School closing protesters take over Chicago board meeting « Parents Across America

School closing protesters take over Chicago board meeting « Parents Across America:

School closing protesters take over Chicago board meeting

by pureparents

By Julie Woestehoff, PAA-Chicago

TIME Magazine just named “The Protester” their “Person of the Year,” saying, “In 2011, protesters didn’t just voice complaints; they changed the world.” Today in Chicago, parents and teachers are demonstrating just how that happens.

After camping out overnight in frigid rain in front of the Chicago Public Schools central office, people furious about the district’s years of failed, top-down school interventions took over the Board of Education meeting. driving school board members from the room and taking over the microphone to voice their anger.

According to breaking news stories in the Tribune and Sun-Times, protesters said

“Nearly 40 percent of new schools that have replaced ones that closed are performing at the lowest levels. We see through the sound bites. You have