Chicago Sun-Times ignores facts, attacks parent protests and PURE
Readers of the Chicago Sun-Times were surprised to read a major editorial in the print editions of the newspaper criticizing the leaders of the Hurley school protests and personally attacking PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education) and PURE’s director Julie Woestehoff.
The unusual stance taken by the city’s second largest (circulation) daily newspaper surprised some, but not all, observers of Chicago’s dwindling media independence. Despite the fact that both research and litigation show that year-round schools don’t help children (see, for example, “The year-round mess” on the Substance website at November 2005), the Sun-Times chose to quote CPS officials that year-round schools were a solution to overcrowding.
