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.
The advocates' approach to the strike contrasts the argument being made by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
While Emanuel frames the strike as a matter of just two outstanding
issues, advocates seek to elevate the dispute to a national referendum
on urban education policy.
“This labor fight is much bigger than
bread and butter issues for teachers,” says Amisha Patel, executive
director of the Grassroots Collaborative. According to Patel, the strike
is about whether CTU can halt “corporate control over schools”, saying that the business-focused approach to school reform has been going
on at least since former Chicago mayor Richard Daley unveiled the pro-charter
school “Renaissance 2010” program in 2004. Read more »
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 »
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.
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.