School reform and school choice

The 2012 teachers’ strike in Chicago brought into sharp relief the contentious nature of school reform and public education policy in the United States. While most media reports focused primarily on the issues related to compensation and benefi ts and a very contentious evaluation system, the teachers were also concerned about curricular, pedagogical, and infrastructural issues that directly impacted the students in the Chicago Public Schools (Schools Students Deserve [SCSD] Report, 2012). The media rarely reported the range and scope of the issues that the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU) raised that had a signifi cant impact on their decision to strike, despite a change to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (2011) that prohibited teachers from striking for issues other than compensation and benefi ts. Many of these concerns are related in large part to the ever-increasing number of charter schools, the closure of traditional schools, and dwindling budgets for public education.