Teacher Protests in Chicago

The current issue that resides in Chicago is the desire for teachers' to increase their pay based on new contract terms. Their are several issues at hand here. The strike has continued now for over six days. This means that the kids have been out of school for another week. The contract terms have not been negotiated and teachers' union are on strike until their demands are met. The teachers' union has a right to demand more incentives, specifically as the cost of education as increased. In addition, other factors including larger classrooms, rowdy students, and providing one on one attention to students is very difficult. Therefore, to provide a decent education, the accommodations need to be met.

(Picture provided by the AP).

However, on the flip side of it and from a business perspective, it is not feasible for the city to provide the increase. So what can be done? Well, they need to come half way. Mediation or interest based negotiations could be the best options for conflict resolution. The reason being that there are too many emotions involved and the conflict itself is very deep rooted. Therefore, to ensure that the teachers and board members move away from their current positions (based on what each of their stance are), they need to move to understand their interests, transform their feelings and create a solution. This issue may continue to arise every time the contract terms are up, therefore, in order to better serve a long term solution, it would vital for an expert conflict resolution specialists to further provide a training seminar. Also, the solution needs to conducted immediately as the children are being affected the most. Although the children may enjoy this extra time off, as parents and adults, it becomes essential for these days to be made up at the end of the year. Therefore, teachers and the school board should agree on making up these missed school days at prior to the end of the school year.

Posted on behalf of Group Whynot.