If you were a child born in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was a product of the Chicago Public Schools educational system, you had deal with teachers going on strike. In 1980, 1984, 1985 and 1987, children and their parents were highly inconvenienced by ongoing labor disputes between the teachers, the board of education and various mayors.

My mother was one of these parents. During the strike of 1980, my mother did not have a stable babysitter for me because my grandmother had moved to Wichita, Kansas and as a result, I had to stay at home by myself the ten days the schools were on strike. She must have been scared as hell to leave her nine-year-old daughter at home alone but she had no choice because she had to work to make money like so many working mothers.

It is a damn shame that parents are going to have deal with this type of nonsense again. Due to the arrogance of the Mayor Rahm Emanuel, for the first time in twenty-five years, the Chicago Teachers Union has authorized a strike, scheduled for September 10, 2012. If a compromise is not met soon, instead of attending school and learning something new, these children are going to have to sit at home or hopefully get chosen to attend one of the 145 schools that would be open for four hours per day during the strike. This plan costs $25 million dollars, money that would be better spent by giving the teachers their pay raises.

But this is what Chicagoans get for voting Rahm Emanuel into office. I did not vote for him because personally, I think he is a twit. I did not like him when he was working for the Clinton administration or our current president so when he decided to run for mayor of Chicago, I knew he was not voting for his arrogant ass.

My son called the teachers greedy because in his opinion, teachers have it made. Great schedule, good pay and all kinds of perks. But as I told him, teachers have the most thankless job in the world because they have to be a babysitter, social worker, parent and teacher all rolled up into one. Imagine teaching at an inner city Chicago grade or high school. They have deal with emotionally damaged children, crazy ass parents and worry about their own personal safety; they deserve every dollar they make and then some.

So with abated breath, I pray that all parties involved will come up with an amicable agreement so our children will not have to suffer for the arrogance of those in power. I guess in some weird way, it is good that I am not currently working because I would be in the same boat as my mother: worrying about a babysitter. Lack of adequate childcare is a true hindrance to working mothers in our country and it is a shame that schools, a staple of any vibrant society is no longer considered a haven but a curse to our children. In Chicago, being in school keeps children alive and I hope that these folks think about this.