A Chicago teacher battling cancer condemned a teachers union strike against in-person learning and described it as an attempt to undermine authority and gain political power in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Joseph Ocol said he made a commitment to his students and believes his role as a teacher is to be with them in the classroom, even as he fights cancer, the math teacher and chess coach at Ella Flagg Young Elementary School in Chicago, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The award-winning teacher has been lauded by many as a hero for his decision to continue teaching with cancer amid the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strikes.

But, Ocol said he believes the real heroes are the children.

“They’re the ones suffering, and the parents who are trying to make ends meet,” he told the DCNF. “Parents suffer when their children are at home doing remote learning, when these parents are supposed to be working and earning a living for their families.”

“But the real heroes are those kids,” he added. “They have suffered already so much. I’m not the hero, I’m just trying to do my job.”