Whatcha Doin' Monday? (Updated)
We need some help. The city's Human Relations committee has the resolution pending that would call for an advisory referendum on the elected school board.
Yes, we're going door-to-door, but it would be awesome if a similar thing could come out of City Council.
The meeting's Monday morning, 10 AM, room 201-A, City Hall. It would be nice if the chairman of the committee, who should have been appalled at Rahm's election fundraising but wasn't, were reminded that a lot of people are interested in this, and that they're mad as hell.
I'm not familiar with a lot of the 49th Ward people, but if Joe Moore doesn't call this one for a vote, I'm going to have a new mission in life.
Update: I'm seeing some email traffic that Joe Moore is not going to call it, saying it wasn't submitted on time. He's being a weasel, of course. People have to show up at the committee to shame him.
The meeting's Monday morning, 10 AM, room 201-A, City Hall. It would be nice if the chairman of the committee, who should have been appalled at Rahm's election fundraising but wasn't, were reminded that a lot of people are interested in this, and that they're mad as hell.
I'm not familiar with a lot of the 49th Ward people, but if Joe Moore doesn't call this one for a vote, I'm going to have a new mission in life.
Update: I'm seeing some email traffic that Joe Moore is not going to call it, saying it wasn't submitted on time. He's being a weasel, of course. People have to show up at the committee to shame him.
Charter Madness Creeps Northward
The suburbs are starting to wake up to the unfunded mandate-generator that is the state charter authority. Prairie Crossing, a small choice school, is within the boundaries of Woodland and Fremont Elementary District 79. Of roughly $3.47 million in general state aid allotted to Woodland for the 2011-12 academic year, a little more than $3 million of that total was forwarded to Prairie Crossing. A Woodland report stated 324 of 6,750 district students were enrolled at Prairie Crossing for the last school year. Prairie Crossing offers an environmentally focused curriculum to students... more »
Forging Ahead For The Vote
Tough sledding in Lakeview tonight gathering signatures for the elected school board referendum. Lakeview has a lot of young people and a lot of turnover; in short, a lot of people who aren't really anchored to the community and whose only knowledge of the schools is through what they read in the Trib. Rahm's base, in other words. The older folks were signing, though. The remember when we lost all those brave young American soldiers so that the Iraqi people could get the vote. Don't forget-we're combing a precinct in Rogers Park Monday night. Come join us! Meanwhile, Roger Sander... more »
Popping Out The Rivets In Chicago
Rahm is destroying the schools. That's all there is to it. The new *de facto * ed policy in Chicago is set parents against teachers and against each other, and to fan the fire kindled by segregation. The whole message is *get your kids away from those other kids who are so problematic.* They don't do these things in the suburbs or downstate. People have neighborhood schools. Everyone attends them. There's this quaint idea that we're all in this together. In the city, we pop out the rivets that hold neighborhoods together and then wonder why they fall apart. Remember the scene in Alfr... more »
No More Blind Trusts
I was watching this clip from Lawrence O'Donnell's show--- it's pretty interesting. It seems that out Freeport, Illinois-- where in the 70's some kid dislocated my shoulder in a freestyle wrestling tournament *and to this day I can barely lift my right arm without it popping out of the socket-- *the whole town is trying to get Mit Romney's attention. He's outsourcing their jobs to China because he's not rich enough yet. Watch. (There may be a 30 second commercial first.) Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy I'm sure someone from Mark Kirk's s... more »
Much Ado...
...Over nothing. Compare and contrast. We are governed by dishonest people with battalions of public relations staffers. And we don't get to vote for or against a single one of them. All of this knife-fighting over these ridiculous test scores, it's exactly what the Koch brothers want us to be distracted by. In *Night, *Elie Wiesel recalls a Parisian woman throwing coins to starving children and watching them struggle practically to death over them. He asks her to stop, remembering a similar scene from his own time on the Nazi transport trains. In America, the coins are these mar... more »
Our Crazy Times
People love their schools--- it is true in every community, everywhere. They love them and they don't want them closed. Here are some charter school parents in Long Beach getting booted from a school board meeting for conducting a mic-check. Evidently it's a case of low enrollment but it's very hard to tell what the truth is from afar, as you can see. I've been to a number of these meetings where the school is being closed for one reason or another, and the community is up in arms. It's always a traditional school, though. Usually the charter parents are on the other side of the ar... more »
Thank You, SB7
This is how it's done. Throughout my time in education, I have always found that the people doing the real work of improving the status of the profession, of fighting for conditions in which learning can occur, of taking the risks that accompany the pointing out of uncomfortable truths, are veteran, local teacher-leaders. This drop-in model of teaching that we're moving toward, where teaching is a charity precursor to a career in finance --- it's a cancer.
One Signature At A Time
That's how you get an elected school board. It was an awesome night down in the 43rd ward collecting signatures for an elected school board. It's an easy sell, believe me. Once people hear that unlike suburban people, they have no democratic access to school policies unless they're a Friend of Rahm, well, they sign pretty quickly. Mind you, a couple people gave me the bum's rush. One fellow came to the door --- a beautiful building, I might add; the 43rd Ward has some schmancy homes-- and he told me that he wouldn't be signing because he doesn't trust the voters. I imagine he proba... more »
Need Somethin' To Do Tonight?
I so missed my *HuffPo *animated .gif while I was camping. Anyway, CODE canvassing has been moved to Lincoln Park tonight, I'm told. Armitage/Larrabee at 7PM. Could be sweaty, could be fun. Tomorrow night, canvassing is in my own neighborhood but I'm not missing this webinar for love nor money.
And We're Back
Back early from the Northwoods. It's nice to be away from the heat and crime wave, but on the other hand, the woods are full of people who get their information from AM radio, and I can only stay quiet for so long. By the way, on the trip back down here, a guy was in high-dudgeon about the taxes on the gas pump. Mind you, this guy was pulling a boat with a Lincoln Navigator, and he was filling up three plastic tanks for his kids' jet skis. Taxes are *killing* us, people. That guy with the Navigator, boat, and jet skis? He's practically dead. Although you might not be able to tell f... more »