Rumors refuted? Runcie, Alderman Ed Smith, give Marconi and Tilton elementary schools false hope?
On Thursday, March 11, 2010, the Chicago Public Schools Chief Administrative Officer, Robert Runcie, officially took Marconi Arts Magnet School (a Chicago Elementary School) off the list of schools to be consolidated — for the second time in two weeks. In the February 24th Board of Education meeting after word spread through the community that the initial decision had been overturned. Marconi was initially removed from the list of schools to be phased out, consolidated, closed and turned-around. Following hearings on February 3, Chicago Schools Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman announced that Marconi (and, hence, Tilton) had been taken off the list of schools that Huberman had announced on January 19.
Marconi parent Bridgette Stanciel (above, testifying at the February 3 hearin) told Substance that she was pleased when Rob Huberman announced that Marconi had been taken off the Hit List prior to the February 24, 2010 Board of Education meeting. She was one of the parents who organized to protest when Marconi was placed back on the list less than three weeks after the Board supposedly decided not to consolidate the school into 'Tilton' this year. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Then, during the second week of March, people at the schools heard that the reversal of the original plan had been reversed — again.
The original plan, presented in a Power Point by Huberman on January 19 and reiterated at the February 3 hearing, was for neighboring Tilton elementary school to move into Marconi, displacing all of Marconi’s present staff.
Tilton’s move is to be a result of the second year expansion of a contract school into their building. "The Talent Development High School at Tilton" is sponsored by the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Two years ago, Marilyn Stewart, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, went to bat for the Talent Development School, claiming that it would give the union a chance to penetrate the non-union charter/ contract field.
According to Debra Pederson, a first grade teacher at Marconin, “that’s the real story, that the union has supported our replacement.” Kindergarten teacher Taurus Gilmore put even more bluntly, “it’s like we got kicked out by our own union.” Stewart never presented the "Talent Development High School" proposal to the CTU House of Delegates, instead going through the Illinois Federation of Teachers, where she serves as "Secretary Treasurer."
At the March 11 meeting, held at Marconi, Alderman Ed Smith tried to assure the anxious crowd of 100 parents, teachers, students and community activists that the consolidation “is off the agenda permanently.”
However, just as soon as he had spoken, Chicago Public Schools 'Chief Administrative Officer' (CAO) Robert Runcie stated that there will be a “recommendation for a community based taskforce to create options to improve education for our children and figure out a way to bring these two communities together.”
Denise Little, Chief Area Officer of Area 7 was apparently trotted out to bash the teachers at both Tilton at Marconi, claiming they were listed as numbers 21 and 22, respectively out of 24, as the worst schools in her area.
She stated emphatically “we don’t make a decision that’s best for adults, we do what’s best for children.”
However, when Runcie suggested that the community’s concerns about violence because of the two hostile areas being combined from consolidation were overblown, parents exploded. One Marconi mother castigated Runcie, “you don’t even live in our community,”
The promise of a community process appeared disingenuous to most community members as they clamored to speak when the meeting was cut short.
For kindergarten teacher Gilmore, who grew up in the Marconi neighborhood and graduated from the school, the extra resources promised to the new consolidated school made no sense, “how come we can’t just have it?;” a sensible proposal considering that Marconi has “no library [and] no science labs.”
Many teachers at Marconi pointed out that they have had four different administrations in the last four years. Despite the disruption, second grade teacher Chastity Murphy remarked, “It’s working because the scores are going up — but they’re saying it needs to be double digits, but that’s not gonna happen.”
All of the attendees that this reporter spoke with expressed concern that the community process described by CPS sounded like a plan to railroad through the consolidation by the end of the school year. Teacher Debra Pedersen described the likely course of events, “this is what the taskforce will do: plan our demise which will be announced in June.”
By: Karen Lewis
Marconi/Tilton Doublecross
If one listened closely to Runcie, even though the consolidation is "off the table", he said that Tilton teachers would follow their students to Marconi. He also said that if the combined school developed a magnet program that the community approved of, all the teachers would have to reapply for their jobs.
Teacher Basher in chief, CAO Little chided the schools for being 20th and 22nd respectively in Area 7. If there are 24 schools, won't there always be a 20th and 22nd place finisher? We don't know what that means. A point or two could separate the top from the bottom, so what does that mean anyway?
She also said there were good teachers and bad teachers at both schools. So with a constant turnover rate of administration and faculty, how does one ever become a good teacher? According to her logic, good teachers are compliant, frightened teachers. I'm not sure how this will ever help our students in our communities do better, but teachers who don't advocate for themselves will soon be former teachers. But her "NO EXCUSES" rhetoric worn particularly thin. When we these folks get new ideas???
One young man, who graduated from Marconi testified passionately about the animosity that exists between the two neighborhoods. He predicted serious injuries if not death due to decades of hostilities between the two communities.
Runcie made on of the most interesting remarks of the evening when he explained that the community members are responsible for ending the violence in their neighborhoods. When parents asked him how that could happen, he was stoically silent.
So if the consolidation is "off the table", then what was the need for a community task force to work on a plan for the two schools?