Gabriel Páramo and Laura Martín: Teachers who are working in Mexico. Image from the author. Teaching others, especially young people, to harness the tools that make knowledge accessible is praiseworthy. In a country like Mexico, where advancements in education are “unstable and mediocre” according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the effort and passion that teachers bring to their classrooms every day can often go unacknowledged. It doesn't help that teachers in Mexico are finding themselves lumped together with the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) union, which has mounted violent protests against constitutional education reform that, among other things, asks for teacher performance evaluations. With this in mind, we decided to talk to teachers without connections to the CNTE about their opinions and perceptions of the conflict to provide a point of view that normally doesn't make headlines in Mexico's big news outlets. We began with Gabriel Páramo, a professor who has been teaching classes to undergraduate students for 21 years, 16 of those in the Carlos Septién García School of Journalism in Mexico City. We asked him specifically about the issues surrounding the CNTE and the demands they are making of the government. Global Voices (GV): As an educator, do you feel bothered by the fact that your colleagues are blocking roads and intersections to make their demands heard? Gabriel Páramo (GP): Como docente no me siento agraviado. Creo que cuando las opciones legales se cierran, cuando hay manipulación de la información, cuando el poder se escuda en términos como eficiencia y productividad para castigar al trabajador y reducir sus derechos, es necesario tomar medidas extremas. No todas las exigencias son legítimas, como la herencia de plazas, aunque, ¿alguien ha escuchado que se herede plazas pobres en la montaña o en comunidades indígenas? Gabriel Páramo (GP): As an educator, I don't feel offended by it. I think that when legal options are closed, when there is manipulation of information, when those in power hide behind terms like efficiency and productivity in order to punish workers and take away people's rights, extreme measures are necessary. Not all of the demands are legitimate — like inheriting job posts — although, has anyone ever heard of inheriting a poor post in the mountains or in indigenous communities? Páramo's answer refers to the “inheritance” of job posts, or the transfer of a teaching post to the teacher's chosen successor after his or her death, a privilege members of the CNTE want to preserve. GV: How would you explain what has been happening with the CNTE over the past few months to an international audience? GP: Tanto la CNTE como el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación son uniones laborales que durante años han funcionado como parte del modelo corporativista del Estado mexicano. La caída del Partido Revolucionario Institucional [en el año 2000] con Vicente Fox y Felipe Calderón [presidentes del país entre 2000 y 2012] debilitó los lazos de dichos sindicatos con el gobierno; a su regreso al poder el Partido Revolucionario Institucional descubrió que ya no los controla totalmente y ahí sobrevino el conflicto. Además, las bases magisteriales [quienes integran éstos sindicatos] se politizaron y emprendieron reivindicaciones que sobrepasaron a los líderes cupulares. GP: Both the CNTE and the National Education Workers’ Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación) are unions which have worked as part of the corporatist model of the Mexican state for years. The fall of the Institutional Revolution Party [in 2000] with Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón [presidents of Mexico from 2000-2006, 2006-2012] debilitated the ties between the aforementioned unions and the government. When the Institutional Revolutionary Party returned to power they realized that they no longer completely controlled the unions — this is where the conflict arose. In addition, the rank and file teachers [who make up these unions] became politicized and began making demands that surpassed the top leaders. It should be mentioned that in the beginning of 2013 one of the aforementioned union groups were hit hard, with the arrest of Elba Esther “La Maestra” (The Teacher) Gordillo, who presided over the National Education Workers’ Union and who today faces charges of money laundering and organized crime. To get more views on the issue we spoke with Laura Martín (@laumartinm on Twitter). She teaches classes in a variety of degree subjects at a private university. GV: How long have you been teaching? Laura Martín (LM): Desde el año 2003. Lo que me motivó fue la admiración que tenía hacia algunos profesores.