You Tube video shows press conference for an elected school board
Protesters for an elected school board (and against the Longest School Day) marched in front of CPS headquarters before the March 28, 2012 Board meeting. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Even before the Chicago Board of Education began its monthly meeting on March 22, 2012, at its downtown office headquarters at 125 S. Clark St., a spirited demonstration of more than 100 people had been marching outside the building. The group, which is now known as the "Coalition for an Elected School Board," held a press conference to demand that the current school board (all seven of whose members are appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel) be replaced by what the organizers are calling a "Representative Elected School Board." Speakers at the press conference included parents from across Chicago, as well as community activists, university teachers, and Chicago Teachers Union leaders.
The press conference held outside CPS headquarters was chaired by longtime schools activist Jiru Brown of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), which is based in Bronzeville. "We are here now to announce that we are launching a campaign for real reform — a campaign for an elected school board," Brown began the press conference. Speakers at the press conference came from all of Chicago's communities from the 19th Ward on the city's Southwest Side (home of the "South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade") to the far north side and Pilsen/Little Village near the center of the city.
The speakers at the press conference included union people, teachers, parents, community leaders, and others. Most TV stations covered the protest and the call for an elected school board, although it was ignored by the Chicago Sun-Times, which was recently purchased by a group of wealthy New York investment moguls who are also friends of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
A You Tube video was posted on line on March 24, 2012 and can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L1wr5UZnXg
