The Education Heroes Of 2010 You Haven't Heard Of
You won't find these heroes on the red carpet. They haven't hired publicists, held national press conferences or thrown posh fundraisers. But before we usher in 2011, here are some 2010 education heroes that you may not have heard of. They spent hours of their time organizing, calling, researching, working and fighting for children and schools.
The Chicago Moms of Whittier Elementary School. A group of working, Latina moms on Chicago's South Side had been trying for seven years to convince Chicago Public Schools to build a library for their children at Whittier Elementary. They were getting nowhere -- and to add insult to injury, the small field house they'd been using as an informal community center was slated to be knocked down by the school system and replaced with an empty field. What did they do? They staged a six-week sit-in at the field house, backed by a smart strategy to target local officials, get national media coverage and negotiate for more input in the long-term. What happened? They got the school.
Students at UCLA fighting to bring back the Islamic Studies program. College students at the University of