CPS students march for educational equality and for an immediate resolution to avoid massive layoffs this year.
CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—January 14, 2016. On Friday, January 15 Chicago Public School students from around the city will march for educational equality from the Thompson Center to Benito Juarez HS. Students will gather at the Thompson Center at 9 a.m., then begin to walk to City Hall, CPS Board of Education, Presidents Frank Clark’s House, then end at Benito Juarez around 2 p.m.
Chicago Public School students have held study-ins, walkouts, boycotts, and read-ins in recent months to call for immediate changes to the way Illinois funds CPS students. Because politicians both locally and at the state level are continuously using cuts as leverage for their political agenda, students, parents, schools, and communities are suffering. The rhetoric used by CEO Claypool insinuates that the sole reason for CPS’ financial crisis is Springfield, however students, parents, and community organizations have fought for the need for reform locally.
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and the Board of Education refuse to retain the hundreds of millions lost due to Toxic Swaps, a moratorium on charter expansion, and directing more TIF surplus to the education system. In 2012 before the 50 school closings, there were 681 schools. Now, three years later, there are 678 schools, meaning the upbringing of privately managed schools was on the Mayor’s political agenda. While students do acknowledge the rhetoric used by CPS CEO Claypool of the State’s lack of equitably funding CPS children, the new funds must then be equitably distributed between privately managed and traditionally run schools.
This march is the student’s last effort to hopefully stir an immediate reaction by decision makers locally and downstate, so that the looming cuts second semester are avoided. However, it is also a march bringing awareness to the continual divestment of traditional district-run schools and that the propaganda used by the Mayor and CPS saying they have no other choice but to slash their funding, is false.
Follow the hashtags #wheresthefunds and #studentsstrikeback throughout the next few months.
