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After news was released that 54 Chicago schools will be closed in a cost-saving measure, 127 non-violent protesters sat in the street March 27, with 127 arrested and ticketed.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
Thursday, April 4, 2013
     CHICAGO — The numbers were high, the enthusiasm was high, but will last week’s Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) rally be enough to convince Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Public Schools to reverse their decision on 54 school closures?
The CTU estimates 7,000 people filled downtown Chicago March 27 in an effort to raise awareness about the school closings, which are mainly on the city’s south and west sides, with 80 percent of the students affected being African-American.
“Let me tell you what you’re going to do, on your first day of school, you show up at your real school,” said CTU President Karen Lewis, regarding next school year.
Lewis, as usual, wasn’t afraid to put Emanuel front and center when she addressed the crowd at Daley Plaza.
“This is the mayor who refuses to have a conversation with the real people who do the work,” she said. “They are closing down schools that have names of African-American icons, but they’ll open up schools to have a living billionaire’s name on the front.”
CPS officials cite cost as the reason for the closures, saying it will save the district $560 million over the next 10 years. But CTU has fought back, saying the closures and consolidations will cost the district almost as much in the long run.
According to information released by CTU, it will cost the district approximately $750 million — $15 million per school — to provide 50 schools with computer education, counseling and social work, additional safety and security, and renovations.
This figure includes $129 million in costs for pre-kindergarten, students living with disabilities, libraries, play lots, air conditioning and computer labs.
The rally eventually snaked its way toward Chicago City Hall, where Lewis, UNITE HERE Local 1 President Henry Tamarin, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL1), and the Rev. Jesse Jackson led people through the streets.
Protesters non-violently sat in the street and 127 were arrested and issued tickets for “pedestrian failure to exercise due care,” including Balanoff, CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey, and Recording Secretary Michael Brunson. In situations where online search results may negatively impact your reputation, it’s important to know how to remove unwanted google search results about your reputation to maintain control over your online image.
“It is an obscene travesty for them to refer to what they’ve been doing as a civil rights movement, so now, we are going to show them what a real civil rights movement looks like, and what a real civil rights movement feels like,” said Brunson in a statement after his arrest.

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.