By Kyle Olson
EAGnews.org

The Chicago Teachers Union, poised to go on strike against the children of the city of Chicago, has released a video making all sorts of wild accusations against Education Action Group, claiming that we’re some sort of an “Astroturf” group.

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxVYFm2g9CM]

This makes the CTU the second union to produce such a video.  The first, which resembled a hostage video, featured Indiana State Teachers Association president Nate Schnellenberger making the same, tired and inaccurate accusations against EAG.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MB8VMHH9XI]

Through its video, the CTU attempts to smear EAG as a conservative group, in hopes of marginalizing our message. We understand that labeling somebody as a “conservative,” or just connecting somebody to a known conservative, is like Kryptonite in Chicago.

However, the CTU video unintentionally makes another point: By lumping EAG in with well-known Democrats, the unwitting union acknowledges that providing students with better educational options is not a partisan issue. School reform is the rare issue in which Democrats and Republicans can agree.

EAG opposes the government education status quo, and those who defend it. That puts us in agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Stand for Children and Democrats for Education Reform. That means the CTU is the outsider in this showdown, not EAG.

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And make no mistake, this is a showdown. It’s a street fight. The CTU video makes that very obvious.

Winning genuine improvements for Chicago’s students won’t happen at cocktail parties or in the backrooms of legislative committee rooms.  Improvements won’t be won by cutting deals or slick ad campaigns, either.

Education Action Group understands this, which is why we’ve been the only organization willing to call out the CTU for its self-serving agenda. We’re the only ones to produce evidence that union supporters have been bussing in protesters from out of the state to swell their ranks.

And we were the only ones to connect the CTU with the radical and dangerous “Occupy Wall Street” protestors, an “Astroturf” movement if there ever was one.

We thank the CTU for demonizing us. We’ll be sure to send the video to any “billionaire” funders, if we ever come across one.  For the time being, please consider a small gift for EAG’s efforts to hold the CTU and so many other unions like it, accountable.  Contribute here.