CTU Speaks!

In this episode, co-hosts Jim Staros and Andrea Parker interview author and historian Diane Ravitch, who is Research Professor of Education at New York University. In this episode's deep dive into the exploitation of our school system by "disruptors" and public education profiteers, Andrea and Jim will discuss Ravitch's latest book "Slaying Goliath" and how the current coronavirus shutdown has offered fertile ground for those who want to privatize education, diverting money intended to help schools through the pandemic, into private charter operations and other corporate reform agenda items. Ravitch outlines how education is an integral part of our democracy and how charter schools and other privatizers destroy communities by choking off their central place to organize and fight for their local issues. This is particularly true in impoverished and marginalized Black and Latinx neighborhoods. She also talks about the critical role of unions in joining the anti-privatization resistance. And she talks about the key role played by former CTU President Karen Lewis in spearheading the resurgence of the the struggle for the rights of children, teachers, parents and workers all across the country.

Share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros talk to teacher Kent Martin and security guard Denzell Sanders, both of whom work at Ms. Parker's own Robert Fulton elementary school. This episode focuses on the smoldering issue of police in public schools—and how it came to be that today there are plenty of schools with cops but no counselors and no social workers who are actually trained to deal with students. Instead, we have police who are trained to treat those they patrol as "criminals," not kids.

CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates speaks with co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros in this episode of CTU Speaks! about the right to recovery for the students and families of Chicago. She discusses how in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic downturn, and widespread demands for racial justice, we have a unique opportunity to redesign how our society looks, and with bold government action, meet the needs of those in our society who have been left behind for generations.

For more information on the Right to Recovery and the various partners committed to this effort:

https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/the-right-to-recovery/

https://www.righttorecovery.org/

https://actionnetwork.org/campaigns/right-to-recovery

Want to be part of the conversation? Send us your thoughts about remote learning by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks! co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros meet with Walter Taylor, the director of Professional Development for the Chicago Teachers Union and an expert on remote learning as well as training others on how to implement digital education. He talks with Jim and Andrea about what a true public education should entail and how irreplaceable in-person teaching really is. Mr. Taylor also discusses the essence of teaching remotely, the "savage inequalities" that exist within our city, and the three main ingredients necessary to make remote learning successful in Chicago.

Share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros talk with the organizers of a historic vote to unionize at EPIC Academy, a charter school on Chicago's South Side. Three educators and a CTU organizer reflect on their struggles, successes, and the impact of the pandemic, including how EPIC tried to compel teachers to come to the school to vote instead of allowing for a mail-in election (for real, y'all).

For more information about the EPIC union drive, check out their stuff on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the CTU website.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/epicunion2020?igshid=llh5hc03yy87

Twitter: @epicunion2020

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/epicunion2020/

Web: https://ctulocal1.org/epic

As always, please share your thoughts and questions with the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode, co-hosts Jim Staros and Andrea Parker revisit their discussion with school teacher elementary Carla Jones, early childhood teacher Arathi Jayaram, and middle school writing teacher Comfort Agboola who were featured in Episode 17. During this episode, these three teachers outline their struggles and successes with remote learning during the first few weeks of the shutdown. Discussion ranges from how it has been going interacting with their students in their virtual classrooms and grading practices, to social and emotional learning and graduations, as well as what still needs to be done to ensure equity for our students and communities across the city.

It’s pretty clear that teachers don’t like remote learning, and students like it perhaps even less than teachers, but what about the parents? In this episode, CTU Speaks! co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros talk with CPS parents Andrea Mosley and Valerie Nelson about their assessment of the first couple weeks of remote learning. How are parents dealing with the digital divide? Are their children learning? And what does remote learning demand from parents themselves?

Want to be part of the conversation? Send us your thoughts about remote learning by emailing [email protected] or calling 312-467-8888.

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros have a discussion with Professor David Stovall from University of Illinois-Chicago about race and inequity in Chicago schools, and how the current pandemic has highlighted problems that have existed within Chicago’s most vulnerable communities for decades. And Andrea talks with Jim about prior episodes in American history when the government stepped in to save the free market from itself. Listen now at www.ctulocal1.org/podcast.

In this episode, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros discuss the remote learning experience with three rank-and-file teachers. Remote learning officially goes into effect in Chicago Public Schools on Monday, April 13, but teachers across the city have already started implementing many aspects of digital instruction. Their experiences provide an early look at the opportunities, challenges, and frustrations of this massive transformation in the teaching lives of Chicago educators. Teachers featured in this episode are elementary school teacher Carla Jones, early childhood teacher Arathi Jayaram, and middle school writing teacher Comfort Agboola.

In this episode, co-hosts Andrea Parker and Jim Staros continue our coronavirus coverage with CTU President Jesse Sharkey detailing the union’s ongoing effort to fight for equity within Chicago Public Schools as the learning environment shifts online. CTU clinician and nurse Dennis Kosuth also joins the team to describe his view from the front lines of the coronavirus landscape and to discuss what it will look like from a public health perspective to return to the classroom.