3 ms·

Also the head of the teacher’s union sends her own kids to a private Catholic high school. When the people who run the system won’t even send their own kids th

Also the head of the teacher’s union sends her own kids to a private Catholic high school. When the people who run the system won’t even send their own kids there, you know it’s terrible.

thefaux 3y ago
Yeah, that is particularly egregious but I have a friend who worked for years in the education bureaucracy and specifically moved to a particular neighborhood for the schools. It's slightly more subtle but the same indictment.
momwasteach 3y ago
My mother was a teacher at my public high school and sent me to the public schools where I grew up. She knew the schools were bad -- they're ranked deep in the bottom half of Massachusetts -- and always would say something to the extent of "but how would it look for a public school teacher to send their kids to private school?". Well, I sort of wish she had? If the schools are a mess and you know it directly from experience, to do otherwise is pretty ridiculous. We have to be honest with reality.
tptacek 3y ago
I'm no fan of teachers unions, but this factoid doesn't actually tell us much. The head of CTU wouldn't even theoretically need to be a teacher in order to advocate effectively for their constituents.
- monero-xmr 3y ago
  It’s a pretty bad look when you are head of the teacher’s advocacy group and think the system is so terrible that your own kids deserve better. I mean it’s not like I’m the only person who feels this way. It’s something of a scandal and she has taken public heat for this: https://abc7chicago.com/amp/stacy-davis-gates-private-school-ctu-chicago-teachers-union-cps/13750311/ https://abc7chicago.com/amp/stacy-davis-gates-private-school... https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/9/7/23863532/ctu-president-defends-sending-her-son-private-school-result-unfair-choices-south-side-families https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/9/7/23863532/ctu... https://www.wsj.com/articles/stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teachers-union-catholic-school-school-choice-128f01c0 https://www.wsj.com/articles/stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teach...
  - tptacek 3y ago
    In Chicago, sending your kids to Catholic school is hardly an indictment of the system. It's a very Catholic city. I went to Catholic primary school despite the local CPS K-8 probably being better (and despite my mom teaching there). She's taking heat for it, obviously, but the heat is motivated: the CTU is intensely political, and has enemies. I'm not a fan. But my point stands: it doesn't really say anything about CPS policy that the head of CTU isn't a CPS customer.
    - monero-xmr 3y ago
      I think at least the head of the group that represents public school teachers could find a single public school worthy of her own children. But apparently not
      - tptacek 3y ago
        I'm not sure what you mean. There are obviously CPS schools with exceptional outcomes. I don't think anyone seriously believes that you can't do better than diocesan schools anywhere in CPS. This reads more like a dunk than analysis.
  - lupire 3y ago
    Yes, and the teachers also want better schools. That doesn't mean schools were better in the past.

Also the head of the teacher’s union sends her own kids to a private Catholic high school. When the people who run the system won’t even send their own kids there, you know it’s terrible.

thefaux 3y ago

Yeah, that is particularly egregious but I have a friend who worked for years in the education bureaucracy and specifically moved to a particular neighborhood for the schools. It's slightly more subtle but the same indictment.

momwasteach 3y ago

My mother was a teacher at my public high school and sent me to the public schools where I grew up. She knew the schools were bad -- they're ranked deep in the bottom half of Massachusetts -- and always would say something to the extent of "but how would it look for a public school teacher to send their kids to private school?". Well, I sort of wish she had? If the schools are a mess and you know it directly from experience, to do otherwise is pretty ridiculous. We have to be honest with reality.

tptacek 3y ago

I'm no fan of teachers unions, but this factoid doesn't actually tell us much. The head of CTU wouldn't even theoretically need to be a teacher in order to advocate effectively for their constituents.

monero-xmr 3y ago
It’s a pretty bad look when you are head of the teacher’s advocacy group and think the system is so terrible that your own kids deserve better. I mean it’s not like I’m the only person who feels this way. It’s something of a scandal and she has taken public heat for this: https://abc7chicago.com/amp/stacy-davis-gates-private-school-ctu-chicago-teachers-union-cps/13750311/ https://abc7chicago.com/amp/stacy-davis-gates-private-school... https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/9/7/23863532/ctu-president-defends-sending-her-son-private-school-result-unfair-choices-south-side-families https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/9/7/23863532/ctu... https://www.wsj.com/articles/stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teachers-union-catholic-school-school-choice-128f01c0 https://www.wsj.com/articles/stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teach...
- tptacek 3y ago
  In Chicago, sending your kids to Catholic school is hardly an indictment of the system. It's a very Catholic city. I went to Catholic primary school despite the local CPS K-8 probably being better (and despite my mom teaching there). She's taking heat for it, obviously, but the heat is motivated: the CTU is intensely political, and has enemies. I'm not a fan. But my point stands: it doesn't really say anything about CPS policy that the head of CTU isn't a CPS customer.
  - monero-xmr 3y ago
    I think at least the head of the group that represents public school teachers could find a single public school worthy of her own children. But apparently not
    - tptacek 3y ago
      I'm not sure what you mean. There are obviously CPS schools with exceptional outcomes. I don't think anyone seriously believes that you can't do better than diocesan schools anywhere in CPS. This reads more like a dunk than analysis.
- lupire 3y ago
  Yes, and the teachers also want better schools. That doesn't mean schools were better in the past.