A parent in Chicago wrote to explain how difficult it is for parents or anyone else to speak at a “public” hearing.
A true grassroots parent group in Chicago, 19th Ward Parents, attend every monthly meeting of the Board of Ed at CPS.
One of our parents was ejected by security because she dared to ask when public participation would be permitted.
It was already difficult to speak at a BoE meeting. But it has become more difficult since Emanuel has been mayor, and the Board pushed the public participation to the very end of the meeting.
For example, individuals can speak to the Board only every other month.
Speakers have only 2 minutes.
You must get up very early to sign in.
CPS works closely with Stand for Children, who recruited speakers in support of the longer day. CPS staff got up early to stand in line for the Stand speakers, who arrived at a more reasonable time.
One of them got his information wrong, however. He said he was in favor fo a 6.5 hour day, which is also 19th ward parents opinion. When a reporter, Roz Rossi of the Sun Times, asked him if he realized that CPS wanted a 7.5 hour day, he changed his story and replied that is what he wanted to.
The room is very small. There are not many seats. Many CPS staff and consultants walk past the line and take many of the seats, forcing parents who have gotten up early and stood in line for hours to stand outside the chamber in the hope that someone will leave.
It is a degrading system. I have written three times asking them to change it.
I have never received the courtesy of a reply.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good luck with that Chicago Parent, let me know how that works for you.
This is what passes for a “Democrat” in today’s educational milieu. Chris Christie is also on record as admiring how President Obama is treating teacher’s unions.
Source, please.
How long is the current Chicago school day?
Elementary- 5.75 hours. This was after the board contract after contract wanted to reduce the time to pay teachers less…teachers currently take their lunch after students leave, and students do not get on-site recess.
Teachers generally support some form of a loger day (6.5 seems to be the number that research is going with as being beneficial). We are very worried that the longer day (CPS PR dept. is calling it the “Full School Day”) is goign to go un(der)-funded, leaving out the arts, PE, and recess, and giving nothing but more seat-time. The Union is fight hard for a Better School Day in contract negotiations. The contract ended on June 30th, so we shall see what happens when early-track school goes back to session on Aug 6th.
Oh wow. In Florida, it is 7.5 hours.
That sounds almost exactly like the system in NY. Here, the PEP makes the pretense of listening to public comments, generally offers no response at all, then does whatever Mayor Bloomberg has instructed them to do. That’s what passes for democracy here.
Awesome courage and ingeniusly brilliant!
WOW, are you saying tyranny isn’t so great? The liberal Bloomberg, the liberal Chris Christie and the liberal Obama have determined your voice is not welcome.
Maybe it’s time to stop trusting your govt. so much?? Maybe it’s time to give the power back to the people?
Remember you gave that power to the govt. through Medicare, Social Security, Obamacare, etc.
Yes–I have been reading that in NYC blogs. Note that the Chicago mayor met w/Bloomberg–so what does THAT tell you?
The Second City copies the Big Apple!
Are the teachers in the school(s) with you-are your goals aligned with teachers? Has there been local press coverage outside the one incident you describe?
It is common practice at the Board of Education meetings to ignore public commenters: students, teachers, parents, concerned citizens. Meetings are held on mid-day on the last Wednesdays of every month, but if you want to partcipate in public speaking you must line up at CPS Central Office bldg at 5am to sign up to speak for no more than 2 minutes. Public participation then commences usually at noon. Usually.
It’s all Chicago boards. They are very secretive here and make it extremely difficult for the public to know anything,much less participate, until after the fact. BOE meetings are usually once monthly, early a.m., Mon-Thurs. I’ve seen part of one and just like the commerce commission,the boardroom is small and packed with seat-fillers with public comment allowed only at the end and for 1-3 min, after first getting there and jumping through many administrative hurdles, like submitting applications days in advance, navigating the websites, faxing documents, government IDs, no this, no that. It goes on for days.
This would not be legal under California state law.
When is the next Board of Education election?
Chicago does not elect its own school board, it is appointed by the Mayor, former White House (Obama) Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.
OMG! Speak only every other month?
Board of Ed meetings are once a month, with a few more “special hearings” (following similar rules) for school actions (Closures, turnarounds)in December and January of every year.
Public speakers cannot sign up to speak two months in a row.
Then that parent should run for school board and change things up. By the way, one of the things Marc Tucker would like to eliminate is: School Boards. Then good luck if you think you will have any voice after that.
I have to laugh at those who still do not realized we elected a tyrant at the last election.
Hardly a tyrant; an empty suit, apparently.
That MIGHT work–if the school board were an elected one. However, as PEP in NYC, the Board is appointed by the mayor.
The fact that the democrats have piled on with the dishonest republicans only shows how corrupt the whole system is at this point and how both parties are beholden to big money and not the people.
There are no simplistic party-line answers to what is facing us in this country. It is a class struggle not republicans vs. democrats or conservatives vs. liberals.
Those worn-out labels don’t mean much of anything these days and those who embrace them are dancing to a tune played by the monied interests who seek to divide and conquer, as Scott Walker so embarrassingly admitted. Until people educate themselves and abandon the old us vs. them battles we will continue to be taken advantage of and used as pawns in their designs.
Barack Obama is a democrat but has never been a liberal; he’s a centrist as best and more conservdem than anything. Chris Christie is a tea party republican, as are Scott Walker and so many other governors and legislators who are passing laws to destroy education. Bloomberg is a republican who claims the title independent now for political reasons. The democratic legislators and governors like Cuomo are sad examples of what has become of their party as they jump on the bandwagon and do the bidding of Wall Street and the Gates Foundation.
We have to fight all of them and remind them that they govern at the consent of We the people, not them the corporations.