Day 16 of sit-in for school library. School official says 160 Chicago schools have no library.

[madfloridian]

I was really surprised to read that an official of the public school system in Chicago would actually use that as an excuse for not giving in to the parents at Whittier. They should be ashamed to say that 160 schools don't have libraries...not use it as a reason to deny parents the library.

Sit-in parents at Whittier set for long winter

Surrounded by pots of food and refrigerators filled with milk and pop, Pilsen parents vowed Friday to remain entrenched through the winter in a field house that officials want demolished but parents want converted to a library-parent center.

"We're here, and we're going to stay here until we get the library the way we want it,'' Pilsen resident Evelin Santos said of the Whittier School field house that officials call a safety hazard.

..."The battle entered its 16th day Friday, as dozens of parents and residents refused to vacate the building at 1900 W. 23rd St., known as "La Casita'' -- frustrating a Chicago Public Schools plan to raze it and put down artificial turf. Chicago Teachers Union officials on Friday dropped off more than 500 books to the makeshift library, decorated with handmade curtains and donated bookshelves, that parents opened in La Casita this week.

This was a strange statement from the CPS:

Parents want to continue those services, and add a badly needed library for kids and adults, Santos said. However, CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond said more than 160 CPS schools don't have libraries.

Well, the loss of libraries appears to be a pattern. National policy tends to carry over to local levels, even making it okay for a school system to say out loud that 160 of their city schools don't have libraries.

Priorities out of order. School libraries closing, teaching for high test scores increasing.

As the school budget crisis deepens, administrators across the nation have started to view school libraries as luxuries that can be axed rather than places where kids learn to love reading and do research.

In fact now the federal government is not only allowing more money for high-stakes testing, it is now awarding millions to consortiums who are going to develop MORE high-stakes tests....even as school libraries go begging.

Utah, other states get money for new school testing

A coalition of 31 states, including Utah, was awarded $160 million in federal funding to develop an adaptive testing system for use in public schools.

Judy Park, associate superintendent for student services and federal programs for the Utah State Office of Education, cochairs the executive committee of the partnership of states known as the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Utah was one of two states that applied for and received federal Race to the Top money to develop an assessment system.

..."The tests the consortium plans to develop will be administered on a computer and given multiple times a year to students in grades 3-8 and 11, and will provide real-time results and a chance to chart student progress throughout the school year.

Here is more about the sit-in.

Whittier Field House Library Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Parents of students at the Whittier Dual Language School opened a new library in the occupied Whittier Field House on Thursday, September 30, with the help of the Chicago Underground Library and donations from as far away as Florida. The following photographs are from the ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the library at 5pm with speeches, song, prayer and -- of course -- some reading.

Some pictures from that link:


Putting finishing touches on the new library.


Children race to open the new library.

[KansDem]

1. This is an abomination!

I've worked in libraries for some 20 years, I've seen what happens to students who don't learn library skills at an early age.

I've seen kids, and adults for that matter, who don't know how to use a dictionary. Or how to look up an article in the encyclopedia. Or use a computers. Hell, I've even encountered patrons who can't use the local phone book!

And many of these kids come from "magnet" or "charter" schools who have closed their libraries to save money, and instead have something called "book collections" :shrug:

But the bottom line is "information fluency and literacy." If kids, and the adults they grow up to be, can't find information, they are doomed ot a life of requiring someone else to do it for them.

We are doing them no favors by enabling their shortcomings.

I occasionally teach database searching to KC students. As I began each demonstration of how to find information, I say, "The key to happiness is self-reliance. If you can't find the information you need, you'll be dependent on someone else to do it for you...all of your life."

[madfloridian]

9. I began teaching my students library skills in 2nd grade.

I would send them in small groups to research in cooperation with the library's assistants. I can not imagine kids not having access to a library in school.

I even had a small one in my classroom whatever grade level I taught. Mostly paperbacks I ordered, and I let them sign them out for a few nights.

No library? Mind-numbing.

[Starry Messenger]

2. Everyone knows it's the teachers' fault.

Look at the miserable faces on the children in the bottom picture, you can just see they'd rather have a turf field instead of a library. :sarcasm:

[madfloridian]

4. Never lose your sig picture. I love it.

[Starry Messenger]

7. Thank you!

:D

[Billy Burnett]

3. I guess the rich need another tax cut. That'll fix this. Cuz, we all know that'll increase revenue.

:sarcasm:

[leftstreet]

5. K&R

[Dappleganger]

6. I'm sure all of those charter schools have libraries.

Paid for with YOUR tax dollars.

[ceile]

8. K&R

[KamaAina]

10. Heckuvajob, Arne!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Angry Dragon]

11. Reading and learning can be a joy!!

Two things one can do for the rest of their life ............
and it is cost effective

[madfloridian]

12. The city just had Peoples Gas turn off the gas to the library.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/gas-cut-off----field-house-sit-in-in-pilsen-continues.html

[strategery blunder]

14. The comments at the article are disturbing.

"Does CPS know what criminal trespass is? End of problem!"

:puke:

Because we all know that it's a BAD thing for teh little brown people to gain hands on experience with sit-ins, to learn how to stand up for their needs. We wouldn't want little brown people to do such uppity things as continuing the civil rights movement, now would we?

:sarcasm:

I've got CPS' "reasonable solution" right here. Spend the 500K allocated for demolition on bringing that building up to code. Let the parents and the community volunteer to help get that school library up and running. I thought community involvement in schools was supposed to be a good thing? :shrug:

(On edit: An event like this would be a bonanza for local social studies teachers, insofar as connecting historical relevance to present day is concerned, but for the teachers having to worry about teaching to the test instead. I doubt "How to conduct a sit-in" is tested on the PSAE.)

[madfloridian]

19. I found some of the comments disturbing for sure.

It's a situation that shows up the city and school officials as being against the parents who are trying to make their voices heard.

It's a shocking situation.

[Starry Messenger]

15. Wow. Just wow.

Class warfare at its starkest.

[madrchsod]

13. pilsen is one of the oldest neighborhoods in chicago

today it is latino community and i think that`s why they are protesting. it`s like the old days of red lining...the community is`t worth investing in.

this is what bill ayers was writing about...communities taking charge of their schools.


oh my god....it`s.. power to the people!

[nightgaunt]

17. Someone with a stake in it will do the best job

These are the families in the area whose dedication comes not from a paycheck but from the pureness of an actual need. I had heard that during the last Depression the libraries stayed open. But today they close them and restrict their hours whenever they can. Monstrous.

[unkachuck]

16. I have....

....complete confidence that Rahm will resolve this to the total satisfaction of the parents....

....c'mon Rahm, show the people and voters your amazing mayoral problem-solving stuff....

[Jefferson23]

18. 160 Chicago schools have no library, sounds like a 3rd world scenario.

What is Duncan doing with the 10 billion dollars he has access to?

This must be the teachers and the unions fault too.

:sarcasm:















:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: to wake up America.

[madfloridian]

20. Seems they want that field for a soccer field to be used by a private school

"Chicago school boss Ron Huberman has ordered the heat turned off inside Whittier School field house in an attempt to freeze neighborhood parents out of a building they've been occupying for nearly a month, round the clock to prevent demolition. The gas shutoff left the field house without heat or hot water, just as night temperatures were due to fall to the 40s.

CPS wants to raze the structure, which it calls unsafe, and put in a soccer field to be used by a nearby private school, Cristo Rey. Parents want it converted to a library and parent center. Whittier is one of 160 Chicago elementary schools without a library.

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2010/10/huberman-tries-to-freeze-out-pilsen.html

[KamaAina]

22. Seems that school is actually a parochial school

Cristo Rey = Christ the King. :wtf: is CPS doing tearing down its own buildings to benefit them?!

[madfloridian]

23. I wondered the same thing.

In Florida many parochial schools have become charters to get financial help. I wonder if that could be the case here?

[awoke_in_2003]

21. we are reaching...

3rd world status.