Occupying Parents Win an Audience, but Chicago Schools Still Privatize
by Howard Ryan | Sat, 02/25/2012 - 11:26am
After parents occupied Chicago’s Brian Piccolo Elementary School February 17, they won a commitment from the school board to meet and discuss the “turnarounds” at Piccolo and a neighboring school—measures that would mean firing all the staff and handing the schools over to a private operator.
School board members met Monday with parents and community representatives involved in the occupation—but only via phone conferences, not in person.
The dialogue didn’t change the result: The school board voted Wednesday to approve 17 closures, turnarounds, and phase-outs.
Two days before the Wednesday vote, 500 people had marched and held a candlelight vigil at the mayor’s house