall, slightly less-accessible than How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers but nonetheless a useful companion. Both books show that what CTU did took courage, yes, but also years'-long work organizing and developing members and leaders.
January 26, 2025
Labor Movement is BACK!
Great and easy read for 21st century unionization. Highly recommended. It's quick and easy to follow. Can read in one day.
Great and easy read for 21st century unionization. Highly recommended. It's quick and easy to follow. Can read in one day.
November 6, 2019
A bit repetitive, but good background for understanding the current CTU strike as well as the "red state" strikes of 2018.
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