In teachers' strike, Emanuel pushing Democrats' new view The combination of labor, new Democrats and no money is "combustible" "The big funders love it, teachers hate it," says Fordham professor "What the Chicago teachers have done is say enough is enough," he adds "People are going to lose their jobs ... maybe rightly so," says head of charter school network (CNN) -- The hard-nosed stance taken by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the Chicago teachers' strike dovetails with the goals espoused by new Democrats, but observers disagreed Monday over how well it serves the city's schoolchildren. "Rahm Emanuel is very faithfully following the strategy for urban school systems outlined in the Obama administration's signature education policy, which is his race-to-the-top initiative," said Mark Naison, professor of African American Studies and History at Fordham University in New York. The initiative includes the evaluation of teachers and schools on the basis of student test scores, said Naison, who founded the Bronx African American History Project, which interacts with public school teachers. Key issues behind the strike The idea is that, by rating teachers on the basis of student test scores and closing failing schools, bad teachers will be weeded out of the system and students will get a better education, he said in a telephone interview. But the results have included unintended consequences that may be worse than the putative reforms, he said. "What you end up doing is creating incredible pressure on teachers to do nothing but teach to the test," he said. The result has been that schools in danger of closing have cut recess, gym, arts and music, he said. Basically, all kids do is study for the test all day, which is the only way you have any chance of teachers keeping their jobs and administrators keeping schools open. The atmosphere at many schools has been poisoned, he said. "It makes teachers look at students as their adversaries; it makes teachers hate their jobs and it makes students not want to go to schools, because all you do is study for bubble tests," he said, referring to the multiple-choice questions that are a staple of standardized tests. What the Chicago teachers have done is say enough is enough. The strike by nearly 30,000 teachers and support staff has left some 350,000 students in the nation's third-largest district out of school. The Obama initiative differs from the No Child Left Behind initiative espoused by former President George W. Bush in that the latter provided a standard for deciding only when schools were failing; it had no mechanism for rating teachers. The Obama initiative attempts to apply a business model to public education, according to Naison. "The idea is -- let's bring market pressures into public education," he said. But the planners failed to give a voice to teachers and principals, he said. "They're trying to see if, by putting pressure on teachers to raise student test scores, they can reduce the performance gap between schools in poor neighborhoods and schools in more affluent neighborhoods," he said. But ... you're going to end up widening the gap because you're going to make kids hate school because all they do is study for tests. Voices of the Chicgao Public School strike That view was rejected by Juan Rangel, CEO of United Neighborhood Organization, a nonprofit that manages the UNO Charter School Network of 13 largely Latino schools in Chicago. "I think the mayor has done an outstanding job in putting forth a reform agenda for education," Rangel told CNN in a telephone interview. When you have change, it's going to inconvenience people. He dismissed Naison's criticism that schools were teaching to the test as "a very familiar slogan that's being promoted by the opponents of school reform. The reality is this: at some point, we have to be able to assess the progress of children and we do that through testing. Those opposed to the plan "just don't want to be held accountable to standards," he said. The only negative consequence, if you think about it as negative, is that some people are going to lose their jobs. And maybe rightly so. Rangel rejected any suggestion that Emanuel -- who recently assumed a role as fundraiser for the Democrats -- was stretched too thin. "He certainly knows how to multi-task," Rangel said. I think he can do this -- and more. Naison accused Emanuel of hubris for thinking he could impose his plan on the teachers. When the teachers balked, I'm sure he figured, 'I'm an incredibly popular mayor; teachers are pretty unpopular now; they'll cave.' Well guess what? They didn't. Emanuel himself addressed the issue on Monday. "Don't worry about the test of my leadership; that gets tested every day," he told reporters in Chicago. The only test that matters to me is the test these kids take on whether, when you've got a kid going into first grade, do they know the letters? By third grade, can they read? By fourth grade, can they do the basic math? That's the test that matters here. He continued, "There'll be plenty of time for political evaluation and I'm sure I'll read about it tomorrow morning." President Barack Obama's education policy has been supported by corporate America, the business titans sought after for political donations, Naison said. Romney, Obama spar over strike "It makes perfect sense that Emanuel pushes this, because this policy makes money for the Democratic Party," he added. The big funders love it. Teachers hate it, but teachers don't have anywhere else to go, right? They're not going to go Republican. So, if you look at this fairly cynically, you can beat on teachers without undermining the Democratic Party base that much and bring in much-needed financing from the corporate sector. Emanuel is at the forefront of both. He called teachers "collateral damage to the Democratic Party's fundraising strategy." In a statement, Emanuel spokesman Thomas C. Bowen implied -- but did not state explicitly -- that his boss was shifting away from his role as a fundraiser for the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action. "The Mayor's first priority is the residents of the City of Chicago," Bowen said in a statement. He is committed to reelecting the President, but he must focus on his job as Mayor right now. The conflict between Emanuel and the teachers underscores the Democratic Party's new openness to changes, such as charter schools and teacher accountability, that labor historically has not supported, said Timothy Knowles, director of the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute, which studies city schools and runs a teacher-training program. You've got three factors -- labor, new Democrats, and you've got no money -- and that, it turns out, is combustible. The battle is being watched closely around the country. "Mayors want to know if a hard-charging, reform-oriented stance toward labor will prevail," Knowles said in a telephone interview. And, likewise, labor wants to know whether a dig-in-our-heels-and-fight-and-be-willing-to-go-to-the-streets-and-take-job-action will prevail. Share your stories, videos and images of the strike