Jackie Vaughn had a 20th Century message for Chicago teachers and principals in the 21st Century... 'It's time to stand up and be counted or roll over and...'
In one of those historical moments that was probably never reported in writing, before the 1987 Chicago Teachers Union strike, which is still the longest in CPS history, Chicago Teachers Union President Jacqueline Vaughn delighted her members by saying, "It's time to stand up and be counted or roll over and be mounted..." The majority of the union's members, who were militant unionists but also hat-wearing church going women, greeted Vaughn's barbs with "Oooohhs..."
Chicago Teachers Union President Jacqueline Vaughn was at home on the picket line during the four strikes she led during the 1980s, and also with a barbed quip. Before the 1987 strike, Vaughn told the union's members, "It's time to stand up and be counted or roll over and be mounted." He untimely death in January 1994 was a blow not only against the union, but against public schools in Chicago, as her successors allowed corporate "school reform" to go wild in Chicago before it was taken national by the Obama administration with the appointment of Arne Duncan as U.S. Secretary of Education in 2008.As of May 13, 2014, it begins to seem like Chicago principals (and the head of the principals' organization) are finally deciding to stand up to the bullying by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, his hand-picked Board of Education, and the platoon of out-of-town mercenaries (led by "Chief Executive Officer" Barbara Byrd Bennett) currently running the nation's third largest school system.
Jackie Vaughn isn't around today, but we have a hunch if she were she would be standing beside CTU President Karen Lewis in denouncing the current regime, and especially Emanuel's lies and bullying.
And if the principals want a place to begin, how about this one:
Let's all refuse to listen to or take orders from anyone in "administration" who has never taught in a Chicago public school or been a principal. One of the reasons why things are so bizarre since Emanuel took over is that the main qualification to be a six-figure executive at the nation's third largest school system is an out-of-town resume and a complete lack of knowledge about how Chicago classrooms and schools actually work. Barbara Byrd Bennett, who keeps he home in Ohio, prattles about having once upon a time having been a "teacher and principal" but that was a long time before she began her lucrative career as a mercenary for the Broad Foundation and the likes of Mayor One Percent.
And after her, the list is almost endless, but we will sign off with just two:
Chicago's "Chief Administrative Officer" is an arrogant guy named Tim Cawley, whose experience to run a school system arises from his time as an executive at Morotola and then as one at AUSL.
Chicago's "Chief Talent Officer" Alicia Winckler learned all she needed to know about public schools, teaching, and principaling as an executive at Sears Holdings, which was where she had spent the better part of her career before becoming the chief human resources person at America's third largest school system.
