Unions need to be at the forefront of improving public education across the country.

Class is back in session in Chicago, as the city’s teachers union voted to end its strike Tuesday. But despite the union’s compromise with Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, many bigger questions raised during the strike remain unanswered. NYU sociology professor Pedro Noguera joined Nation editor Betsy Reed to address the systemic problems crippling Chicago’s public schools, from awful learning conditions to the lack of a fair teacher evaluation method.

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—Steven Hsieh