Holding a sign and wearing purple tee shirts that read “One Gallistel, Not Three”, more than 600 students, teachers, parents, and community supporters nearly filled the auditorium at Morgan Park High School on May 22, 2008. The Gallistel Elementary School contingent arrived by car and in 13 buses, making them the largest contingent to testify during the six-day hearings on the Board of Education’s Capital Development program in May. Standing at the podium on the right (above) and wearing his Gallistel tee shirt is Alderman John Pope (10th Ward) who spoke about the need for a new Gallistel school to consolidate the present three-school reality. Gallistel supporters filled most of the main floor of the large auditorium and the front row of the balcony. Whether Gallistel ever gets relief from its problems is another question, one not answered by the officials who hosted the hearings. Since Arne Duncan became CEO of the Chicago Public Schools in July 2001, schools like Gallistel, which proudly proclaim that they are public schools, have been short changed in all capital expenses, while school improvement and construction budgets are manipulated to support privatization schemes and other programs promoted by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Substance photo by George N, Schmidt.
