My organization, Teachers Who Pray, has been working to counterbalance the fear and strife through monthly public prayer meetings through our internal network, radio announcements, and Meetup.com.
Our well-attended 4th Annual Teachers Who Pray Conference explored the theme, “Taking Education Advocacy to the Highest Levelâ€; and we met in the conference room of the Overflow Coffee Bar on the third Mondays in November and December.
These events brought together an array of people of faith who are concerned about the future of CPS: district and charter teachers, administrators, retired teachers, ministers, parents and grandparents, neighbors, and even a reporter. Everyone felt anxious about the school situation. We gathered to pray that God would give our school and government leaders the wisdom to manage this fiscal crisis in a way that brings forth justice and stability not only for teachers, but especially for those who have the most to lose–the children.
My New Year’s wish for my fellow Chicago teachers, unionized or not, is to spend little time worrying about the problems that await us in 2016.
I also encourage us to pray and truly believe that God will move. Prayer is powerful; it can cause even giants like CPS and CTU to agree.
Marilyn Rhames has taught in district and charter schools in Chicago for the past 11 years and currently serves as alumni support manager at a K-8 charter school. A former New York City reporter, Rhames writes award-winning education commentary featured on Moody Radio in Chicago. She is a 2016 Surge Institute Fellow and the founder of the Christian nonprofit, Teachers Who Pray.