Now THAT”S what I call an army of angry teachers!
(Guest post by Greg Forster)
Today’s Wall Street Journal covers events in Guerrero, a state in southern Mexico, where the local version of the Weingarten/Ravitch army of angry teachers is now in head-to-head competition with James Tooley and Pauline Dixon’s army of black market schoolers.
In one corner:
Thousands of teachers protesting a revamp of the country’s education system have closed schools and taken to the streets, in the first significant challenge to overhauls undertaken by President Enrique Peña Nieto. Teachers in Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, are defying Mr. Peña Nieto’s administration by opposing the education measure signed into law in February, which for the first time requires teachers to be evaluated by an autonomous body. Those that fail the evaluation can be dismissed.
Last week, tens of thousands of teachers, some armed with metal bars and Molotov cocktails, marched in Guerrero’s capital, Chilpancingo. They again blocked for hours the highway that connects Mexico City with the Pacific port of Acapulco, hurting a key economic and tourist hub. The demonstrations have been held sporadically since the overhaul bill was signed.
In the other corner:
The action has left around 42,000 children without classes, and parents, exasperated after almost two months of protests, plan to start giving their own lessons in parks, public squares and even restaurants in the coming days….The lessons would be conducted like summer-school workshops, with hundreds of children expected to attend the first classes, Mr. Castro said. The idea is to teach grade-school students mathematics, Spanish and other basics, and the parents association is trying to get local education authorities to give credit for completed work.
The teachers’ unions of Guerrero have shown the same peaceful spirit we’ve seen so often from many labor unions here in the U.S.:
Initial plans to start the lessons Monday were put off for fear of reprisals from striking teachers, and the parents association is working with state authorities to guarantee safety for the classes, he added.
However, from the overall coverage I wouldn’t count the army of black market schoolers out yet. Conditions are bad enough that the parents are angrier than the teachers.
Also worth noting: it’s not clear how many of the teachers support what their unions are doing.
Photo by Zuma Press via WSJ
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
As I previously noted (https://jaypgreene.com/2013/02/27/us-teacher-unions-need-to-close-the-global-union-corruption-gap/ ) the Mexican teacher union puts our unions to shame. We need to close the Global Union Corruption Gap!
Oh yes, how could I forget? This news story is a JPGB unified field theorem in action! Now how can we work in Al Copeland?
I wonder if there are also low-cost private schools available to take up the slack? If not, here’s a chance for suitable entrepreneurs to get busy. I wish I could go myself….
Well if the market works as it should then low cost private schools won’t take long to set up. I bet they exist already though…..
Hey Jay. Have you asked your Lords and Masters at Walmart to go down and spread around some cash in Mexico?
As you prove every day, there’s absolutely nothing people won’t do for money, no matter how shamefully they have to debase themselves, even with the world watching.
Or are you going to give us all a chuckle and pull out something you’ve cut and pasted several times before, insisting on your “independence” and “integrity”?
Okay, Jay. Uh, we all believe you…forgive me…
Oh, sorry, I hear Mrs. Walton coming down the hall…don’t say anything that gets her mad—or demonstrates any dignity or self-respect on your part.