The March 27, 2013 Daley Plaza Rally -- A Tale of Two Unions (Chicago and New York)
As a New York City public school teacher visiting family in Chicago over the spring break, I attended Wednesday’s (March 27, 2013) rally in Daley Plaza. More than 5,000 people came on a week’s notice to protest Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close 54 schools -- 13 percent of Chicago Public Schools -- by the end of the current school year.
Part of the crowd from the March 27 Chicago march against school closings as the march turned down LaSalle St under the window of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Substance photo by Sean Ahern.If Emmanuel has his way, 30,000 k-8 students, 90% of whom are Black, will be uprooted and forced to travel longer distances to other struggling schools. More than 1,000 educators, custodians and food service staff will face layoffs come September. Black teachers already suffered a disproportionate share of the layoffs from past closings and turnarounds and will be similarly impacted if this latest assault is not stopped. According to CTU organizer Brandon Johnson, in 2000 41% of Chicago teachers were Black; by 2012 the percentage of Black teachers working in Chicago public schools had dropped to 25%.
CTU President Karen Lewis spoke at the Daley Plaza protest saying that the closing of schools with predominantly African American students was racist. She said that every child should show up at their real school in September and that “Its not over until you say its over.” In answer to questions from the media Lewis said that direct action was the only thing the people could control and make themselves heard. She reiterated her call for an elected school board.
We in NYC are familiar with the domino effect of school closures which shuffle around Black and Latino students and impact Black and Latino educators disproportionately. What has yet to emerge in NYC is an activist core and a grassroots movement that makes common cause with those hardest hit. To strike the corporate education reformers at their weakest link is to aim at the profoundly white supremacist effect of their “reforms.”
In Chicago the Teachers Union and community leaders call for an elected school board and an end to mayoral control. In NYC the Unity Caucus which has held power for over 50 years supports mayoral control.
By: Kati Gilson
School closings and pre-K children
Pre-K students will also be affected. Kids could be walking up to 20 blocks to a new school - about 2 miles. Tell me how a 3 year old is going to make it that distance twice a day.