More than 150 march on Martin Luther King Day against Herzl school 'turnaround'
At least 150 supporters of Herzl school spent their Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on January 16, 2012, protesting the proposed turnaround of Herzl Elementary School on Chicago's West Side. They assembled at Dvorak Elementary School and marched down 16th St, then down Avers to assemble at Herzl for a rally.
Several groups of young and older men lined 16th St. as protesters progressed. The marchers passed out flyers to those along the route who emerged from their houses. As the marchers continued, they were cheered by observers while chanting, “We’re fired up! We won’t take it anymore!”
Part of the crowd protesting the plan to do a so-called "turnaround" at Herzl Elementary School on January 16, 2012. Substance photo by Jean Schwab.Among the speakers at Herzl was Jesse Sharkey, Vice President of the Chicago Teachers Union. He told about a student at Marquette that was shot a few weeks ago near the school and how people earlier in the day had laid a wreath of roses at the site of the killing.
“There are people who come to these schools every day — teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, lunchroom and security — come to work everyday because they care," Sharkey thundered. "CPS will deny these schools needed resources. These resources would help our schools fight poverty and violence.”
Ms. Nelson a teacher at nearby William Penn Elementary, said that education should be provided for all students. Funding for education should not be used to balance the city’s budget. We should work for the common good so it will be a win -win situation.
Ms. Lewis, a retired teacher, spoke about organizing parents and students to take these issues to Rahm Emanuel. Lewis stated that we needed to “march on City Hall. Rahm doesn’t care about our children; his children are at the University of Chicago. He does not care about our children. Let’s take it down town. This is a war. Let’s march on City Hall.“
Among the marchers was Portia Ball who is a retired paraprofessional who worked at the Humboldt Child Parent Center. Ball stated that she is fighting for the ones (students)” that may be walking down the street and knock me on the head. I want the students to stay in school.”
Ball stated that she has a son who is an attorney and another who is a police officer. They graduated from the CPS and went to college and did well. Ball wants to keep Herzl open as a neighborhood school with the resources needed to make it successful.
