Trib readers oppose Noble discipline policy, too
Nice to read these letters in this morning’s Tribune – guess not everyone agreed with the paper’s position on Noble:Here’s a sample:
I find fining students for disciplinary infractions wrong in principle. Critics who call the program draconian are absolutely on target. It is not the list of ridiculous infractions alone; the fines truly set
Contact info for Chicago Board members
Useful info from Jackie Leavy:IF YOU THINK THAT CPS BOARD MEMBERS NEED TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM YOU, HERE IS CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SOME OF THEM, PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE (if you search by individual Board members’ names):
Jesse Ruiz, Vice President of the Board of Education: Thank him for meeting with Piccolo’s parents on Saturday, Feb. 18th: Jesse.Ruiz@dbr.com
Mr. Ruiz is an attorney with the law firm, Drinker & Biddle:
191 N. Wacker Dr., Suite 3700
Chicago, IL 60606-1698
(312) 569-1135
(312) 569-3135 fax
Dr. Mahalia Hines works with her son, Common’s foundation:
Common Ground Foundation
2150 S. Canalport, 3B-5
Chicago, IL 60608773-295-1915
info@commongroundfoundation.org
Phone: 773-295-1915
Fax: 877-246-5767
Henry Bienen, a political scientist and author, served as President of Northwestern University (in Evanston) from 1995 until 2009. CURRENT CONTACT INFORMATION??
(From Julie: Henry Bienen, residence at 161 E. Chicago Ave Chicago IL
Olympia Centre (161 E Chicago) is a 63-story multi-use tower, built in 1985 with 39 floors of luxury condominiums, located in the heart of Chicago’s most exciting and fashionable Streeterville neighborhood. Olympia Centre offers the style and privacy of luxury living at its best as well as proximity to Chicago’s renowned stores, restaurants, theaters and cultural amenities.)
Penny Pritzker: A businesswoman and philanthropist, Pritzker is board chair of the Chicago Public Education Fund and co-director of the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation, She served as national finance chairwoman of President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bid.
Mailing address for the Foundation:
71 S Wacker Dr # 4600, Chicago, IL 60606-4637
(From Julie – here’s a little more on Penny:
Penny Pritzker – residence at 1875 N Orchard St. Chicago, IL
PENNY PRITZKER’S MANSION rises like a modernist fortress on the 1800 block of North Orchard Street in Lincoln Park. A rectangular slab of tobacco-colored stucco stacked between two boxes of glass, it is eye-stopping and in sharp contrast to the quaint collection of Victorian houses a few doors on either side. Some neighbors complain it looks like a Hyatt hotel, a snide reference to the international lodging chain that is the centerpiece of the Pritzker clan’s $15 billion fortune. Others think it is better suited to the IIT campus, which is a virtual shrine to the architecture of the modernist giant Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.)
Rod Sierra: A parent of three CPS students, Sierra is the chief marketing officer of Johnson Publishing Co. and a former deputy press secretary to Mayor Richard Daley. This is the mailing address/ph # available online:
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
820 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
312.322.9200
Andrea Zopp: The president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League also is a CPS parent and a former Local School Council member of Clissold Elementary School on the Far South Side. She previously served as general counsel for companies including Exelon Corp. and Sears Holdings Corp.:
4510 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago , IL 60653
(773) 285-5800 Main
(773) 285-7772 Fax
Her Position: President and Chief Executive Officer
Her Phone: 773-451-3500
Her Email:president@thechicagourbanleague.org
IF YOU CHOOSE TO CONTACT THESE CPS BOARD MEMBERS, YOU CAN LET THEM KNOW . . .
– WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE PICCOLO PARENTS’ EFFORTS?
– WHETHER YOU THINK THE CPS BOARD SHOULD PUSH AHEAD ON FEB. 22ND TO VOTE ON PROPOSED SCHOOL ACTIONS AND TURN-AROUNDS, or instead, SHOULD the BOARD POSTPONE A VOTE?
– ASK IF THEY PERSONALLY HAVE REVIEWED THE PLANS PREPARED BY THE CPS-SPONSORED “COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCILS” AND SCHOOLS’ ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS to School Actions or Turn-Arounds ?
If/when there are updates on SB 3239 and HB 4487 from Springfield, I will try to let you know ASAP.
Jackie
Press release from community group on Piccolo win
From: BT Youth
Sent: 2/19/2012 12:24 PM
Subject: Press Release
For More Information, Contact: Cecile Carrol, 773-426-0842; Ana Mercado, 312-498-6479, bt.youthorg@gmail.comSent: 2/19/2012 12:24 PM
Subject: Press Release
twitter handle @tbourschoolschi | twitter hashtag #piccolo www.btchicago.org
Parents end Piccolo Elementary School occupation after CPS Board agrees to meet in run-up to Wednesday board meeting
Students, parents demand removal of Piccolo and Casals from “Turnaround” list
Parents ended the Piccolo Elementary School occupation at 3:30pm yesterday after Vice President of CPS Board of Education, Jesse Ruiz, met with them at Piccolo and committed the rest of the Board members to meet with the parents regarding their demands that the board reverse its decision to “Turnaround” Piccolo and Casals and engage with them meaningfully on a community proposal to promote educational excellence at the school.“Thank you to the hundreds that came out in the cold to support us and show that they care about our kids,” said Piccolo parent and Local School Council Chair Latrice Watkins.
The Board of Education plans to vote on Wednesday, February 22 to hand over management to AUSL, the Academy for Urban School Leadership. The private ‘non-profit’ firm has close political ties to City Hall .
Despite receiving millions in additional funds from CPS and private entities that regular public schools do not get access to, AUSL ‘results’ are little better than – and in some cases lag behind – district averages.The protest and occupation to resist takeover by AUSL was led by a core group of committed Piccolo parents who were acting on behalf of 288 parents who had voted ‘No’ to the Turnaround of their school in January but were ignored by CPS. They are asking that CPS – the Chicago Public Schools administration – instead invest in the current school and provide current staff with the types of resources and funding that the district currently plans to funnel to AUSL. Their core appeal: Education should be about what parents want for their children – not what’s good for politically connected private school operations.
Parents were also critical of the way authorities handled the occupation. They blocked a group of Piccolo parents from getting back in the building to relieve other parents and did not let food or supplies in the building; including for one diabetic parent, the right of use to her medications. That treatment has, nonetheless, left parents undeterred.
“I got the strength to stay [in the school] through the pain, because I knew I was on the side of justice, and this will inspire other schools to stand up to privatization,” said Elisa Nigaglioni, parent occupier and member of the West Humboldt Park Community Action Council, who met for a year to draft a proposal for improving Piccolo, Casals and Cameron Elementary Schools.
Parents and their supporters have vowed to defend their children’s school – and the public’s right to neighborhood public education – in their scheduled meetings with board members. Parents are guardedly optimistic as they wait for a call from CPS to confirm the times for the hour-long meetings on Monday and Tuesday with individual Board members to inform them of their concerns with AUSL, and have a real conversation about their community counter proposal.
“It’s shameful that it had to come to this for CPS to engage meaningfully with the parents’ proposal,” said Cecile Carroll of the community group Blocks Together, which supported the parents’ occupation.
Blocks Together, the parents and their allies have vowed to step up efforts to prevent what they see as a wholesale assault on accountable public education in the city.