Will Rahm Emanuel go down in Chicago history as the mayor who destroyed public education? Will he take his vengeance on the Chicago Teachers Union by closing 100-140 public schools while opening charters? How will history judge him?
A reader sends this comment:
We are feeling the pain DC is facing in Chicago as well.
In Chicago, the Chicago Public Schools board is seeking to close up to 140 schools. The educators, clinicians, paraprofessionals, parents and community members are speaking out about this.
Even today, educators handed out information about school closings at different train stops across the city.
And unfortunately, we are seeing these school closings occur primarily in African American neighborhoods.
People are speaking about this and there its even a petition on the White House website that was established by a community member that resides in one of the neighborhoods that will be hit hard by these school closings.
It is at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-education-policies-promote-massive-closing-traditional-public-schools-while-expanding-charter/7N4DRln5….please sign and share.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The WH link very user unfriendly……redo petition on another site if you want to each yr goal…..the idea that closing 140 schools will not not create chaos and severe disruption is preposterous…..mostly it affords great teacher turnover which is exactly the goal…. The CTU embarrassed Rahm and here comes his payoff play….the lives of the effected students totally ignored
There is an interesting article in today’s NYT about a complaint filed against Chicago Public Schools. From the article:
In a complaint filed on Monday with the Illinois State Board of Education, a nonprofit advocacy group says that thousands of children are in Rashaan’s position because the Chicago Public Schools have repeatedly failed to evaluate children with disabilities and move them into special education preschool programs.
I would look, but it is behind a pay/article limit wall.
You can gain access off a side bar in Fred Klonsky’s Blog today (I think it’s a Tweet).
Can it be any surprise that the longer term effect of privatising education is that difficult customers – those in predominantly African American areas – will get short shrift?
Surely this exposure of the lure of the dollar must act as an alarm bell to all who are concerned? The problem, however, is that most who make education decisions are not yet concerned. The decision makers will act when something happens that does concern them. Petitions are a great start, but it looks like more drastic action such as strikes, may be called for. The problem with teacher strikes, however, is that teachers hate to hurt their pupils by striking, and education decision makers are swift to play on this theme as a means of detracting from the reason for the strikes. But hard measures seem to be needed to arrest the commercialisation of US education.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/696/900/564/stop-the-assault-on-schools-attended-by-children-of-color/ Nothing can stop Chicago school apartheid but the Illinois legislature. Sign the petition and ask each of the legislators, including Speaker Madigan and the President of the senate.
Although Byrd-Bennet was instrumental in ending the teachers’ strike, she comes from NYC. Watch out Chicago, she is implementing NYC’s formula for union busting and privatization!
1. Buildings labeled as “underutilized”
2. Schools graded as “failing”
3. Public schools closed or phased out
4. Charter schools move in to public space
5. Charter schools expand
Under mayoral control, Bloomberg has been doing this for over a decade-against the wishes of parents, teachers, schools, and communities.
More likely than not the schools are in areas that the real estate developers would love to see “gentrified”.
That’s absolutely true, Duane. Developing good schools is the most effective way to gentrify any community. I speak from experience, living in a changing community, and having graduated from a great high school that was built in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Fast forward over 30 years, and the community is now situated next to multi-million mansions. The flaw in this plan is the rapidity within which it is being implemented. New schools are being pressured to expand at a faster rate than they are able to handle. Likewise the mass closures are wreaking havoc. If left unchecked, Mayor Emanuel will find that the goose’s golden egg is quite rotten indeed.
I am the sponsor of the petition to the White House, and I thank you for posting the link to the White House website. For some reason, the link no longer works. I agree that the petition to the White House is not as friendly as it should be. In retrospect, perhaps I should have used another platform. In the meantime, I am posting a shorter link to the petition to the White House, as well as a link to a petition to the Illinois Governor and Legislature.
Petition to President Obama to stop policies that promote mass closings of public schools while expanding charters. (People from all states may sign)
http://wh.gov/Ua20
Petition to the Governor and Illinois Legislature to create an education facilities planning board.
http://signon.org/sign/illinois-legislature (People from Illinois only)