The Journey : Invest in teachers
Read: Luke 19:45-48
Strikes...Strikes...This is a familiar word in India especially in the southern state of Kerala. Today the word “Strike” has been removed from public life in India and has been replaced with the word “Hartal”. As Kerala braces for a hartal on Saturday in protest against the proposed hike in the petroleum prices, the citizens in this nation is also witnessing a strike– The teachers strike in Chicago. About 29,000 public school teachers have been on strike since the new school year started thus affecting more than 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The strike that has been going on this week, is now getting at the nerves of everyone who is directly and indirectly involved in the strike– the teachers, the parents, the educational administration and even the political leaders. This strike is considered as the biggest private or labour dispute in the US this year. Both the Chicago school district and the officials of the Chicago teachers union are discussing so that a deal could be reached. The sudden provocation for the strike seems to be the introduction of standardized test to evaluate the quality of teaching and competency of the teacher. One of the striking aspects of the public schools in Chicago is that there are lot of issues in the public school that needs urgent attention and fixing. According the news agencies the fourth graders and eighth graders lag national averages in areas like reading ability. Then is the report that only about 60% of high school student graduate while in elementary school, it is alleged that the students receive fewer hours of instruction. To top it all, class rooms are crowded, with the minimum amount of teaching facilities and resources. With crushing financial restraints, both the sides are finding it tough to strike a deal. Teachers standing up for better working conditions in school and fair evaluation, while the district school authorities on thinking how to improve the overall education scenario in the state especially in the public schools where the majority of the students are from the low income group. Here is a typical example where both the group, the district council and teachers may be justified in the standoff, but ultimately who is the sufferers?. It is high time that there is some constructive and creative way of bringing reforms to the education system in this country, but when a section of employees want the authorities to readdress their needs and demands, it is important that he stand that they take do not bring injustice ultimately to the recipients of the education system– the children. Reforms is something that people always talk but whether it is our pubic life or the life in our church, people suddenly become rigid whenever there is a proposed change and cling on to the familiar dictum “ we do things here like this”. As we meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living” we also need to think whether we are also open and ready for bringing about changes in the corporate area of our faith living– the church. One of the familiar passages in the new testament is the passage from Luke 19:45-48, where Jesus cleanses the temple. What made Jesus go mad with rage was that the whole concept of temple worship was perverted and converted in a place of financial irregularity probably with the connivance of priests, and the people in power in the temple. The people who suffered as result of this brazen misuse of power and the rituals and laws that were prevalent in the name of religion were the common people. Temple that was meant to bring people closer to God actually drove them away from the so called sanctuary of worship and fellowship. This is what Jesus was opposing. Today the Church and community of believers should constitute and organize themselves as a worshipping community where the primary purpose is transformation of the believer and witness in the community through the power of God found through worship and fellowship. If this does not take place in our church, I think we also need to think of reforming in our church, just as our forefathers paved way for the reformation in our church.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Strikes...Strikes...This is a familiar word in India especially in the southern state of Kerala. Today the word “Strike” has been removed from public life in India and has been replaced with the word “Hartal”. As Kerala braces for a hartal on Saturday in protest against the proposed hike in the petroleum prices, the citizens in this nation is also witnessing a strike– The teachers strike in Chicago. About 29,000 public school teachers have been on strike since the new school year started thus affecting more than 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The strike that has been going on this week, is now getting at the nerves of everyone who is directly and indirectly involved in the strike– the teachers, the parents, the educational administration and even the political leaders. This strike is considered as the biggest private or labour dispute in the US this year. Both the Chicago school district and the officials of the Chicago teachers union are discussing so that a deal could be reached. The sudden provocation for the strike seems to be the introduction of standardized test to evaluate the quality of teaching and competency of the teacher. One of the striking aspects of the public schools in Chicago is that there are lot of issues in the public school that needs urgent attention and fixing. According the news agencies the fourth graders and eighth graders lag national averages in areas like reading ability. Then is the report that only about 60% of high school student graduate while in elementary school, it is alleged that the students receive fewer hours of instruction. To top it all, class rooms are crowded, with the minimum amount of teaching facilities and resources. With crushing financial restraints, both the sides are finding it tough to strike a deal. Teachers standing up for better working conditions in school and fair evaluation, while the district school authorities on thinking how to improve the overall education scenario in the state especially in the public schools where the majority of the students are from the low income group. Here is a typical example where both the group, the district council and teachers may be justified in the standoff, but ultimately who is the sufferers?. It is high time that there is some constructive and creative way of bringing reforms to the education system in this country, but when a section of employees want the authorities to readdress their needs and demands, it is important that he stand that they take do not bring injustice ultimately to the recipients of the education system– the children. Reforms is something that people always talk but whether it is our pubic life or the life in our church, people suddenly become rigid whenever there is a proposed change and cling on to the familiar dictum “ we do things here like this”. As we meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living” we also need to think whether we are also open and ready for bringing about changes in the corporate area of our faith living– the church. One of the familiar passages in the new testament is the passage from Luke 19:45-48, where Jesus cleanses the temple. What made Jesus go mad with rage was that the whole concept of temple worship was perverted and converted in a place of financial irregularity probably with the connivance of priests, and the people in power in the temple. The people who suffered as result of this brazen misuse of power and the rituals and laws that were prevalent in the name of religion were the common people. Temple that was meant to bring people closer to God actually drove them away from the so called sanctuary of worship and fellowship. This is what Jesus was opposing. Today the Church and community of believers should constitute and organize themselves as a worshipping community where the primary purpose is transformation of the believer and witness in the community through the power of God found through worship and fellowship. If this does not take place in our church, I think we also need to think of reforming in our church, just as our forefathers paved way for the reformation in our church.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla