March 8 'People’s Board Meeting' a success!... March 27 protest in Daley Plaza a major focus as building a 'Citywide Fight Back' against all school closings is underway... 'No Schools Closed!' demanded by overflow crowd in Hyde Park Unitarian Church...
More than 400 people filled the classic Hyde Park Unitarian Church to overflowing on the night of March 8, 2013, as the "Peoples Board of Education" meeting, hosted by a panoply of community organizations, took place. The "Peoples Board" was convened in opposition to the Rich Peoples Board of Education appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on behalf of his plutocratic class. The Peoples Board movement is growing as tens of thousands of people across Chicago are preparing to stop any school closings this year. The Peoples Board meeting took place following the end of hearings on a massive number of school closings demanded by Mayor Emanuel. More than 25,000 teacher, parents, and children had turned out during the hearings to oppose the closings, counter the claim that CPS has a massive number of "underutilized" schools, and demand instead and end to the closings which have beset the city for 13 years and are scheduled to continue under the Board appointed less than two years ago by Emanuel.
The Chicago parents, teachers and public school supporters took a big step forward on Friday March 8. From around the city a meeting of 400 people came together and held a “People’s Board” meeting. Those at the meeting came from the Northside, Southside and Westside, representing over 25 groups. The groups included Action Now, Teachers for Social Justice, Parents 4 Teachers, Logan Square, Albany Park, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, the Pilsen Alliance, Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign, Caucus Of Rank & File Educators (CORE), Chicago Teachers Union, People for Community Recovery, Blocks Together, SEIU Local 1, SEIU Local 73, Stand Up Chicago and many more listed on the official flyer.
They came together to defend public education from the privatization and union busting mayor, Rahm Emanuel and to continue to insist that the public record be straightened out. Emanuel and his appointed school officials have been claiming that the decision to close schools has been "put off", when in fact it has been Chicago policy for most of the 21st Century under his predecessor Mayor Richard M. Daley and under four of the last five "Chief Executive Officers" to run Chicago's schools (all appointed by the mayor).
Speakers at the Peoples Board noted again that Emanuel appoints the seven members of the Chicago Board of Education, following a state law passed when Republicans controlled both houses of the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield and the Governor's office -- the Amendatory Act of 1995, which began "mayoral control" over Chicago's schools.
Rico Gutstine of Teachers for Social Justice gave a major speech that included demands from parents for quality schools in every neighborhood; where children can walk to school safely. He called the education struggle an international human rights issue. But, big business sees it as a $1.6 trillion dollar national bonanza -- if they can take over public education money. Gutstein noted that the privatization drive and the claims behind it are not limited to Chicago.
Mr. Gustine ended with the four main demands of the parents, teachers and community. After each demand the audience repeated the demand with loud applause.
1.) No School Closings
2.) No Charter Expansion
3.) Yes to an elected Representative School Board
4.) Yes to a grassroots-led, community-based transformation process
During the main part of the meeting there were other speeches from the Chicago Teachers Union's Recording Secretary Michael Brunson; Unite-Here's Linda Green; Pilsen-Alliance Nelson Sosa; Debbie Parker, and Second Ward Alderman Robert Fioretti. The main speakers all encouraged a mass protest at Daley Plaza March 27th 4:PM.
After these brief but important speeches, the three main sections of Chicago neighborhoods under attack, westside, southside and southwest sides all went into breakout meetings to discuss activities and strategies for a fight back.
In the West Side meeting I attended, school activists said they are no longer begging, but now demand, “no schools closed.” Everyone liked the idea to flyer and call out the neighborhoods around hit list schools. “Make everyone aware” we need our neighborhood schools open. Another comment was even if your school is not on the closing, turnaround hit list everyone will be affected. The receiving schools will be disrupted. Co-sharing with a charter school will be disruptive.
To many parents it seems that the mayor’s CPS plan is to close and privatize as many schools as possible as quickly as he can get away with it. The city wide protest March 27 to stop school closing will be a big moment in the long struggle to defend public education in Chicago. Some observers also noted that at its February 27 meeting, the Chicago Board of Education voted to "turn March into April." The Chicago Board of Education's official calendar lists March 27 as the date of the monthly meeting of the Board for March. In the fact of the planned protests downtown, the Board voted to hold its March meeting in April. The vote came without discussion or debate, and without public comment except from the Chicago Teachers Union and in Substance.
Part of the crowd at the Peoples Board meeting on March 8, 2013 at Chicago's First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park. Substance photo by David Vance.Observers noted that as usual the top officials of Chicago Public Schools were not present, as usual not listening to the voice of parents, teachers, and the majority in the community. But not one top officials of the Chicago Public Schools today has roots in the community, or any part of the history that was spread across the room at the "Peoples Board." Barbara Byrd Bennett one year ago was working to destroy the Detroit public schools. Her "Chief Innovations and Incubation Officer" Jack Esley was doing something in Memphis. The "Chief Transformation Officer" Todd Babbitz was a year ago doing some work for corporate consultants. And so it went. The Emanuel administration has no interest in putting people in charge of the city's public schools who actually know anything about the city's public schools. Since his inauguration in May 2011, he has done the opposite, beginning with Jean Claude Brizard, his first choice as "CEO", from Rochester.
Chicago Teachers Union Recording Secretary Michael Brunsonwas one of the speakers at the March 8 Peoples Board meeting. Substance photo by David Vance.Speakers included...
There was additional anger at the meeting because earlier in the day the press had reported the latest provocative statements from Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Ignoring the fact, obvious and known to everyone in the room, that Chicago had closed more than 100 public schools since Arne Duncan became "Chief Executive Officer" of CPS in July 2001, Emanuel was telling the press that the decision to close the schools had to be bravely done by his administration because it had been "put off" for "too long." Reporters, such as the Sun-Times City Hall reporter, simply repeat Emanuel's words without any checking of the facts. Any of a hundred people at the Unitarian Church could have corrected Emanuel's words, but were never called.
Observers circulated the claims made by Emanuel, including the following from the Sun-Times:
"School closings hardest on African-Americans because of population shifts, mayor says, BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com March 7, 2013... Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces the opening of the City Hall Small Business Center and streamlining the permit and licensing reviews. Nine out of 10 Chicago Public School students potentially impacted by school closings are African-American because their neighborhoods suffered population losses, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday. One day after a community activist branded the disproportionate impact on black students a “lawsuit waiting to happen,” Emanuel renewed his commitment to forge ahead with a politically explosive decision that Chicago has avoided for a decade.
