From the union's formation in 1937 until the 1960s, the Chicago Teachers
Union (CTU) was the largest and most influential teachers' union in the
country. John F. Lyons examines the role of public schoolteachers and
the CTU in shaping the policies and practices of public education in
Chicago.
Examining teachers' unions and public education from the bottom up,
Lyons shows how the CTU and its members sought rigorous reforms. A
combination of political action, public relations campaigns, and
community alliances helped the CTU to achieve better salaries and
benefits, increased school budgets, reformed curricula, and greater
equality for women within the public education system. But its agenda
was also constrained by internal divisions over race and gender and by
ongoing external disputes with the school administration, politicians,
and business and civic organizations.
Detailed and informed by rich interviews, Teachers and Reform: Chicago
Public Education, 1929-1970 tells the story of how committed union
members effected changes to public education and to local politics that
still benefit Chicago teachers, students, and the city today.