As opponents of school closings in Chicago pack community meetings this week to make their voice heard, charter school advocates took part in a rally Tuesday at Union Station to draw attention to their call for greater school choice.
Thousands of parents, students and teachers gathered in the station’s Great Hall wearing yellow scarves and T-shirts to rally for school choice and equal funding for charter schools.
The rally was part of a cross-country tour organized by the coalition behind National School Choice Week. The local organizer, the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, used the occasion to fire up parents who it says want access to higher-quality schools.
“There’s a demand for more charter schools, and parents are saying they’re tired of squabbling, they want better school choices.” said Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois network, earlier in the day.
Opponents of charter schools tie the increasing number of charters to the closings of district-run neighborhood schools. In recent years, most new charter schools in Chicago have opened in buildings that formerly housed neighborhood schools.
Every year that the Chicago Public Schools district talks about shutting schools, both charter advocates and opponents — the latter group primarily led by the Chicago Teachers Union —have organized rallies to support their positions. The two sides also pack public hearings.
This year has been no different, although the stakes may be even higher.
CPS and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration are considering closing scores of underenrolled schools, well beyond the handful of schools shut down annually by the district in the past.
At a community meeting the district organized Monday night at Truman College on the North Side, hundreds of protesters shouted down CPS officials. Many participants said they did not get a chance to give prepared testimony because public participation was limited to small breakout sessions put together by Loran Marketing Group.
CPS said Loran is being paid through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. According to its website, the foundation is the largest private supporter of charter school startups in the country.
On Tuesday, CPS officials said time will now be allotted at the start of meetings for public comment.
Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said Tuesday that teachers and parents who fear their schools may close have asked the union to help them organize. The union has helped community members gather petitions, Sharkey said.
“The charter schools are trying to create the impression to the public that there’s tons of support for them to open schools,” Sharkey said. “This is their way to ensure that politicians don’t get cold feet when they see all these people protesting against public schools getting closed.”
At Union Station on Tuesday, charter- and private-school advocates listened to a parade of speakers promoting school choice. Angela Spencer’s daughter is a sophomore at Chicago Bulls College Prep, a charter, and will travel to China next year, Spencer said.
“We want the rest of our kids to go to charter schools too,” Spencer said, “so we really want (charter schools) to have the funding.”
Cynthia Lewis, whose son attends Urban Prep Academies’ West Campus, said she supports the closing of some CPS schools if it means more charter schools.
“I feel that all kids should have an equal opportunity when it comes to school as well as academics,” Lewis said.
