Robert George, former classroom teacher and currently national director of Save Our Schools, lives in the Chicago area.
Here he urges everyone to join the March 27 rally against the mass school closings.
Thoughts on a disaster…
Have you ever witnessed a disaster? Where you troubled, shaken to your core, reminded of the need to live every day as if it is your last? Would you do anything you could to have found a way to keep what you encountered from happening or happening again?
My guess is your answer to all of the above is yes!
We are in the midst of a gathering super-storm more powerful than Katrina or Sandy. More lives will be lost; more children harmed irreparably, and more families devastated than were in the two-mega storms combined.There are those who believe Sandy and Katrina were wrought at man’s hand. While this can and will be argued, what cannot escape recognition is in this current situation, The tempest is entirely one of our doing. Human beings created the crisis that came and comes.
I am speaking of the plan to close 54 schools, co-locate 11 and turnaround 6 schools in the City of Chicago. More than 30,000 students will be affected. Counting all of those affected by the community disruption it could easily be 100, 000 persons who will be harmed.
Bob you say, ‘You exaggerate!!!!!’
I do not think so. Each day black or brown children must face the educational apartheid that is the Chicago Public Schools [CPS]. Today, we lose vibrant lives to the oblivion of unfulfilled human potential. Daily lives are actually lost to violence due to the systematic disinvestment and destruction of the heart and soul of the communities of color here in Chicago. While one might think these are separate concerns, a closer look reveals the two are one in the same. Let us look at the “facts,” figures, the maps, and the hidden message too often missed.
Ask yourself; how do you explain the more than 1200 youths that have perished since 2008? http://bit.ly/WzWMPm What might create a climate that contributes to mass murders and single shootings? Could it be that if we educate our youth they might stop killing each other and themselves?
Education is the foundation of hope and the lifeblood of opportunity.
Chicago Public Schools says of itself “It establishes policies, standards, goals and initiatives to ensure accountability and provide a high quality, world-class education for the 21st century that prepares our students for success in college, work and life.” In practice, however, CPS has and is diligently acting in ways that destroys the students and educators schools in the black and brown communities. More than 75 ,000 Children have been relocated; 101 schools closed, and thousands of black and brown teachers fired.
Now we have a tsunami of epic proportions. This week it was announced that 54 more schools will close, creating 11 more co-locations and 6 turnarounds all in the same geographic areas. Look at the map of the school closings http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/school_utilization/ Compare it to the maps of youth violence in http://bit.ly/WzWMPm. Evaluate these maps and the overlay of the two and you have the map of school to prison pipeline, the map of dropouts, and the map of youth unemployment. All are near identical.
The act to close, co-locate and turnaround 71 community schools is the act of human beings destroying other human beings. This is the disaster I ask you to contemplate.
Ponder another parallel if you please. Have you noticed that unlike in the Vietnam years, we do not see the flag draped corpse of soldiers returning home from war, the children burning from napalm. It is not that wars have ended worldwide; it is just easier to avoid looking at the pain we propagate. On television screens in American homes, we do not see what broadcaster believe will hurt our eyes Oh, images are shown…of happy school children and stories that pass for success in our schools.
Shootings, hundreds and thousands each year? These occur on city streets. These are the catastrophes we do not see, but our children do. These are the devastation Moms and Dads, Aunts, Uncles, siblings and Guardians live with daily. Children’s lives are torn asunder …
That does not mean they are not there. Open your eyes look at what we have wrought and say no more. No more; not in my name!!!!!
Join us on March 27th in Chicago if you can http://www.ctunet.com/events/stop-school-closings-2013
Please call Chicago Alderman http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/other/dataset/wards.html and
Illinois State Senate Education committee members: Ask them to stop the impending disaster by enacting an immediate meaningful and enforceable moratorium on school closings.
Chairperson William Delgado 217-782-5652, Vice Chair Kimberly Lightford, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant 217-782-0052, Daniel Biss 217-782-2119, Bill Cunningham 217-782-5145, Iris Martinez 217-782-8191, Julie Morrison 217-782-3650, Michael Noland 217-782-7746, Steve Stadelman 217-782-8022, David Luechtefeld 217-782-8137, Jason Barickman 217-782-6597, Karen McConnaughly 217-782-1977, Sue Rezin 217-782-3840 and Chapin Rose 217-782-2960
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Testimony from Kate Shaw Executive Director of Research for Action along with their issue brief on schools closings, detailing the impacts of school closings that district officials often neglect to take into account:
1) On the short-term financial savings, district officials often neglect to account for transition cost, maintaining and selling properties, etc which cut into the savings and sometimes come at a cost to the district.
2) Savings from school closures come primarily from large-scale cuts in faculty not from not having to heat “half-empty buildings. ”
3) The most important is that there are short-term negative impacts on students’ academic achievement, unless they are put in higher performing schools which is rarely the case.
Additionally students often feel a sense of neglect while districts fail to prepare the receiving school for the influx on new students.
Testimony: http://bit.ly/13yICRV
Issue Brief on Schools Closings: http://bit.ly/13CAUuN
You ask, “can we stop it”, not until we, the people, vote out the megalomaniacs, corporate hacks and take back our country. We the people, not we the corporations, we the special interests, or we the purchased politicians. In NYC we have a mayor who disregarded the will of the people and Chicago the same and this is all over the states, it is not about Americans, but the politicians and their bankrollers.
This may be totally off the topic, but- has there been any stand or comments made by Oprah Winfrey in all of this? This is happening right in her back yard. Is this not something she has an interest in?
I am simply curious- not meaning to slight her, as I am a long time supporter of her and her causes.
Oy, Oprah–not happening. Search back in this blog for pieces relating to her support for/admiration of Michele Rhee. One show
(which I actually & accidentally saw in New Jersey–it was on at our hotel!) featured Mark Zuckerberg, Cory Booker & Chris Christie,
as Zuckerberg was pledging $$$ to the city of Newark for the schools.
I attempted to comment on Diane’s post about the Occupy DOE 2.0 event scheduled for April 4-7, 2013. I have been promoting this event and had planned on going until I looked at the 4 days of scheduled speakers and to my shock and disappointed-awe, noticed that not one speaker is scheduled to address our nation’s 6 million + students that are languishing in un-special education programs and receiving eroding services. This is egregious, albeit why should I have expected any diferent. This movement to restore globally-enviable public education has completely ignored students with disabilities. I emailed and left a voice mail for Peggy Robinson. I have received no response. I have heard that there will be opportunities at an open mike. Dare I spend $1500.00 in airfare, hotel and expenses to take a chance on an open mike when this effort has insultingly ignored childen with disabilities? I have better places to spend my time,money and efforts than to wait for the crumbs tossed by this group. It is infuriatingly disheartening to fight with everythiing that I am and have, for globally enviable public education when children with disabilities are so blatantly ignored. So I will continue my ight for America and our state and federal legislators and bureaucrats to find their passion and restore decades-lost passion for “public education.” I will simply do it outside the confines of those that would ignore my child and the tens of millions that I have and will continue to fight for.
Marcie,
That is a surprising comment. How do you know what all the speakers will or will not say at Occupy the DOE? The only way to fight the tsunami of testing and privatization is together. Go it alone if you choose but no one will hear you.
I am confused; is this movement not one for ALL of public education? In my understanding, this movement encompasses ALL students of ALL social standing, ALL races, ALL abilities. The movement is focusing on teacher evaluations, standardized testing and core standards; ALL of which can be appropriate, but in their current proposals and implementations are destroying and public educational reform that could possibly be good for communities, teachers or students.
Am I wrong?
sorry- *any* public educational reform.
I thought that Katie Osgood–author of “Ms. Katie’s Ramblings” & a Chicago SpEd Teacher, is speaking. Don’t worry, Beth, w/Ms. Katie at the podium. Her voice is loud & strong. And…there are a number of us who are organizing in this area–we belong to sp.ed. organizations (sadly, the largest of which continues to have these mealy-mouthed “dialogues” {I would classify them as monologues–talking to an impervious wall} w/Duncan) that we are PUSHING to take an advocacy role. (We have an extremely strong & courageous leader in Illinois.) Beth, go see Ms. Katie!
I’m sorry–my comments were meant for Marcie. Marcie, Katie Osgood (sped. teacher & advocate) will be speaking April 5th at 1:00 PM. I describe her at length, below. Also, a vital bottom line here is that people participate in the march. As the CTU has shown us, NUMBERS matter!
I just got off the phone with Marcie – who is a passionate advocate for public education and who will be doing a break out session over one of our lunch breaks in DC. We are all in this together as Diane said, and I think at times our passion can turn to frustration when we are not heard. Rest assured that we have many speakers talking about special education and second language learners and indeed ALL children who are suffering at the hands of corporate education reform. In solidarity to everyone. I hope to meet all of you in DC in ten days. Thank you Diane for giving us this forum to connect.
Chicago has the best chance of any school district in the U.S as you have Karen Lewis as the head of CTU. You have in Chicago the only teachers union not bought and sold.
>Education is the foundation of hope and the lifeblood of opportunity.
This sounds too much like Obama’s idea that we get more jobs by educating better. Jobs and education are two different issues. Education may be one foundation of hope and opportunity, but those also depend upon knowing there is work out there that you can do and get paid decently for. A respectful, inspiring education is vital for young people. And jobs are vital as they grow into adults.