A reminder of the Noble charter school legacy as news surfaces of Mike Milkie's "inappropriate contact" with young women
Everyone at a CPS community forum in the spring of 2009 opposed the closing of Gladstone elementary with 300 students. Noble officials crossed the student picket line, including former CEO of Noble, Mike Milkie. After . . .
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George Schmidt on Labor Beat
A Labor Beat playlist contains a collection of videos of George Schmidt at various points in the years-long continuing struggle that he was part of to preserve public education in Chicago and democratize the Chicago . . .
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BOARDWATCH... December 7, 2016 Chicago Board of Education meeting approves revised budget, while hearing from dozens of charter school advocates... who took up half the 'public participation' speaking agenda of the meeting...
Although the main news story from the December 7, 2016 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education is that the Board approved its revised budget and the Chicago Teachers Union contract despite the refusal by . . .
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Anatomy of the Sellout... Charter schools can continue adding students despite claims by CTU officers that the new contract language says they can't!... Contract loopholes will leave at least ten of the city's real public high schools on a new Hit List within 18 months...
A growing number of members of the Chicago Teachers Union are surprised at how dishonest and deceptive the latest CTU mailing is. Between October 22 and October 24, union members received a glossy mailing from . . .
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Dishonest and Deceiving Contract Language...
The Chicago Teachers Union mailing (sent Oct 22, 2016) gives a summary of the 2015 – 2019 Tentative Agreement. In bold headlines it reads, “Congratulations, We Have Come So Far.” There is discussion how dishonest . . .
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UNION WATCH: It is hard for the CTU to move forward after stalling and surrendering for more than a year... Why is the CTU going back to work for the second September without a contract, while hundreds of brothers and sisters are being fired?!...
[Editor's Note: The following analysis by David Vance contains a great deal of information challenging the current official line of the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union. As readers of Substance know, the union's contract . . .
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A reminder of the crime against public education and democracy that took place three years ago... The May 2013 closing of 50 Chicago public schools was not anything Rahm Emanuel is showing 'contrition' about in 2016...
The Chicago Tribune may have decided, for reasons unclear to most people in Chicago, that an interview with Mayor Rahm Emanuel was appropriate, and that the public should be told that Rahm was trying "contrition" . . .
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BOARDWATCH: Bowen HS co-location scheme erased Bowen's name from its own marquee...!
[Editor's Note. The following remarks were prepared for delivery to the Chicago Board of Education's May 25, 2016 meeting by David Vance, who does photography for Substance and Labor Beat and is also an LSC . . .
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Chicago Teachers Union and allies testify on need for Chicago's public schools for more revenue... And progressive revenue solutions...
While the members of the Chicago Board of Education and CPS administrators were preparing for and holding their April 2016 Board meeting, the majority of people of Chicago were represented a few blocks away, testifying, . . .
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WALK INS BY SCHOOL: J.N. Thorp in South Chicago...
J. N. Thorp school Chicago Teachers Union delegate Arnice Moore lead 30 teachers, parents and students in the Wednesday morning, February 17, 2016, on a sidewalk march that began at 7:15 a.m. outside the school, . . .
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Union busting at mendacious Urban Prep now exposed as labor board orders the school to pay back pay to 'fired' teachers...
Urban Prep charter high school in Chicago used to be one of the two favorite locations in town where Mayor Rahm Emanuel would go when he could have a relatively tame group of students smiling . . .
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BOARDWATCH: Chicago Board of Education meeting lets a 'Mic Check' -- chants of 'Make the Bankers Pay!' -- ring out for more than ten minutes without security dragging anyone out...
For more than ten minutes during the January 27 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, the words "Make the bankers pay!" rang out from a dozen different people. Board ofEducation security did not drag . . .
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Charter schools facing increased gang violence as school year escalates... Gang shooting at the 'Baker' campus of Noble charter schools comes weeks after the Noble administration tried to cover up the finding of a gun in a student's locker at the pretentious charter school...
The first TV news reports on November 5, 2015, claimed that a "Bowen High School student" was shot and wounded outside the school, in Bessemer Park. But, reporter Stacey Baca later got the story correct . . .
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Kelly High School Students and Community March to Alderman Ed Burke's Office in massive 'No to Noble Charter Expansion' demonstration... Massive march protests CPS expansion of the 'Noble Network of Charter Schools' on the Southwest Side...
With youthful energy and spirit, hundreds of Kelly High School students led a protest march to 14th Ward office of Alderman Ed Burke. Parents, students and community organizations held the protest Monday, October 26th because . . .
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Students add voices to protests against Board of Eduction's cynical neglect of the city's real public schools... before Board votes to continue expanding charters.... the Board is locking the public out of 'Public Participation' and the Board's supposedly public meetings...
Hundreds of Chicago public school students from across the city added their voices to the protests outside the headquarters of the Chicago Board of Education at 42 W. Madison St. on October 28, 2015, despite . . .
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The tone of Chicago's citizens ranges from anger to outrage... Communities continue to denounce Rahm Emanuel and Chicago's mayor's priorities at second budget hearing, September 2 at the South Shore Cultural Center...
For the second time, a massive show of anger at Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the priorities of his budget(s), the budget hearing at the South Shore Cultural Center on September 2, 2015 took on . . .
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Dyett supporters hold press conference at CPS despite postponement of hearings...
The Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) and the Committee to Revitalize Dyett held a press conference in the CPS lobby on August 10, 2015. Irene from Overton read a statement, a copy of which we . . .
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How and why the Bowen High School local school council voted to reject the Board's budget...
[Editor's Note: Speakers from James H. Bowen High School in South Chicago told the August 26, 2015 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education in no uncertain terms why the community is rejecting the latest . . .
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RAHMWATCH: 'Steelworkers Park' dedication on May 9 had everything Rahm could want -- except actual steelworkers up font...
Chicago's mayor, fresh from his electoral victory, was dedicating an entity called "Steelworkers Park," while anubbing the most powerful steelworkers in the area -- including the woman who had just been elected alderman of the . . .
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Sue Sadlowski Garza declares victory in 10th Ward aldermanic race against Rahm Emanuel's loyalist incumbent John Pope...
Jane Addams Elementary School counselor Sue Sadlowski Garza declared victory with all the votes counted after a long day and night on the evening of April 8, 2015. Garza told supporters she has an 89 . . .
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The Southeast Side's 10th Ward Unites with Sue Garza and Dumps Incumbent Rahm Emanuel lapdog John Pope... Pope refused to concede, but Garza is still ahead after a day of counting the absentee and provisional ballots from the 10th Ward at Langdon Neal's 'Board of Election Commissioners'...
The last thing Rahm Emanuel wants is Sue Sadlowski Garza on the Chicago City Council. But for all his millions of dollars, Rahm Emanuel doesn't live or vote in Chicago's gritty 10th Ward. And despite . . .
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CORRUPTION CPS: SUPES deal was just one of many corrupt actions by the Board of Education as we protested on June 26, 2013... How much did the public know about the SUPES deal at the time of the June 2013 Chicago Board of Education meeting?
Like hundreds of others, I was at the June 26, 2013 Chicago Board of Education meeting where the $20 million SUPES contract was voted on. There was a protest that morning, but we did not . . .
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BOARDWATCH: 'No Remorse' is how parents saw the Board members at the April 22, 2015 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education... Public Tells CPS: 'No Remorse and No Credibility'....Board members tell the public 'Sit down and shut up!' as usual....
�No Remorse� is how Ronald Jackson described the Board of Education on April 22, 2015. Jackson, who had been banned from the Board meetings for several months, had broken through the blacklist and spoke to . . .
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Christian Mitchell's Education forum at Bouchet Elementary School gives the Illinois 'Democratic' State Rep's corporate views on charter schools, corporate 'reform,' and Opt Out...
Christian Mitchell, the 26th District Illinois State Representative, hosted a town hall meeting at Bouchet Elementary School auditorium on April 27, 2015. For me, it was my first time to hear his views on the . . .
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OPT OUT NEWS: Parents want truth not confusion... Protesters at South Shore 'Fine Arts Academy' on March 18 bring the facts about PARCC and Opt Out to the school after disinformation had been provided by school administrators...
Parents received the truth today at South Shore Fine Arts Academy, a Chicago elementary school, on March 18, 2015, as a dozen people showed up at the school to provide teachers, parents, and children with . . .
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The arc of Justice? A look back at a mere four years at the Chicago Board of Education and in Chicago's public schools
The Chicago municipal elections are Feb 24, 2015. Don't we all hope that the "arc of educational justice" is bending away from corporate rule toward democracy? Don't we hope Rahm Emanuel has to face a . . .
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BOARDWATCH: Milkie's frauds at Noble charter schools have been exposed long ago, and still the Board and Rahm push the Milkie myths...
Mayors come and mayors go, but as long as Chicago has a school board appointed by its mayor, fraudulent outfits like the "Noble Network of Charter Schools" will be receiving preferential treatment from the Board . . .
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'Cheerleaders' forgot to bring their weapons?... Carver 'Military Academy' cheerleaders dress (and cheer?) for war -- but Carver's football team can't win against tiny Bowen High School in Columbus Day weekend game!
[Editor's Note: Clarification. Since the publication of this story, a number of individuals have brought to our attention a minor inaccuracy in the original. The group of young ladies in the photograph are not the . . .
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Ames school continues fight with referendum on the March ballot
As readers of Substance know, parents, teacher and children at Ames Middle School in Chicago have continued their fight against the conversion of the school into a "Marine Military Academy," despite the fact that the . . .
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Local School Council 'Summit' held Saturday February 15 at Westinghouse High School
The First Meeting �Summit of Local School Councils� was held in Chicago on February 15, 2014. The movement to save public schools in Chicago continues to grow in strength, as the hundreds of teachers, parents, . . .
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InBloom: Chicago parents and teachers organize against privatization of children's information... Video of Leoni Haimson's half-hour presentation at the November 21, 2013 Chicago forum on the data privatization activities of 'InBloom'
More than 50 people, most of them Chicago teachers and parents, participated in a forum on November 21, 2013 at Fusco Park on Chicago's West Side. The forum was moderated by Julie Woestehoff of PURE. . . .
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Book Drop counters CPS austerity... �Operation Book Drop� in Four Real Public Schools
Oct. 3, 2013, must have looked like Christmas for students and teachers in 4 Chicago public schools. A rented van was loaded to the gills with 5,000 books that were delivered to 4 real public . . .
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MEXICO: Videos begin to add truth to reports on teacher protests in Mexico as major American newspaper spread slanders and lies against Mexican teachers and unions across the USA
A number of videos in both Spanish and English are beginning to add a dose of truth to the reporters coming out of Mexico regarding the massive protests against the attempt by the Mexican . . .
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Community allies demand Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan force Rahm to disclose all TIF information under Freedom of Information Act
In the struggle for public school funding, an important press conference was held at the State of Illinois Building (the Thompson Center) on August, 2, 2013. The purpose of those hosting the press conference was . . .
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HIT LIST 2013: Begging and demanding, 600 real public school supporters Came to the Skyway Hearing Parking lot over flowed at Park District Country Club on 71st Street... February 20, 2013
The Skyway "Network" held two hearings in February, the most recent was Feb. 20, 2013. Their first hearing was held in a stuffy crowded church basement 79th and Jeffery (See Feb. 7 report), but the . . .
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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 . . .
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Lake Calumet hearing gets to bogus focus groups and continues serving up the official lies about 'underutilization crisis' and the 'billion dollar deficit'...... Lake Calumet Network Hearing at Olive-Harvey College was held January 30, 2013 Large Turnout -- CPS Officials claim “We Will Listen”
Between 300 to 400 parents, teachers and school supporters came to the Olive-Harvey College gym to show support for their schools. The largest schools in the audience were Whistler, White, Dubois, Gompers, Pullman and Taylor. . . .
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Skyway network hearing February 7, 2013 deliberately held in the small and hot space... Skyway Network Hearing: The CPS “Dog and Pony” Show Continues
Skyway "Network" elementary schools came out strong on Thursday, February 7, 2013 to defend their schools against the claim that many of them should be closed because Chicago Public Schools face an "underutilization crisis". More . . .
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Fenger area canvass reveals large support for the moratorium on school closings
More than a dozen CTU members and school supporters met-up at Fenger HS on Saturday January 19, 2013 as part of the union's community canvassing against the proposed school closings. We were one of the . . .
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Rape by charter school coach is only part of the problem... EPIC took over a decent public school building for a dollar a year, 'experiments' on its students, and has allegedly been 'dumping' many of them back into Bowen
On January 24, 2013, Chicago's corporate media began reporting that a charter school coach on the city's far South Side had been arrested for rape. On January 25, the story developed with the report from . . .
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Senator Martinez and AWOL.... Another hearing by the 'Commission' gets unanimous opposition to school closing HIt List
The December 17, 2012 hearing by the "Commission" on school closings was held at Leon Finney's church, but almost nobody among the more than 200 people in attendance was supporting Finney's side, which is always . . .
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King High School budget hearings clarify how public feels about Chicago Public Schools while budget chiefs refuse to explain why there was no publicity
The most interesting statement on Monday evening Nov. 5th, 2012 at King College Prep High School came from CPS Chief Financial Officer, Peter Rogers. Rodger said that the school closing list was in a “fact . . .
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Labor Beat producer needs help with project... 'From Madison to Chicago...'
One our our talented Labor Beat producers, Andrew Friend is asking for our help and the progressive labor movement in general. He needs financial help. He wants to show the valuable labor lessons from Wisconsin . . .
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BOARDWATCH II: School Closing Train Wreck Is Direction Taken by Board of Education November Meeting
The November 14, 2012, Chicago Board of Education meeting seemed like a train running off its tracks at very high speed. It was the second meeting of the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd . . .
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Veteran's Day protest highlighted TIF gifts to the super-rich... Moratorium on school closings demanded by labor and community groups, new video shows growth of the movement
A dramatic protest that went from the plaza adjacent to the Tribune Tower to the Hyatt marked part of the growing movement against school closings this school year in Chicago, and there is now a . . .
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LABOR BEAT begins airing 'CTU strikes 1969 - 1987' video on Cable TV tonight
Labor Beat, in conjunction with CORE (The Caucus of Rank And File Educators) begins airing, CTU Strikes: 1969-1987, tonight (September 13, 2012) on CAN TV Channel 19 in Chicago. Produced by CORE (the Caucus . . .
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And what about that charter school Arne Duncan gave your buddy Jeremiah Wright, Reverend? Brizard continues dodging reality during doublespeaking appearance with Rev. Otis Moss at Trinity United Church of Christ
Where has the school chief, Jean Claude Brizard, been during the CTU strike? He wasn’t seen in the negotiating meetings and never spoke on the news. But in a spacious church hall, the day the . . .
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Chicago Teachers Union Strike 2012 now a Cable TV and video production
"CTU Strike 2012" will be on the air beginning on September 27, 2012 on Chicago - CAN TV cable tv Channel 19. Scheduled airings for the first viewing of this are: Thurs., Sept. 27, 9:30 . . .
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Kennedy-King Budget Hearing... 'Answer the question!' public demands, louder and louder
A pumped up crowd of more than 70 parents and teachers spoke up at Kennedy-King College on 63rd and Halsted at the CPS budget hearing. It was one of three CPS Budget hearings — all . . .
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'They can no longer bulldoze us!' CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey's speech to the July 25 rally at the Chicago Board of Education
Labor Beat has now posted the complete video of the important speech by Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey to the rally outside Chicago Public Schools headquarters on July 24, 2012. The URL . . .
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Labor Beat video highlights First Amendment fights that were part of the NATO protests now available
When NATO Came to Town, a new Labor Beat video, will begin airing tonight (June 7, 2012) on Chicago CAN TV (Channel 19 Chicago; Channel 6, Evanston) and continue for the next week. For those . . .
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Labor Beat reports on growing suppression of dissent against NATO and G-8 by Emanuel administration
A new video by Chicago's Labor Beat reports on the growing movement against the meeting of NATO and the G-8 scheduled for Chicago in early May, pitting the right to protest against the policies . . .
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New half-hour Labor Beat video exposes hypocrisy and lies behind the CPS 2012 Hit List
A new video has been released by Chicago’s Labor Beat showing the massive protests against what critics are calling the “2012 Hit List” of schools facing closing, phase out, co-location, or “turnaround.” The lengthy . . .
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Board President gets earful at hearing on proposal to close Dyett High School as CPS 'Rent A Protesters' get confused about which side they are supposed to be on
With over 60 paid protesters sitting behind him supporting the CPS proposal to close Dyett High School, Chicago Board of Education President, David Vitale was probably feeling very confident that closing Dyett High School would . . .
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And about J.N. Thorp... Following the successful teach-in and as the Hit List struggle begins, let's not forget those schools like J.N. Thorp and Penn that are still struggling against the infestation of charter school 'co-location'
An historic struggle to take back our schools is taking shape. The CTU called a city wide teach-in Dec. 3, 2011, to stop the next round of school closings and turnarounds that will affect 18 . . .
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'My issue is class size...' What CTU President Karen Lewis said to reporters (and wasn't broadcast) during the October 26, 2011 Chicago Board of Education meeting
Following the remarks she made to the Chicago Board of Education during which she tried to explain why lower class sizes and some consideration for a better school day would be an improvement over the . . .
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Labor Beat covers protests against 'Reinvention' of City Colleges at Chicago City Colleges board meeting
On June 16, 2011 Chicago City Colleges students, teachers, clerical workers and community representatives protested in front of the CCC headquarters, and then attended, under restrictions set up by the Board, the Board meeting. The . . .
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Madison Labor Temple Meeting highlight challenges of moving forward from Madison struggles
On Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, an emergency meeting of labor leaders and community activists took place at the Madison, WI Labor Temple to consider ways stop the attacks on workers and unions by placing the . . .
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FROM INDIANA STRUGGLE: Video collage of protests at the Indiana Statehouse (Indianapolis)
A video collage of the protests in Indiana, where Governor Mitch Daniels has been taking away workers' and unions' rights for more than five years, is now available on You Tube. In it, you . . .
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South Side mayoral forum draws crowd, elicits decent answers as well as hearing from aldermanic candidates
The forum for mayoral candidates hosted by Educational Village Keepers, Black Star Community PTA, and Chicago Teachers Union was held at Corliss High School on January 28, 2011. The forum was held in the Corliss . . .
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VIDEO FROM LABOR BEAT: La Casita visits the alderman... Waiting for Danny Solis
In the month since Whittier Elementary School parents occupied the field house in their school lot and demanded that it be converted into a library for the school's children, much has happened. The occupation of . . .
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Labor Beat Video shows Karen Lewis's speech from September 21 Daley Plaza rally
On Sept. 21, 2010 a spirited rally of some 500 teachers, community organizations and students was held in Daley Plaza, just across the street from Chicago's City Hall. The rally protested the ongoing plundering of . . .
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South Chicago community opposes the phase out of J. N. Thorp Elementary School
November 9, 2009
Hello Hearing officer, and audience who came tonight.
My name is Dave Vance. I want to change course for a minute and talk about J. N. Thorp Elementary School in South Chicago. . . .
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BOARD WATCH. CENSORED SPEAKERS GET THEIR TURN, J. N. THORP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: The comments one J. N. Thorp School supporter was barred from delivering
[Editor's note. Substance is willing to publish the prepared remarks of every person who was signed up to speak at the October 28, 2009, meeting of the Chicago Board of Education on line here at . . .
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Potter challenges CPS for slanting budget presentation against teachers, ignoring Mayor Daley's manipulation of TIFs, other funds... CPS budget chief promises information to Jackson Potter during final budget hearing
CORE co-chairman Jackson Potter pressed Christine Herzog, CPS budget director, for some very important answers during Potter's brief remarks at the August 19, 2009 budget hearings at Chicago's Black Magnet Elementary School. As of the . . .
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