Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed the Board of Education, which will vote on the matter, as well as CPS Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who has overseen the process. All have become subjects for harsh CTU criticism.
“School closings hurt children academically, and the mayor’s plan will also put thousands of students’ safety at risk, and many public school employees may lose their jobs,” said CTU President Karen Lewis. “We must do whatever is necessary to stop this assault on the working class and the poor. Instead of just getting angry we must organize. Tell Emanuel, the board, the school CEO and their corporate sponsors that this is our city, these are our schools and we will use our voice to fight for justice.”
The two legs of the march will step off May 18 at 10 a.m. at the Jesse Owens Elementary School on the South Side in West Pullman at 12450 S. State St. and on the West Side at the Jean de Lafayette Elementary School, 2714 W. Augusta Blvd., in Humboldt Park. In many cases they’ll follow the course students will take from closed schools to so-called welcoming schools that will accept them in the fall. While CTU hasn’t released details of how many hours or miles they will march each day, the two groups of marchers will meet downtown for the demonstration.
CTU is asking marchers to register beforehand.