BREAKING: Chicago Students Occupy Symphony Center to Protest Rauner’s Budget Cuts and Inaction

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1. Laura says:

   April 3, 2016 at 12:59 am

   So PROUD of Chicago students!!! And CPS teachers for striking yesterday.

   It is appalling that CSU and NEIU are facing being shut down. There are not enough schools that serve as wide a range of students as they do. I will speak from my own personal experience with NEIU. It is a gem of a school, and it is one of the best places in the city to get a 4-year degree at an affordable cost. The professors are excellent, the grounds are beautiful and unpretentious. The university has outstanding programs and is highly respected. Not only does NEIU provide an exceptional education for its students, but it is a pillar of the community in terms of what it provides for professional continuing education and for culture. It has a fantastic arts program with a highly regarded dance, visual arts, and music program. It always felt to me like an oasis in the middle of the city.

   One of my former students from CPS with whom I still correspond finally started her junior year at NEIU after spending her first two years of college at two different community colleges while working full-time and studying full-time. She is a 1st generation college student with a difficult history of having had to confront some tough challenges in her young life. Her story is, sadly, not unique in that way. She has worked so hard to get to where she is today, and she has so much potential.

   In her last e-mail to me, she expressed stress and panic about what will happen when NEIU closes. She cannot afford the other universities in the Chicago area. She has worked hard to make connections with students and professors at NEIU and to integrate herself into the community there. She applied for and was awarded an extremely prestigious scholarship through the university that will support her in preparing to apply for graduate schools and will allow her research opportunities as an undergraduate in her field.

   For a while, it seemed like things were finally working out for her, like she had finally found her place where her hard work and intelligence were recognized and supported. But now what?

   Her story is only one student’s story. Every single student in these universities as well as every student whose hopes and aspirations included these excellent universities is facing a similar situation of uncertainty and disillusion.

   There is no other word for what Rauner and Rahm have done to Chicago’s schools but shameful.

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2. 2old2teach says:

   April 3, 2016 at 12:32 pm

   Bruce Rauner will be remembered for turning Illinois into its own little third world country. Investing in business is not the same as investing in community.

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3. Val says:

   April 3, 2016 at 8:57 pm

   So proud of these kids! Everyone needs to realize, these are the people that will be taking care of us in our old age, marrying our own kids, making world decisions, and PAYING TAXES, VOTING, etc. it is a scary time.

   Reply
4. retiredbutmissthekids says:

   April 3, 2016 at 11:29 pm

   A little off-thread, but as long as we are talking about Chicago, just wanted to make you aware of this article, “C.O.R.E. Votes to Endorse Bernie Sanders…Caucus Leading the Chicago Teachers Union Rejects Earlier Clinton ‘Endorsement’ by the American Federation of Teachers Leadership.” I’d mentioned, earlier, that C.O.R.E. DID, indeed, endorse Sanders (the C.T.U. leadership–Karen Lewis, Jesse Sharkey, etc., ARE part of C.O.R.E. {the Caucus of Rank-&-File Educators}, & C.O.R.E. members were the ones who slated Karen, Jesse, et.al. for President, V.P., etc.). There are certainly members of CTU who are not also C.O.R.E. members, but C.O.R.E. did, indeed, endorse Sander–so it is significant. (I’d commented on this earlier, & Diane replied that CTU didn’t endorse Sanders–true, but their C.O.R.E., leadership DID. Here’s the link:
   http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=6143
   If, for some reason, that doesn’t work, simply Google Substance News–the article is dated in February, 2016 (the 22nd, I think), & it’s by George Schmidt.

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