Teacher Katie Osgood (Ms. Katie) sent this story:
There is a high school in Chicago called Social Justice High School. It was created after parents held a 19-day hunger strike under the reign of Paul Vallas. The teachers there create rich, relevant curriculum to engage their students. Unfortunately, Chicago Public Schools want the SoJo building–it is a beautiful space which was built in response to the demands of the hunger strike, one of the most expensive newer facilities CPS owns. And I’m sure the city’s charter schools would love a piece of that.
So, just a few weeks ago, the district decided to come in to purposefully destabilize the school this by getting rid of the democratically-chosen principal (just weeks before school started) and cutting important programs like AP classes. But the students reacted. They held sit-ins and demanded to be heard. Here is what happened at their meeting filled with community support: http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3529 “Then the students began chanting, “Where’s the justice in social justice?” and the whole audience joined in chanting. The principal walked out of the room to the chants of, “We were born out of struggle, the struggle continues.” The latest word is that the teachers who supported their students have been fired and the entire English department has been disbanded.
The truth is that the powers-that-be do not want teachers and communities to decide curriculum because they might incorporate the history of struggle and students might actually be empowered toward action. God forbid! And you want to talk about parent empowerment, please read the history of the school: http://sj.lvlhs.org/our_campus.jsp No triggers to be found, just lessons from the history of civil rights struggle.
Common Core is just one more way to silence communities.
This is one of many reasons why tenure is important
How could they just fire them? Who are they replacing them with? TFA I suppose.
Where is Obama when you really need him? Isn’t this his old stomping ground?
Ms. Katie….keep reporting please!
The obvious irony which I’d like the privatizers to explain is this.
“How can you support a Hollywood fantasy film, “Won’t Back Down” which is ostensibly about empowering parents, when in reality, the privatizers and their politicians continue to use dirty tricks to run roughshod over enlightened and empowered parents?”
Excellent, excellent point!
Where’s the hollywood movie about SoJo? Hello, Roger Ebert? You could raise the profile of this contradiction…
Here is a little more information: http://www.teachersforjustice.org/2012/08/defend-chicagos-social-justice-high.html And here are some videos from the meeting (these kids are super inspiring!) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98eWtsSivko&feature=share As far as a know, the day after this meeting, two teachers were laid off, I’m not sure under what law they were fired since I feel like they were not new teachers. I will try to find out more information. CPS’ interim principal also turns out to have been a turnaround specialist in the past. This story needs to be spread far and wide, it is wrong.
Just double-checked, both teachers who were released were tenured and were founding members of the faculty in 2005. Being let go for helping students find voice and empowerment. Sick.
Injustice personified. I would like to join those parents again!