Chicago Teachers Union responds to media reports that CPS will put 50 schools on the 2013 Hit List
Within a few hours of the release of a statement from the Chicago Sun-Times, based on "insider" sources, that Chicago Public Schools will release a "Hit List" of around 50 of the city's real public schools to be closed this school year, the Chicago Teachers Union responded with the following statement. As of dawn on March 21, 2013, Chicago schools "Chief Executive Officer" Barbara Byrd Bennett had not released any list. The most recent list of so-called "underutilized" schools was put out by CPS (and reported here at Substance) on February 13, 2013. Since then, all has been speculation -- and anger from communities across Chicago that hundreds of schools have been placed under such a major cloud for most of the 2012 - 2013 school year.
Current Chicago Public Schools "Chief Executive Officer" Barbara Byrd Bennett (above during the December 2012 Board of Education meeting) has been in Chicago for just one year. In April 2012, she was hired by Chicago from Detroit to be "Chief Education Officer" in Chicago. By August 2012, she was seated at the bargaining table during the negotiations that resulted in the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012 (instead of the then- CEO Jean-Claude Brizard). By October 2012, she had pushed out Brizard as CEO and proclaimed that because she was new to the job, CPS as a corporate entity couldn't follow the law and develop a list of schools to close by December 1, 2012 and a 10-year facilities plan by January 2013. Since then, her administration, backed by Chicago's corporate news entititues and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has evaded every real education issue facing Chicago's real public schools and made the central reality of the 2012 - 2013 school year their manufactured crisis, the "underutilization crisis." Careful readers of the Emanuel script have been noting that during the 2011 - 2012 school year, Jean Claude Brizard had been trying to execute the "Longer School Day" script, instead of dealing with the real issues confronting a school system that doesn't have libraries in more than 160 schools. Byrd Bennet's brief term at CPS indicates that the Emanuel administration will be able to manipulate the public discussion away from the needs of the city's school children in the city's public schools and to some "issue" that becomes the headline grabber for each school year. Substance photo by David Vance. CTU PRESS RELEASE MARCH 20, 2013 BELOW HERE:
CTU President Karen Lewis says school closings put kids' safety and academics at risk, are expensive and destabilizes neighborhoods
CHICAGO -Moments ago, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis responded angrily to a Chicago Sun-Times report that Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett (CPS) will target 50 or more neighborhood schools for closure and other school actions. Though she issued this statement, the CTU will respond directly after the official announcement is made.
A mass protest and rally is planned for Wednesday, March 27 at 4 p.m. at Daley Plaza.
"This city cannot destroy that many schools. It will send our district into chaos," Lewis said. "These actions will put our students safety and academics at risk and will further destabilize our neighborhoods.
"We do not have a utilization crisis," she continued. "What we have is a credibility crisis. "CPS continues to peddle half-truths, lies and misinformation in order to justify its campaign to wipe out our schools and carry out this corporate-driven school reform nonsense. However, people are prepared to put their bodies on the line in protest of these unjust policies. We don't want any schools closed and we intend to illustrate our concerns through nonviolent direct action.
"For the past several weeks there has been a resounding cry against school actions from parents, students, educators and community stakeholders. The Mayor and the CEO have ignored these petitions for justice. Instead, they continue to peddle an "underutilization myth" and "billion dollar deficit lie" as justification for their actions. When research and the facts prove them wrong they simply reconfigure their talking points in order to further this sham and keep us playing their school reform game. Teachers will continue to oppose any attempt by this school district to destroy our learning centers and disrupt the lives of our students and their parents.
"Enough with the lies — school closings will not save money and taxpayers will not see costs benefits in two years," she continued. "Vibrant school communities quickly transform into abandon buildings, neighborhood eyesores and public safety hazards. The Mayor has denied saying 25 percent of our students will 'never be anything,' 'will never amount to anything,' and that's why he won't put "any resources behind them.' Yet, look at the policies his administration inflicts upon our families and look at where these school actions are taken place. This city has abandoned affordable housing, abandoned public safety and now it is abandoning our schools. We must do everything we can stand in the vanguard for our children. One school closed is one too many."
