BOARDWATCH APRIL 2011: 'Surreptitious turnaround' is turnaround nonetheless... Chicago Teachers Union officer accuses Board of lying about South Shore High School
[Editor's Note: Substance will continue to feature our coverage of the meetings of the Chicago Board of Education based on the notes of our own reporters, but continuing this month we are also presenting the words of the men, women, and children who speak at the Board meetings as those people provide them to us following the meeting. These materials will be published here for our readers based on the version of the prepared remarks that the people provide to us. The following is the testimony of Chicago Teachers Union Recording Secretary Michael Brunson from the April 27, 2011 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education].
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave..." Chicago Teachers Union recording secretary Michael Brunson quoted, as he reminded the Board of Education of the series of lies told about the South Shore High School replacement during the past several years. Now that it is clear that the Board refuses to replace South Shore with the new school, but instead is getting rid of former students and teachers, effectively creating a "turnaround", the CTU officer challenged the Board to stop lying. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Speech by Michael E. Brunson, Recording Secretary of the Chicago Teachers Union, to the Chicago Board of Education, Wednesday April 27, 2011.
“I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as it was said to me” (Sir Walter Scott)
I have in my hand two documents from the Public Building Commission of Chicago. One is from 2008, the other from 2009. Both of them refer to South Shore High School. Both of them refer to it as South Shore “Replacement” High School. That was the original intent when the new high school at South Shore was built. I present them as an exhibit.
If I replace my house, do you think I should dump my wife, my two kids, and my pets; get myself a new wife, new family, new pets and move into that new house? I can’t do that. That would be morally repugnant, ethically unsound, and just plain wrong.
Yet back in January the students from the South Shore High small schools came down to this very Board, in this very room …
“Just at the age 'twixt child and youth, when thought is speech, and speech is truth”
… and they spoke from their hearts … they begged you, begged you, to allow them go to their brand new “replacement” school. And in order to keep those students, and their teachers, and who knows who else from going to that brand new “replacement” school, CPS went through all kinds of twisted logic, and policy contortions to deny them that right. And created a mess!
Now, I hear the new school at South Shore is working on the third principal since January [2011], there is as yet no teaching staff, and the school has not fully opened. There are only a select group of advanced placement students walking from the old buildings into that new building for one or two periods a day to make it appear as though the building is occupied.
“O what a tangle web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
So here’s my issue: you are going to put an International Baccalaureate program in South Shore International High School, and to facilitate this, you are going to put an International Baccalaureate program in one of the feeder schools: Bouchet. I come not simply to criticize, but to bring you a simple solution, because there are a million ways to do wrong and one way to do right. Offer the teachers at both those schools an opportunity not only to take the IB preparation courses they need in order to teach in that new environment, but to also transition into that brand new “replacement” school at South Shore and teach that IB curriculum. Do the same thing at Bouchet.
Reconstitution, turn-around , phase-out , restart , change of focus , change of program: It all amounts to the same thing, students losing out, and veteran teachers losing their jobs. Students that need stability, experience, skill, and most of all genuine concern get abandoned, feel betrayed, and become bitter. Teachers who have devoted a great deal of their time and lives to working with these students are cast aside and put in the limbo of a “displacement pool”.
I call this a “surreptitious” turnaround. But it’s a turnaround nonetheless. When were these teachers evaluated and found unfit to teach? Prove to me this is not a surreptitious turnaround. Make a show of good faith! I want to know if this board, as a last act of good faith, and good will, is willing to make an effort to maintain and utilize the skills and relationships of the experienced teachers at those schools?
Thank you. Now I anxiously await your reply to my request.
By: Theresa D. Daniels
Board of Ed Mtg Speeches
The transcript is great, but here on the web page, could it be a video? Michael Brunson's well-crafted speech was even more dynamic in the performance of it.