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3-Days, 30 Miles in Chicago For Edcuation

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 19:29 | Alex

The mayor and Board of Education want to destroy 54 school communities. This will be the largest destruction of schools in U.S. history. We need our neighborhood schools and we should all fight together to save them. Join parents, teachers, students, public school workers, clergy, activists and others in the threeday citywide march across the city. They want to divide us. But this is our city, our schools, and together, we’ll use our voice to tell the mayor and the world that we intend to fight back.

Click the appropriate box below to sign up for either the West Side march or the South Side march.

 

West SideSouth Side

Click here to download the West Side flyer.

Click here to download all routes.

Click here to download the South Side flyer.

Image Source: 
Chicago Teachers Union

Cleveland High School Students Protest Standardized Testing

Sat, 04/20/2013 - 18:28 | Alex

On Thursday, April 18th, more than 70 students from Cleveland High School walked out in protest against the increase in standardized testing,

The protest occurred on the date that the junior (eleventh graders) students were schedule to take the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) test in Science.

As the protest went on, the protest attracted a few other students from surrounding schools.

The students are taking part in a growing movement against the increase and value in standardized testing which many believe is destroying the public education system.

Emma Christ, 16 and a student at Cleveland High School told the Oregon Live that she believed the tests are an unfair assessment of teachers and schools. "You're focusing on passing and exceeding more than you are on absorbing the material," she explained.

Ian Jackson, another Cleveland High School student, explained to the Oregon Live that the he believed that the tests has a racial bias and is a contributing factor to the inequality in the education system.

 

Many other students feel that the tests are wasting time that students could use to learn other things. Students also expressed concern that the tests are costing the school district money that could be used to be put towards the students and not a private company who is in charge of creating these tests.

 More concerns of setting students up to fail come from recent changes in Oregon's legislation. The state continues to push an emphasis on the importance of these private tests by raising the benchmark of scores needed on the reading and writing section of the tests in order to graduate. Currently, the state is planning on adding a benchmark on the math sections of these tests as a requirement to graduate as well.

Portland Public Schools spokeswoman, Erin Hoover Barnett, explained that the district "needs kids to take the tests."

He told the Oregon Live that:

"We respect our student's rights to voice their views and take on issues they're passionate about, but we want them to stay on track and graduate," she said. "It's particularly important for kids who are already facing barriers to graduation to not feel pressured by their peers to do something that makes it even harder for them to get to that finish line."

The vice principal of Cleveland High School, Kevin Taylor, explained that the school will continue to administer the test as long as the state of Oregon mandated it.

The march was organized by the Portland Student Union and students at Cleveland High School who believe that the movement against standardized testing will grow. Students in Chicago are currently organizing to walkout over the racist and classist test that are a contributing factor in the mass closings of schools.

Image Source: 
Portland Student Union

Newark Students Stage Walkout

Wed, 04/10/2013 - 02:26 | Alex

On April 9th, nearly a thousand students from at least 15 out of 17 Newark’s high schools walked out to protest the state’s budget meeting.

The students wanted to address the budget cuts that are leading to teacher layoffs, school closures, and the ending of fine arts and after-school programs.

The students of the “The Newark Students Union" marched to the budget meeting, which was held at Rutgers Law School, chanting “Stand up, fight back!”

Students from Newark staged a similar walkout in 2010 when Governor Chris Christie cut state aid to public schools in New Jersey by $820 million.

This year alone, the state is seeking to cut education by at least another $56 million.

One of the students organizers, Jaysen Bazile, told the Associated Press that "For the last three years, Gov. Christie has waged a concerted attack on Newark students. He keeps saying that he's given New Jersey schools unprecedented levels of support, but what he doesn't say is that his hand was forced by the Supreme Court after they found his first-year cuts violated our constitutional rights to a thorough and efficient education."

This is not the first time students have walked out, and is an increasing trend. It seems today that more and more students are rallying to save their education.

Newark is not the only city facing this problem; there has been an increase in the privatization of public education across the country.

In Chicago, 54 schools are on the list to be closed while others are facing severe budget cuts in the 2014-2015 school year while at the same time there continues to be an increase investment of charter schools by city officials. The increased in privatization of the public-education system through charter schools has left many students no option but to fight in order to save their education.

The Students announced the walkout a few days beforehand on YouTube:

 

 

Image Source: 
Twitter: Newark Student Union

List of 54 Schools to be Closed

Fri, 03/22/2013 - 00:28 | Alex

Here is the list of school programs that are being closed.

Altgeld Elementary School will be closed into Wentworth

Armstrong Elementary Math and Science will be closed into Leland

Attucks Elementaryentary School will be phased out over two years and closed into Beethoven

Banneker Elementary School will be closed into Mays

Bethune Elementary School will be closed into Gregory

Bontemps Elementary School will be closed into Nicholson

Buckingham will be closed into Montefiore

Calhoun North Elementary School will be closed into Cather

Canter Middle School will be closed into Hart, Ray

Delano Elementary School will be closed into Melody

Dumas Technology Acad Elementary Sch will be closed into Wadsworth

Roque De Duprey Elementary School will be closed into DeDiego

Emmet Elementary School will be closed into Ellington, DePriest

Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy will be closed into Sumner

Fermi Elementary School will be closed into South Shore Fine Arts

Garfield Park Prep Acad Elementary Sch will be closed into Faraday

Garvey M Elementary School will be closed into Mount Vernon

Goldblatt Elementary School will be closed into Hefferan

Goodlow Elementary Magnet School will be closed into Earle

Henson Elementary School will be closed into C. Hughes

Herbert Elementary School will be closed into Dett

Jackson M Elementary School will be closed into Fort Dearborn

Key Elementary School will be closed into Ellington

King Elementary School will be closed into Jensen

Kohn Elementary School will be closed into Cullen, Lavizzo, L. Hughes

Lafayette Elementary School will be closed into Chopin

Lawrence Elementary School will be closed into Burnham

Manierre Elementary School will be closed into Jenner

Marconi Elementary Community Academy will be closed into Tilton

May Elementary Community Academy will be closed into Leland

Mayo Elementary School will be closed into Wells

Morgan Elementary School will be closed into Ryder

Near North will be closed into Montefiore

Overton Elementary School will be closed into Mollison

Owens Elementary Community Academy will be closed into Gompers

Paderewski Elementary Learning Academy will be closed into Cardenas and Castellanos

Parkman Elementary School will be closed into Sherwood

Peabody Elementary School will be closed into Otis

Pershing West Elementary Magnet School will be closed into Pershing East

Pope Elementary School will be closed into Johnson

Ross Elementary School will be closed into Dulles

Ryerson Elementary School will be closed into Ward

Sexton Elementary School will be closed into Fiske

Songhai Elementary Learning Institute will be closed into Curtis

Stewart Elementary School will be closed into Brennemann

Stockton Elementary School will be closed into Courtenay

Trumbull Elementary School will be closed into Chappell, McPherson, McCutcheon

Von Humboldt Elementary School will be closed into De Diego

West Pullman Elementary School will be closed into Haley

Williams Middle Prep Academy will be closed into Drake

Williams Multiplex Elementary School will be closed into Drake

Woods Elementary Math & Science Academy will be closed into Bass

Yale Elementary School will be closed into Harvar

Via: Chicago Teachers Union:

Image Source: 
Teachers For Justice

CPS to name 50 School Closings in One Night

Thu, 03/21/2013 - 14:51 | Alex

Tonight (March 21st, 2013) CPS will be announcing the plan to close at least 50 schools.

Chicago Public Schools officials are expected to announce about 50 elementary schools will be closed — believed to be the largest number ever closed in one place at one time in the country, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Four City Hall sources put the number of closures at 50 or slightly higher.

There is a rally against school closings at 4pm at Daley Plaza on March 27th. "If they want to shutdown our schools, we'll shutdown the city! Read More at The Chicago Sun Times:

Image Source: 
(Photo: Sarah Jane Rhee/Chicago Indymedia, Creative Commons)

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