Photo/Sarah Jane Rhee
The sledgehammer came down on the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on May 22: the school board voted to close 49 schools, “turn around” another five, and “co-locate” 11 more schools. This largest school massacre in the country followed six months of mind-numbing hearings across the city, in which those threatened by potential school closures begged officials to stop them. Finally, from May 18-20 parents, teachers and students marched across the city, circled many of the schools to be closed, and converged on May 20 at city hall. Laying the blame at the feet of Mayor Emanuel, 26 protestors were arrested as they sat down, blocked elevators and refused to leave.
This phase is over, but the war goes on. The Chicago Teachers Union and its allied community organizations are beginning a legislative push to overturn Mayoral control and institute an elected school board. They have also started a voter registration drive to unseat legislators unfriendly to their education program.
What is the strategy of the enemy?
Throughout the fall and winter, the city argued that closing schools would allow CPS to concentrate more money and resources in a smaller number of schools. Now CPS has released school-by-school budgets for next year. Sources with access to budget information have already reported substantial cutbacks (e.g. Foreman High School will lose $1.7 million).
At the same time, Barbara Byrd-Bennett released a report June 10 calling for a “five-year plan” to improve Chicago education, filled with ambitious goals and plans, requiring non-existent funding, backed up by platitudes. We’ve seen this smokescreen before, with previous school administrations.
When school opens in August, parents will be told to accept the school closings. The city is counting on the summer respite, rosy promises and more limited “school actions” (like charter schools and turnarounds) next year to blunt the opposition.
Meanwhile, the cost cutting is likely to include massive teacher and support staff layoffs (note that Philadelphia just announced closing 23 schools and laying off 3,000 teachers). The two main tactics of the city continue to be isolating the teachers and their union; and splitting the growing unity among different communities and ethnic groups.
Civil disobedience may greet returning students in the fall. Legal and legislative challenges will also wind their way through the appropriate channels. These efforts to retard the attacks on our rights must continue. But the persistent actions of the Mayor and his political and corporate cronies show us that the arena of trade union bargains, appeals to politicians and school-by-school fights cannot resolve the issue.
Our tactic must be to fight for the ever-growing union of the class in its fight for its immediate needs. Education “reform” aims to destroy public education, the only form of education for the poorest section of our society, regardless of ethnicity. It is the end of the social safety net for those who are the most expendable in our midst.
This is a political fight for whether the people or the corporations will control society, and thus provide a world-class education for all of our children.
