[Peace-discuss] FW: Brighton Park Community Says No Charter School - Labor Beat video

[David Johnson]

From: Larry Duncan [mailto:larryd63 at comcast.net] 
Sent: Friday, November 27, 2015 12:58 PM
To: Larry Duncan
Subject: Brighton Park Community Says No Charter School - Labor Beat video

 

 



Brighton Park Community Says No Charter School

On YouTube at:

 <https://youtu.be/7rPtJAMe8XY> https://youtu.be/7rPtJAMe8XY

 

Although the Chicago school board on October 28, 2015 voted YES to build a
Noble charter school in Brighton Park, the city-wide battle to defend public
schools continues as communities like Brighton Park build coalitions for
more far-reaching fight-backs to future City Hall attacks on working people.
All this while a possible teachers strike looms this winter. 

 

In late October of 2015 hundreds of students, teachers and community
members, backed by the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, marched to 14th
Ward Alderman Burke's office on Chicago's Southwest side. They opposed
Burke's support for a new Noble charter school in an area which already has
a public high school -- Kelly. Kelly, unlike Noble charter schools, does not
throw out students with lower scores or other difficulties. The march was
labeled "The Day of the Dead" and many participants can be seen in Halloween
makeup.

 

Lisa Villanueva, with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, told us: "I
don't want Noble schools because it takes the money that we could have for
our Chicago public schools such as Kelly High School. No Noble!"

 

This fight to defend public schools in Brighton Park extended two days later
to the Oct. 28 meeting of the Chicago Public Schools board, which was also
organizing new massive attacks on public education with planned austerity
cuts of faculty and programs city-wide. 

 

Jesse Sharkey, VP of Chicago Teachers Union, told a sidewalk press
conference right before the CPS board meeting:  "They're talking about cuts
of a half billion dollars. They've already imposed $200 million in cuts. $38
million of that goes to special education. They'd be doing that kind of
damage to public schools and at the same time they're opening
politically-connected charter schools, that the president of the board's
name is on the charter school network that they're talking about handing
over new schools to. Why are you opening new schools at the same time you
can't even fund the ones you have?"

 

As the CPS board met, students protested by sitting down on the sidewalk for
a "study-in". This showed the growing, creative role played by students in
the defense of public education. Length - 12:00

 

 



Brighton Park community march on Oct. 26, 2015. Photo: David Vance/Labor
Beat

 



Rebecca Martinez, CTU Organizer, with protest at Alderman Burke's office.
Photo: David Vance/Labor Beat

 

Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner, and member
of the Evanston Community Media Center. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3)
member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info:
<mailto:mail at laborbeat.org> mail at laborbeat.org,  <http://www.laborbeat.org/>
www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit YouTube
and search "Labor Beat". On Chicago CAN TV Channel 19, Thursdays 9:30 pm;
Fridays 4:30 pm. Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston,
Rockford, Urbana, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY. 

Visit our Web Site:
http://www.laborbeat.org <http://www.laborbeat.org/> 

 

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