[Intro: RodStarz]
Yeah, feel this from the bottom of my heart, y'all
Truly inspired
Here we go, c'mon look
[Chorus: RodStarz]
Homie I was taught by a Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
[Verse 1: RodStarz]
The teachers are tired, the students dumbfounded
The budgets get cut so classes are overcrowded
Streets full of violence, the blue coat of silence
So I'ma keep rhyming till salaries start rising
The unions uprising, takin' to the streets
The workers are united so the mayor's got beef
Rahm's a fake pretender with a corporate agenda
Neoliberal offender, of course you offend us
This ain't about money, that's far from the truth
They want better work conditions to teach the youth
Politicians, I don't trust em, it's all in the name
The president, the mayor all want political gain
They'd rather put the kids in jail, shackle 'em wit' chains
Than provide an education that challenges the brain
Top-down education, Chicago the birthplace
And now it's spreading nationwide all over the place
They don't teach us how to think, they teach us how to test
They teach us how to work to put money in they checks
The CEOs need to get up out the classroom
Before these streets get hotter than the sand in Cancun
So join the picket line like Mr. Pickett in his prime
Put on ya red shirt like the Bulls in '95
Hit the streets with a sign that say I'm fightin' for mine
It's a fork in the road and you gotta choose a side
And yes I'm proud to say I was a public school student
It was public school teachers that first taught me music
And yes I'm proud to say I was a public school student
It was public school teachers that first taught me music
[Chorus: RodStarz]
Homie I was taught by a Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
[Verse 2: G1]
Went to lil Lincoln School in a lil school bus
Desegregation, paid 20 cents for lunch
Reduced price ticket for the lower income children
Art and music classes in between Math and English
Now its different, they just teachin' to the test
Forced by the feds, or they losin' that check
Too many children left behind by this corporate assembly line
How they privatize? Education is a human right
And they kids gon' be fine, they send 'em to private schools
While ours get sent to prison or given a job servin' fast food
Cash rules, so it gets treated like a business
Bought and sold by businessmen turned politicians
So if Rahm was the chief of staff
And Arne Duncan got his start
In Chicago sellin off
The education system, then Obama gotta respond
The teachers or the corporations?
Which side is he on?
The streets is getting hot
They blame the heat on Chief Keef
But it's a million others like him being created every week
If we don't teach, we don't learn
And the streets is gon' burn
Before it gets worse
I put on my red shirt
[Chorus: G1]
Homie I was taught by a Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
Homie I was taught by a Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
Chicago teacher
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher
So I'm inspired by the fight for my Chicago teachers
[Outro: RodStarz]
Yeah, Bateman Elementary, where Illanoiz went
Lincoln School, Lane Tech, Lincoln Park High School
Illanoiz went to Roosevelt High School, now he makin' beats
Worldwide, let's go
