We Are Chicago Students, and We are Here to Save Our Schools!
Guest post by Brian Sturgis.
I'm a senior at Paul Robeson high school, and I'm an organizer with Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools (CSOSOS). We are led by students from across Chicago in 25 different high schools and we believe in justice and equality for all. Today over 300 Chicago students are boycotting, including 100 juniors who are boycotting the state exam, to tell Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Rahm Emanuel that we are over-tested, under-resourced and fed up!
Mayor Emanuel and his Board of Education want to close 54 grammar schools around the city, all of which are in black and Latino communities: this is racist. These schools are also being judged based on assessments and tests given throughout the year: this is foolish. These school closings will leave neighborhoods dismantled, parents lost, students unaccounted for, and more importantly, will put children in harmful situations: this is dangerous.
My alma mater, Benjamin Banneker elementary, is one of