The Kenwood Oakland community organization on
Chicago’s South Side joined with education activists across the country
at a press conference yesterday in downtown Chicago to contend that
so-called education reform policies violate their civil rights by
marginalizing the voices of minority parents and students.
Plaintiffs
from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Washington, D.C. as well as
Wichita, Kansas and Eureka, Mississippi announced that they plan to file
seven separate complaints with the U.S. Department of Education stating
that their respective city’s education policies violate the Civil
Rights Act.
“Since we pay taxes we should have the right to have
input in these schools,” said Jitu Brown, an organizer with Kenwood
Oakland. “The common denominator in all these city policies is that we
don’t.” Read more »
State Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove)
As a 
Diane Ravitch, who was assistant secretary of education under George
H.W. Bush and then became a national spokeswoman against the
so-called education reform movement, says that Chicago has taken the
lead on education reform – and the revolt against such policies.
A group of student activists and their advocates
marched from Crane High School to a nearby Cook County Juvenile
Detention Center to protest student suspensions and pushouts on Saturday.
Advocacy groups across Chicago mobilized today in support of the
Chicago Teachers Union strike, setting up “freedom camps” and scheduling
events for the next two weeks including a “freedom ride” to Washington,
D.C.
In what has been described by disability-rights advocates as nothing
short of a fight over equal access rights, a coalition of organizations
unveiled plans Wednesday to boycott some of the nation’s leading hotels
over their efforts to delay the enforcement of federal guidelines
requiring the installation of permanent wheelchair lifts that allow
disabled guests entry to swimming pools. 