WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Chicago teachers now working without a contract

CTU President Karen Lewis

“It is our responsibility to work toward a contract that is fair and equitable to our members and one that will help us give our students the high-quality, first-class education they deserve. While there has been progress in some areas, we remain far apart on many others.” -- NBC News Chicago, CTU Contract to Expire Over Weekend

Michelle Chen

After Katrina, the city became an incubator for non-unionized charter schools and “experimental” restructuring plans. But rather than “saving” New Orleans schools from failure, the overhaul has aggravated divides between black and white, wealthy and poor, by pushing schools to operate more like corporations.  -- In These Times

Fred Klonsky

"I'm starting a new union. Send me your dues." -- Fred Klonsky Blog 

Michelle Obama

"Democracy is also an everyday activity. And being an engaged citizen should once again be a daily part of our lives." The first lady said such engagement involved "the tireless, the thankless, relentless work of making change, you know, the phone-calling, letter-writing, door-knocking, meeting-planning kind of work." -- ABC News

John Jeremiah Sullivan

This is a strange time to be alive in America, in that regard. Close one eye, and we can seem to be moving toward a one-race society; close the other and we seem as racially conflicted and stratified as ever. Racism is still our madness. -- "How William Faulkner Tackled Race — and Freed the South From Itself."