Hearings on School Closings Next Week

Below is a schedule of the CPS school closing hearings. The Teacher's union has been worse than inept and incompetent at addressing the problem, they've been uninformed and disinterested. When it was announced that Englewood would close in 2005, Ted Dallas visited the school the next day and told us all to look for other jobs -- Now that's a Union with some fight in it!

They will likely repeat some of those same mistakes this round, but more is at stake as their membership progressively shrinks. It is up to us to hold them accountable. I suggest that delegates attend these hearings and monitor if the CTU shows up and fights back -- if it doesn't the House of Delegates meeting next Wednesday would be a perfect opportunity to expose that betrayal.

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
FACT SHEET

HEARING SCHEDULE ON PROPOSED TURNAROUNDS, CONSOLIDATIONS, AND
RELOCATIONS

Monday, Feb. 4, 2008
Miles Davis and Johns Academy proposals, CPS Central Office, 125 S.
Clark
St., 5th Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008
Midway Academy Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St., 5th
Floor
Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Abbott Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St., 5th
Floor Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
Orr Campus Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St., 5th Floor
Board
Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Midway Academy Proposal, Hancock High School, 4034 W. 56th St., 5 p.m.
to 8
p.m.

Howe Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St.,
5th
Floor Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
Morton Career Academy Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St.,
5th
Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Edison Regional Gifted Center Proposal, Edison Regional Gifted Center
Proposal, 6220 N. Olcott Ave., 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008
Duprey Elementary School Proposal, Duprey Elementary School, 1405 North

Washtenaw Avenue, noon to 3 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
Fulton Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St., 5th
Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Miles Davis and Johns Proposal, St. Andrews Temple, 1743 W. Marquette
Rd.,
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Harper High School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St., 5th
Floor
Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008
Copernicus Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St.,
5th Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Carver Middle School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark St.,
5th
Floor Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008
Gladstone Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St.,
5th Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

De La Cruz Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St.,
5th Floor Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 15, 2008
Irving Park Middle School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St., 5th
Floor Board Chambers, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Andersen Elementary School Proposal, CPS Central Office, 125 S. Clark
St.,
5th Floor Board Chambers, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008
Gladstone Elementary School Proposal, Gladstone Elementary School, 1231
S.
Damen, noon to 3 p.m.

Schools Closings Deja Vu

As another 50+ schools face the possibility of closure, the moment, for those of us who have faced the guillotine in past years, is eerily familiar. As a teacher at Englewood High i helped organize a series of protests to stop the closing of our school, a school with over 100 years of history that graduated legends such as Timuel Black, Gwendolyn Brookes and Lorraine Hansberry. How can the Board close a school with such deep roots in the community without any kind of due process? When Edison parents complained about the undemocratic relocation of their school at last Wednesday's Board meeting, Rufus responded that the public hearing would provide an opportunity for public input. Any one who has attended any of those public hearings knows it's a farce, there is a board appointed recorder -- so you get your comments archived -- but there is no opportunity for negotiation. Maybe some of these parents and students should invoke the 1963 boycott where more than 250,000 students stayed home from school until their grievances about overcrowding and jim crow facilities were addressed. How about a teach in at one of these hearings until those with real authority to make decisions show up to negotiate? In the next edition i'll share the union's response to the school closing announcements in 2005 and how that might inform us about what to expect this time around.

Chicago Teacher Union's Historic Flop

The CTU got its start near the turn of the century with Margaret Haley at the helm. As leader of the Chicago Federation of Teachers Haley fought merit pay as a system prone to corruption and favoritism and pushed for an independently elected school board. We now have a union leadership that invokes Haley as a historic figure but has gutted the fighting organization that she built. It's laughable that the very issues that made teachers in this city a force to be reckoned with are being dismantled with the CTU's official endorsement. More to come on union politics and Chicago school reform -- check in daily at the Substance blog.