Update: Little Village Hunger Strike At 10 - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Update: Little Village Hunger Strike At 10 - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Update: Little Village Hunger Strike At 10

by Alexander Russo

For years, the Little Village hunger strike was thought of as a proud moment, a high point. More recently -- on this blog at least -- not so much. The 10-year anniversary of the strike is being celebrated on Thursday (details below). The shenanigans at MAS appear to continue right up to the moment. What's your take on the legacy of that event? Pro, con, or somewhere in between? Are the kids of Little Village better off, over all, than they were before? And what, for God's sakes, can be done to make things a little better at MAS in particular?

From a reader:

I wanted to keep you abreast of the troubles plaguing the administration at the Multicultural Arts High School (just in case you haven't heard...).

It seems teachers are continuing to be abruptly laid off (mid-school year) in violation of fair labor practices and at the peril of student learning. Students have been reaching out to me, inspired by other local student protests, wanting to know what they can do to voice their concern in a way that will be taken seriously. Many of my former students have contacted me to express how sad and caught off guard they felt when they showed up to school last year with most of their teachers gone. (Not to mention confused and deceived when they were told by the

Site News: New Blog Setup On Its Way

by Alexander Russo

This is just a heads-up that there's a new version of this site heading our way -- I'm not exactly sure when -- and that there's likely to be a settling in period where things are not as ideal as I'd like them to be. Apologies in advance. But you've been through that before and I'm sure you'll power through it. (Remember the first version of the site, way back when, when it was just me on my own? Then there was the short-lived Catalyst version.) Here's what I know so far: (1) Nothing's going to change in terms of my control over the site and my comment