The West Side leg of the Chicago Teachers Union's (CTU) three-day march against school closings saw dozens of parents, teachers and education activists blocking
traffic throughout the area's streets Monday, chanting “Save Our Schools!”
“We are marching to keep our schools open,” said
Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the CTU, at the launch of Monday’s
West Side march at Elizabeth Peabody Elementary School, at 1444 West August Blvd.
Peabody is one of 54 schools slated for closure under a CPS proposal to shutter, consolidate and turnaround a record-breaking number of schools at the end of this school year. The district says it is attempting to address a $1 billion deficit and “utilization
crisis” of more than 100,000 empty seats. The proposed plan has incited massive protests and outrage throughout Chicago.
“If some of
these schools don’t come off the closure list, there’s going to be a ton
of outrage and moral indignation from people all across the city,” said
Sharkey in an interview with Progress Illinois. “But how do you do get
your point across to a board that doesn’t really listen? This thing is
being driven by the mayor, and the mayor doesn’t care.”
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Energy was high outside the Chicago Board of Education meeting
Wednesday morning as education activists, union members, teachers,
students and parents gathered in anticipation of a vote that could close
a staggering amount of schools across the Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
district. 
Englewood residents are not yet sure what will become of their six
neighborhood schools on Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) list to shut down or
relocate in June.
Education activists headed to Springfield early Wednesday morning to lobby for a moratorium on school closings. Their campaign for legislative action comes on the same day as the Chicago Board of Education votes on a
proposal to close a record-breaking number of public schools in Chicago. Meanwhile, the Illinois General Assembly has less than one month left in the spring session, which ends May 31.
Parents and community groups from Chicago and Philadelphia stood in solidarity against school closings at a gathering outside the Chicago Board of Education’s headquarters Tuesday morning. The activists also blasted the national trend of privatizing education.
