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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:38pm
Thu May 30
1 comment

CPS' Push For Privatized Charter Schools Promotes Inequality, Education Panelists Say (VIDEO)

The ongoing push for charter schools across the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district may infringe upon the fundamental human right to equal opportunity for education, according to a group of panelists who discussed privatization and education at the University of Chicago Wednesday night.

“Leaving people out of education is unacceptable ... Not having access to good public schools is a human rights issue,” said Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), who sat on the panel with David Moberg, senior editor of In These Times and Susan Gzesh, executive director of the University of Chicago’s Human Rights Program.

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
3:58pm
Thu May 30

Struggling Small Business Owners Seek Help From Cook County Commissioners

Chicago small business owners and Northwest Side residents say local businesses are dying off, and they need Cook County officials to intervene. 

"We, of course, have been slaughtered in the recession in the last four to five years," said Mark Thomas, owner of The Alley Chicago, at a Cook County economic development forum Thursday morning.

Thomas told Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Commissioners Edwin Reyes (8th) and John Fritchey (12th) that landlords should see some sort of tax incentive to encourage them to rent space to local businesses rather than chain stores.

Elise Doody-Jones, a small business owner in Logan Square, added that rents are too expensive. The high rents are a burden for neighborhood businesses and can often discourage small business owners to set up shop, she said.

Larger corporations generally do not move their businesses into communities until they feel the demographics and income levels are right, she explained.

"It's really the small businesses who run on a shoestring that step in," she said. "But the rents are too high because the property taxes are too high."  Read more »

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
7:21pm
Wed May 29

Protesters Call On Obama To Reject Keystone Pipeline, Stop Deportations (VIDEO)

Environmentalists and comprehensive immigration reform advocates protested outside Chicago's Downtown Hilton where President Barack Obama and other key political leaders attended a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser Wednesday evening.

Activists called upon Obama to stop the deportation of undocumented immigrants and reject the Keystone XL Pipeline, among other issues.

Yesenia Najera, 11, a leader of the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, said her father was deported earlier this month.

"It is not fair," she said. "My dad is a good person and will always care for me and my brother and sister."

No other child should have to endure that kind of pain, she said.

Najera had one question for Obama.

"Will you stand for immigration families, and stop all deportation until immigration reform passes," she asked. "Not one more. Not one more."

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:34pm
Wed May 29

Push Back Against Koch Brothers' Potential Tribune Purchase Continues With National Day Of Action (VIDEO)

Protesters are ramping up advocacy against the potential sale of all or some of the Tribune Company to the conservative billionaire Koch brothers with a nationwide day of action. Meanwhile, the number of signatures on various online petitions has risen to more than 500,000.

“We will not sell our freedom of speech. We will not sell our right to have independent news. We will not sell the City of Chicago,” said Shani Smith, 38, a project organizer with Stand Up! Chicago. “We are here for senior citizens, for children, for working families, and that’s what we stand for. If the Koch brothers don’t stand for it, they most certainly cannot buy the Chicago Tribune.”

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
3:04pm
Wed May 29
3 comments

As A Result Of School Closures, CPS Parents Consider Homeschooling

Education

Progress Illinois takes a closer look at how some parents are seeing homeschooling as an alternative to Chicago public schools in the wake of the district's controversial plan to close, consolidate and turnaround more than 50 schools.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:37pm
Wed May 29

CTU, Parents File New Lawsuit Against School Closings

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and parents of neighborhood school students filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday to stop 10 schools from shutting down that independent hearing officers previously recommended the district not to close.

Independent hearing officers ruled earlier this month that Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett failed to comply with the board's own school closing guidelines for 10 of the 50 schools approved for closure last week.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to issue an injunction, which would bar CPS from closing the 10 schools for the upcoming school year, said CTU lead attorney Robert Bloch.

“The board of education is now taking an approach that many believe it has been following all along, the public hearings on school closings were just for show," Bloch said. "The board does not view itself as obligated to respect the rulings of its own handpicked hearing officers." 

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