CAN TV to present Labor Beat reports on the school closing and 'turnaround' hearings all weekend
Due to technical cablecasting problems at beginning of Labor Beat's regularly scheduled Thursday (February 16) and Friday (February 17) showings, CAN TV has graciously arranged a special scheduling of our new show about the phony hearings on school actions organized by CPS. This special scheduling will be useful in leading up to this Wednesday's final formal decision about the school actions by CPS. With the release of the agenda for the Febraury 22, 2012 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, the Board has made it clear that the "Hit List" was indeed a Hit List and that the hearings were, as critics said, Show Trials.
Chicago Teachers Union financial secretary Kristine Mayle (front, left) and vice president Jesse Sharkey take part in the march at Marquette Elementary School on Martin Luther King Day, January 16, 2012. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt.The description of the show, and scheduling details, are below. PLEASE NOTE THAT IT WILL BE ON CAN TV CHANNEL 21 (Not our regular channel).
Shills and Cruel Jokes, CPS Hearings on School Actions
Chicago - CAN TV cable tv Channel 21:
Sat., Feb. 18, 8:30 am
Sun., Feb. 19, 8:30 am
Mon., Feb. 20, 11:30 am
Tues, Feb. 21, 11:30 am
Wed, Feb. 22, 11:30 am
Marquette teachers and students ask the key question about turnarounds during the Martin Luther King Day march against turnarounds starting at Marquette Elementary School on January 16, 2012. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt.During January and February of 2012 the Chicago Public Schools, pressured by recent state law to do so, held open hearings on the question of whether to close or turn-around targeted schools in minority and low-income areas of the city. But, as George Schmidt (Substancenews.net) points out, "the hearings are basically show trials...in a way [they] are a cruel joke played upon the people from the community." Adding to the fact that CPS has already secretly made their decisions before the 'hearings', another underhanded scheme has been exposed.
Paid 'protesters' were bussed in to support the school board's view that the schools should be closed or turned around. The rent-a-protester ploy was originally unearthed by Substancenews.net in September of 2011, and then in January, 2012 it was picked up by Chicago's corporate media, as the scandal could no longer be ignored. Labor Beat presents dramatic footage exposing the rent-a-protesters, along with scenes from the hearings and demonstrations defending public education. Interviews and speeches include: George Schmidt, reporter for Substancenews.net; Karen Lewis, President of Chicago Teachers Union; Marcy Hardaloupas, teacher at Marquette School; Chris Beauford, Generation Y/Southwest Youth Collaborative Center for Change; Katrina Richard, teacher at Dyett H.S.; Rico Gutstein, Prof. in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Illinois-Chicago; Martin Ritter, organizer, Chicago Teachers Union; Mark Carter, community activist. Length - 26:15
