Archives for category: Chicago

Why Cities Should Not Close Schools

April 1, 2013 //

Jack Hassard explains here that public schools are part of the fabric of their communities. Closing them tears apart the fabric of their lives. It harms children, families, and communities. It does not save money.

He cites the advocacy of Edward Johnson in Atlanta, a follower of W. Edwards Deming, who has diligently explained the folly of closing schools based on some arbitrary goal set by people who are not educators.

As Hassard writes, “As Deming (1994a) points out, beware of common sense when we think about such issues as ranking children by grades, ranking schools and teachers by test scores, and rewards and punishments. Deming believes that grades should be abolished, and that the ranking of people and schools should not occur. And significant to the issue of school closure, Deming suggests that taking action (such as closing a school today) may produce more problems in the future, and that a better remedy would be investigate why children in poor neighborhoods are not doing well on state mandated tests, and then do something about it.”

Categories Chicago, Closing schools, Education Industry, New York City, Parents, Philadelphia, Privatization

What Do Katrina, Camden, and Chicago Have in Common?

By dianeravitch

March 30, 2013 //

This just arrived in the morning email

It is a question for a multiple-choice test.

Write your own.

Here goes:

I am part of a small group of educators (hoping to grow teacher and parent awareness – via our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NJ-Educators-United-to-Protect-Public-Education/350194368424508 – where – among other articles – we have been transcribing and posting YouTube “homerun” statements that you have made via speaking venues).

Anyway, here are my simple thoughts and a sample standardized question:
————————————————————-
Does history repeat itself? You bet!

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/01/duncan-katrina-was-the-best-thing-for-new-orleans-schools/
http://uftelections2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/mike-fiorillo-on-duncans-katrina.html

“The following paragraphs are in response to a post at GothamSchools after Sect’y of Education Arne Duncan remarked that ___________ was the “best thing” for the __________ school.

‘This despicable statement by Duncan represents a common motif among Democrats and Republicans alike, and validates Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine thesis, namely, that ruling elites create or opportunistically use crises to implement policies that would otherwise be blocked. In the case of New Orleans, it’s the wholesale privatization of the school system, with the schools being turned over to large charter school chains…Where were these people when the urban schools were suffering from decades of neglect and under-investment? They certainly weren’t teaching in them, or sending their children to them. Why are they only now proclaiming their “passion” for education, which is based solely on their lust to dominate and control them, driven by an agenda that, PR rhetoric aside, is about their will to power and profit?’”

Proposed Standardized Test Question: Take out the words “Katrina” and “New Orleans” from the above excerpt and fill in the blank:

a.) State Takeover; Camden
b.) School Closings; Chicago
c.) All of the above

While I am a believer in optimism in the face of difficulty, the reformers have taken this to a new, unholy level:

I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.
— John D. Rockefeller

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Closing schools, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, New Orleans, Privatization

Photos from Chicago Protests

By dianeravitch

March 28, 2013 //

Fred Klonsky has an excellent assortment of photos from the Chicago protest today against school closings.

Parents, students, and teachers will not go quietly.

And they should not.

Categories Chicago

A Voice of Reason in Chicago

By dianeravitch

March 27, 2013 //

Toni Preckwinkle, the president of the Cook County board, deplores the closing of 54 public schools in Chicago. She said it was a terrible idea.

She said:

“You know, schools are community anchors. They’re social centers. They’re part of a community’s identity. And often kids go half a dozen blocks and they’re in different gang territory.

“The closings are going to take place almost entirely within the African-American community, and given the problems we already have with violence, I think it’s very problematic.”

Instead of closing schools, she said, “We ought to invest a lot more in our public schools. You know, feed the kids breakfast, lunch, and dinner; have after-school activities; keep the schools open until nine o’clock in the evenings and on weekends; invest in things like the Boys and Girls Club and the Park District—I mean, everything, basically, to dramatically ramp up the investments in our children.”

Preckwinkle realizes that our values are distorted: People “would rather pay to keep somebody incarcerated than to support music lessons or soccer team memberships or basketball team uniforms for kids in poor neighborhoods.”

Please, someone, introduce this woman to Arne Duncan and Barack Obama. Introduce her to Bill Gates and Eli Broad. Introduce her to Rahm Emanuel. Or how about the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune?

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Privatization

Chicago Principals Told to Spy on Protestors Tomorrow

By dianeravitch

March 26, 2013 //

In Chicago, the corporate reformers who claim to be leading “the civil rights movement of our time” are closing down schools in black communities. How this enhances the civil rights of the children is a mystery known only to the elites.

This is a news bulletin from the Chicago Teachers Union about tomorrow’s protest demonstration:

NEWS RELEASE

March 26, 2013

StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com

Secret Memo: CPS warns principals about possible civil disobedience in response to massive school closings

School officials asked to spy on demonstrators, take note of media

CHICAGO – The day before educators from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) intend to join with parents, students, clergy, community leaders, civil rights activists and the rank-and-file members of SEIU Local 1 and Unite HERE Local 1; the union released a confidential memo sent to the city’s public school principals warning them of potential civil disobedience actions in protest of school closings. Mayor Rahm Emanuel will seek to shutter more than 50 neighborhood schools in the African American community by the end of this school year.

Thousands of parents, students, teachers, paraprofessionals and school clinicians attended various hearings across the city where they presented evidence that their schools were not being “underutilized” and begged for them not to be closed. Despite the outcry, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) chief executive listened instead to a politically-connected, ad-hoc commission she created and has since recommended 61 school actions, including the closings. Should the Board approve, this will be the largest closing of schools in a single school district in the nation’s history.

CPS’s announcement was met with shock, outrage, disbelief and defiance. While many of those impacted have vowed to fight until the end to save their neighborhood school from closure, others plan to rally downtown on Wednesday, March 27th, to illustrate their demand for education justice. People will gather at 4 p.m. at Daley Plaza where they will proceed to City Hall and to Board of Education headquarters.

Preparing for what could be the spark of 21st century Civil Rights Movement in Chicago, the school district recently instructed principals to prepare for the worst. “Be approachable and supportive to feelings of unrest, anxiety or dissatisfaction” the secret memo read. “Observe and report all information regarding possible protestors, locations, dates and times… Is the media present? Which news outlet(s)?”

The CTU obtained the memorandum from a source who has requested anonymity for fear of repercussions. “They’ve asked us to do a lot of things that I’m not happy with, but some of this is going too far,” the person said.

CTU President Karen Lewis, “Why are they asking principals to work as agents of this administration when they are the ones who have created a climate of chaos? Civil disobedience is a direct response to unjust policies and practices. We intend to use whatever nonviolence protest actions we have in this fight for education justice.

“The bottom line is the schools targeted for closure are based on the racial makeup of those schools and their zip codes,” Lewis said. “We will continue to plead our cause, fight in the courts and in the streets for what is right for our students and our communities. They can start with a moratorium on all school actions now.”

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The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by extension, the more than 400,000 students and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest local union in Illinois. For more information please visit CTU’s website at http://www.ctunet.com .
SG:oteg-743-tr

Categories Chicago, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers

Did Chicago Tribune and Joyce Foundation Do Push Polling?

By dianeravitch

March 26, 2013 //

Several weeks ago, a Chicago website reported that the Chicago Tribune, the Joyce Foundation, and the University of Chicago were engaging in “push polling.” This is a telephone poll that literally “pushes” the listener in a certain direction, with questions designed to have pre-determined conclusions.

Read the transcript. Do you think this was a push poll?

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching

Researchers and Professors: Sign Petition Against Chicago School Closings

By dianeravitch

March 26, 2013 //

This just in, and don’t forget tomorrow’s big rally at Daley Plaza to protest the closing of more than 50 public schools:

CReATE has a petition that we are asking university researchers and education professors to sign on to. After reading our brief on School Closings (url below), they can go to

createchicago@gmail.com and put SIGN SCHOOL CLOSING PETITION in subject line. In your message, include your name, university affiliation, and an email address where you can be contacted (this will not be included on the petition).

DEADLINE – MONDAY, APRIL 1ST at NOON. The signatures will be brought to a Chicago school closings press conference on April 2nd.

Thank you,
Stephanie Farmer and the school closures working group

JOIN CHICAGO AREA EDUCATION RESEARCHERS TO DEMAND THE CHICAGO BOARD OF EDUCATION REJECT CLOSING 54 SCHOOLS

We, the undersigned, call upon the Chicago Board of Education to reject the closing of 54 schools at their May meeting, and instead, to implement reforms that are guided by solid research and by a vision of public education that offers every child the very best that our city has to offer. We also urge consulting with the professors in CReATE, who bring both scholarly and practical expertise on these issues.

Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE), a network of over 100 professors from numerous Chicago-area universities who specialize in educational research, has reviewed the literature on school closures and conducted an analysis of newly released data to critically assess Chicago Public Schools arguments to justify school closures and to gain a better understanding of what Chicago residents can expect from massive school closures. The history of previous school closures and school actions reveal that closures negatively impact academic performance and create more hardship for communities already suffering from social abandonment. Our findings do not support CPS’ arguments for closing schools and we conclude that school closures will contribute to a separate and unequal educational system in Chicago. To access the research brief, go to:tinyurl.com/cm9l7jd

1. Stephanie Farmer, Roosevelt University
2. Isaura Pulido, Northeastern Illinois University
3. Pamela Konkol, Concordia University Chicago
4. Kate Phillippo, Loyola University
5. David Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago
6. Michael Klonsky, DePaul University
7. William Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago
8. Erica Meiners, Northeastern Illinois University
9. Leslie Bloom, Roosevelt University
10. Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago
11. Sumi Cho, DePaul University
12. Federico Waitoller, University of Illinois at Chicago
13. Crystal Laura, Chicago State University
14. Diane Horwitz, DePaul University
15. Kevin Kumashiro, University of Illinois at Chicago
16. Isabel Nuñez, Concordia University Chicago
17. Horace Hall, DePaul University
18. Amira Proweller, DePaul University
19. Noah W. Sobe, Loyola U

Categories Chicago, Closing schools

Network for Public Education Deplores Mass Closings in Chicago

By dianeravitch

March 25, 2013 //

The Network for Public Education has released a statement condemning the Rahm Emanuel administration for the outrageous school closings in Chicago.

Parents, teachers, administrators, and concerned citizens must speak up and act out against this horrendous and arrogant action by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Categories Chicago, Closing schools, Network for Public Education

Mass Protest Rally in Chicago

By dianeravitch

March 25, 2013 //

The Chicago Teachers Union is planning a mass protest rally on Wednesday. The schools closings in Chicago are the largest in American history. Never has any district closed so many schools at the same time. Only since the passage of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top has the public been told that school closings are “reform.” They are not. They are an abandonment of responsibility by those at the top.

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin
March 25, 2013 312/329-6250
StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com

As Thousands Plan to Rally against School Closings downtown this Wednesday, the Board of Education erects barricades

CHICAGO—Apparently officials at the Board of Education (BOE) are getting the message: The parents, educators and clergy of more than 30,000 Chicago Public School (CPS) students do not want their schools closed.

Today, BOE security began erecting metal barricades around the building as thousands of people plan to rally this Wednesday in protest of CPS’ plan to shutter 50 schools and disrupt 50 others. Some have noted this is the largest school closing campaign in the history of the United States.

CPS officials and the mayor continue to spew confusing propaganda as justification for closing schools. School bureaucrats claim there is a $1 billion deficit while simultaneously promising incentives to 50 or more schools that will serve as receiving campuses for students displaced by school actions.

Using the district’s own financial metrics, these incentives such as new air-conditioning, libraries, counselors and social workers will cost over $700 million.

On Saturday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to confuse the public even further by stating school closures would somehow benefit students academically. While admitting the city has failed its fiduciary responsibly to provide all of its students with an adequate education, the mayor stopped short of acknowledging the huge racial implications of these closures.

Thousands of parents have accused the schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and the mayor of lying about a pretend “underutilization crisis” in order to open more charter operations and privatize public education in the city. Most of the schools targeted for closure are in the African American community.

In the meantime, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) will join with other labor organizations, parent groups, churches and community-based organization in a mass march and rally on Wednesday, March 27 at 4 p.m.

People will gather at Daley Plaza at rush hour before heading to City Hall and BOE headquarters at 121 S. LaSalle Street.

Participants will include CTU Local 1 President Karen Lewis, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff, Unite HERE Local 1 President Henry Tamarin, parents, clergy, students, rank-and-file teachers, paraprofessionals, school clinicians, lunchroom and custodial workers, community activists, and others.

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The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools and, by extension, the students and families they serve. CTU, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, is the third largest teachers local in the country and the largest local union in Illinois. For more information visit CTU’s website at http://www.ctunet.com
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Categories Chicago, Closing schools, Unions