CTU Strike is Over (If you Want It)

The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools have agreed to a framework for ending the week-long teacher strike in Chicago.  While this is not a done deal, it seems like the strike is over if the CTU wants it to be.  At this time, I have not seen the final contract details nor have I seen casualty figures or the total cost of the property damage inflicted on this city by the rampaging crimson hordes of striking teachers. Still, as reformer we can't deny that our noses have been bloodied.  We have a long list of things that must be done as we go forward:

There are over 140 schools in Chicago that do not have libraries, but there are many more that do.  We must do something about them,

Air Conditioning is something sought after by many teachers who believe that their rooms are too hot.  I think it was a wasted opportunity not turning on the Hyatt heat lamps on striking teachers on Thursday. 

Speaking of the Hyatt, now that we are building the Pritzkers a new hotel, it looks like a conflict of interest with Penny Pritzker on the Board of Education.  We need to fix this immediately by building hotels for the Hilton, Sheraton, and Holiday families.

Finally, there are a lot of organizations like Stand for Children and Democrats for Education Reform that are very well funded, but lack members.  We need to get Chicagoans to join these organizations as soon as possible.  It's getting kind of embarrassing to have Michael Butz speak for Stand for Children everytime they need to produce an actual parent.

The strike mat or may not be over, but our work rebuilding the city will not end when we have cleaned up the debris left by marauding teachers.