Mayor orders CPS to block access to Substance from inside Chicago Public Schools... Corporate media can still be read and accessed from inside nation's third largest school system's 660 schools and other offices
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, through his hand-picked "Chief Executive Officer" Jean-Claude Brizard, has ordered the Chicago Public Schools to block access by teachers, students and others to the Substance website — www.substancenews.net — from inside all 660 Chicago public schools, and from the school system's central and "network" offices. The order came into effect no later than August 13, 2012, when teachers returned to the so-called "Track E" year-round schools and has been imposed on all the schools since then. Teachers and other staff from the 241 Track E schools began reporting the problems during the second week of August 2012 to Substance.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his handpicked "Chief Executive Officer" for CPS Jean-Claude Brizard proclaimed in a December 2011 media event (above) that "COMPSTAT CPS" was going to improve security in Chicago's public schools through the use of computers rather than human beings to do security work. A month later, crime and murders began to increase across Chicago, while Brizard and Emanuel continued to spend millions of dollars on technology and cut human beings from most important activities. In August 2012, the mayor and his CEO ordered the blockage against substancenews.net in all Chicago schools. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. The problem continued in all "Track R" (regular) Chicago public schools when teachers and other staff returned to the schools for Professional Development (PD) days on August 27, 2012.
The CPS Office of Communications refuses to return Substance phone calls on major stories.
Substance is the only news site being blocked by CPS officials. Chicago Public Schools is the nation's third largest school system, and has been under mayoral control since 1995. A partial survey from several schools during the week of August 20 and a more detailed survey of schools on August 27 showed that teachers could access the Chicago Sun-Times and other media that regularly publish mayoral propaganda as "news" but cannot get www.substancenews.net.
Comments:
By: Bob Busch
Librorum Prohibitorum
Why so unhappy? Substance joins a long list of forbidden writings. Marx,Hitler,and numerous other publications have been banned. But this is also an acknowledgement that Substance is beginning to annoy ignorant people who think this will prevent inquiring minds from finding the truth wherever it is written. Congratulations on being 'Banned in
Chicago' quite a feat if you think about it
By: Manuel Jackson
CPS blocking substance website
I thought we lived in the United States of America, not CHINA...
I pray we teachers go on strike. I am so tired of all the craziness from rahm (lowercase) I hope the parents, teachers, and students from all over chicago tear up 125 s clark and the mayors office too.
By: Irma Hillock
Today's news including Substance
I though that CPS falls under taxpayers money. Why are they able to do this?
By: Rachel Fowler
Censorship of site
When I was working in the Office of Math and Science before I retired, I would get pornographic emails through my CPS email program. I sent one of them to the head of the appropriate department saying that I didn't want to receive any more. His secretary responded that I was not to send him any more of those emails as he did not want to see them! Amazing that Rahm is blocking Substance but CPS couldn't block porno.
By: Jim Kelly
Proxy Sites
You can always download a proxy site. I would list them, but CPS trolls would try to block them too. If you don't know, just ask your students, they use them all the time to gain access to Facebook and other contraband websites. The CPS filters are rather easy to bypass.
By: Deborah Rudnicki
Other internet censorship by CPS
CPS monitors all internet activity and blocks what they deem to be counter to CPS policy including private emails on private email addresses.
By: John Kugler
Rahm Blocks the Truth about Crime
Clue for the Media
See if you can follow this:
Bank robberies are UP - these are reported to the FBI. Lying to the FBI is a very big no-no. People go to prison for this;
Auto Thefts are UP - Insurance companies report to stock holders and won't pay out without quite a bit of paperwork;
Shootings are UP - the Tribune, either by accident or by design, published the actual number of shootings as compared to last year;
Murders are UP - it is extremely difficult to hide a dead body, Drew Peterson aside.
We can't locate the Arson numbers at the moment, but it was UP earlier in the year. No idea if it leveled off or dropped at the moment.
Now, you can prove that these crimes are UP, but you want to believe everything else is down? Not just down, but down by 9% to 15% according to Rahm and McNumbers? Go read the CompStat book we've touted here a few times. Go look at the Milwaukee PD that is in all sorts of hot water for downgrading assaults, batteries and other crimes. Go look at any other metropolitan police force that is using the CompStat method of counting crime
We're leading you to the water here, but you're still drinking the Kool-Aid. Wake up.
http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2012/08/clue-for-media.html
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By: Danny van Over
Substance still available
I was able to access Substance News at school today (using the CPS network).
By: Melanie Wojtulewicz
Retired teacher checks Mr. Brizard's Constitution test
I presume that he is familiar with the Constitution of the United States, but maybe not. Maybe he does not know about freedom of the press and censorship.
By: Bob Schubreth
Lack of democracy under Rahm.
Rahm Emanual is truly a disgrace to the Democratic party. He acts as if he is king. Blocking Substance is a case, in point, as to how Rahm governs; silence all opposing views. He is truly an embarrassment to the ideals of democracy. If we the Democratic City of Chicago do not through this guy out on his ear, then we are liable for the disintegration of our own party's ideals!
By: Erika Robers
Teacher website censored/banned
Good thing Rahm and Brizzard care so deeply about free speech and access to information. Oh wait...