We recently had a seven day long teacher strike in Chicago. You might have heard about it since it was national news. The fact that President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel is the Mayor of Chicago made the story catnip for the national press. On social media, folks who knew nothing about education policy and cared little about the Chicago Public School system weighed in with uniformed commentary. Mostly, there was a lot of teacher bashing. I, of course, didn’t join the fray.

I didn’t participate in the direct action teacher solidarity marches that took place all week during the strike. I have been struggling with health issues and also buried under a mountain of work. But the truth is also that I have been conflicted about the Chicago Public School system for several years. I am an educator and so my natural sympathies are with my fellow teachers. Yet, I am also an advocate for young people. Too many of the children and youth who I work with are being failed daily by the Chicago Public Schools. Unfortunately, many of these young people point to their teachers as some of their chief tormentors. What to do about this reality?

Part of the school pushout story of almost every young person who I have worked with over the years has involved encounters with teachers who either don’t care or can’t educate. But these young people are also set up for failure before they even set foot in a classroom for the first time. They have usually grown up in violent neighborhoods with single parents who are struggling to make ends meet. They come to school at a deficit and then teachers are expected to help them make up the gap. It’s a lot to ask.

Poverty is an impediment to educational success to be sure. James Traub’s excellent essay in the New York Times belies this. However, we also need to deal honestly with the fact that there are some bad teachers who actually harm children in CPS too. How do we deal with these truths? How will we attain the improvements that are needed in order to stem school pushout? What’s the overarching vision for change? I would like to hear more about this.

A young man named Ethan who I have so much affection and respect for, recently narrated his experience of being pushed out of school and into the criminal legal system. If you have 5 minutes, please take time to listen to his story. In CPS, unfortunately, Ethan’s story is all too common.

Additionally, just last night, a terrific young man who works with the Circles and Ciphers program that my organization incubates appeared on local television to share his reasons for dropping out of school. You can watch E.J.’s story here.