LaSharon Carter of Wheatly Child Parent Center spoke about the closing of the full day pre-schools, a child parent center position closing, and all programs being cut to half day. Budget cuts of programs for children are being cut while money is being spent on renting facilities owned by “Blind Trusts” for administrative offices. Duncan’s priorities! Carter implored the Board to change. They have been closing child/parent centers across the city even though research shows they are more effective than either head start or no programs. She spoke with a large group, asking for reconsideration. Munana had Board staffer Barbara Bowman repeat what she always does: cuts are budgetary.

Derrick Harris of North Lawndale Accountability Commission spoke about “Lies and Dams lies or the Shame of a Nation?” Harris spoke about the Sun-Times’ article of March 14, 2006 about the CEO quote that “School Closings to Continue” despite “School Violence.” According to Harris, the article showed with graphs that eight schools which received students from closing schools had a huge surge in violence. Duncan had claimed not to know this would happen this year. However, oral testimony at hearings on the school closings in June 2004 had predicted it, there were written transcripts of the hearings, and this reporter had asked him about the problems at Wells last year. He subsequently sent more students in large numbers to Wells for a second year.

Harris wanted a response to his questions from Duncan, Eason-Watkins or Scott, none of whom were in the room. He wanted a copy of any research from anywhere in the world that showed ‘’closing schools” was good. He wanted to know if Duncan’s quote represented the Board or just his own opinion. He also wanted to know why Duncan said that the counselor ratio was “out of whack” at 600 to 1 and there’s no money for more, but Duncan gave Mahalia Jackson and the Ren 2010 staff raises in pay and office budget. Harris also wanted to know in the NCLB six-year guide line where did it have any statement about school closings. He asked the be told the Board’s safety and security plan for closing (and receiving) schools. He had been at a meeting at Clemente the previous Monday convened by the State’s Attorney’s Office where Latino and White parents spoke of the “African-American problem.” Harris said he was the only African American there. He said no one from various Board offices was present at the meeting. Finally, he wanted to know if Scott had read Jonathan Kozol’s book “Shame of a Nation.”

In the same month, March, as the Sun-Times article, Chicago Magazine printed an article with a map showing where wealth was distributed in Chicago. Strangely, all the receiving schools seemed to be in areas next to a wealthier area, with more expensive property. Munana said no one was present who could answer any questions at the present.

Desi Smith stated how wonderful her school, Global Alliance Prep, was, but that it had no permanent home and needed a facility. Duncan said they’d keep working on it.

Wanda Taylor told how she felt her oldest son had been wrongly criminalized by being arrested at Kennedy High School for an altercation where he was accused of stealing bus passes. She felt that he should not have been arrested, and some other system needed to exist to prevent student’s from being arrested. She claimed the damage was already done to her son, but wanted to prevent of the arrests of others as her three younger sons.

Before the next Board meeting, her son would be one of four students who brutally attacked a Kennedy student. The incident reportedly happened in the Kennedy auditorium with hundreds of witnesses who saw them also throw feces on the student. The four have been arrested and suspended. The victim (whose nose was broken) has been transferred out of CPS as has a terrorized Harlan student. The drop out study given to Bill Gates does not mention this cause for dropping out. Students at Kennedy walked out asking for police as security and restoration of career classes. An off duty policeman hired as a security guard was punched in the face by another student other than the four arrested.

Janice Jeffries of Marquette Elementary LSC spoke about a conspiracy to destroy the authority of the LSC. The LSC had voted five to two to not renew the contract of the principal. However, the decision was not being upheld. Board Attorney Patrick Rocks said he’d reply to the lawyer hired by the LSC within the next two days. Munana said she would review any papers.

The next speaker revealed why a number of Board members, including Michael Scott, had not been present at the beginning of the meeting and why the meeting was taking place an hour earlier than the usual time. Wanda Hopkins of PURE mentioned she hoped the Board would not meet with the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club in executive session, violating the Open Meetings Act. Hopkins was referring to the fact that the Board members were scheduled to have lunch with U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings at noon, and that the Civic Committee had informed people that the luncheon was “private.”

She also talked about parents having their involvement decreased. She also talked about not having Michelle Clark used as a receiving school for students from closed schools. It is strange that CPS would send students to a school with which the sending school had been involved a huge fight. Earlier, speakers had reported that students from Clark, May and Austin were involved in a riot in front of the Reverend Livingston’s Church less than one year ago. Apparently, the demographics dept. did not remember. Perhaps they wanted to integrate the fighters and their opposition.

Kalid Johnson of the Westside Health Authority represented the Westside school improvement campaign saying it was “outraged over” the remarks made by Arne Duncan over school closings continuing despite the violence in the schools. Apparently angry, Johnson shook his finger at Duncan and said “you would not have said that if it were your child.” He said that his organization said west side children were their children. He lauded Representative Cynthia Soto and Alderman Michael Chandler for taking action at the behest of their constituents. Soto had introduced a bill in Springfield to halt school closings in Chicago, and Chandler had a resolution pending before Chicago’s City Council. He felt CPS administration had been unjust in feeling the officials were adversaries of the flawed policies. He said he represented the community which did not want students sent to Manly, Crane, Clemente, or Wells or anyone out of the community.

He said something had happened in the 8th District the previous night. He warned the CPS Board that they should recognize that there were “Winds of Change,” or it would regret it later.

Anabel Bermudez and Daniel Sullivan spoke of the wonderful program at Telpochcalli Elementary. They asked that the principal’s contract be renewed and the signed contract be honored.

Tenara Averett, Raysheena Smith and Jennie Greer appeared for Sherman Elementary School, which has been selected to reopen under Urban School Leadership and a new principal. Sherman had been “reconstituted” a few months earlier at the time the Board voted to close other schools. Everyone was in agreement about starting with this program in the fall depending on Board approval. Munana and Duncan agreed all was turning out well at one school.

Viridia Hatchett had asked for information in March of 2005. She still did not have it from CPS. She also asked about the Parent Community Advisory Board. She wanted to know how it was funded . She called it a “private club” since a person would have to apply for it. She also wanted to know the source of the $450,000. 00 given to this group and to know why anyone under NCLB could not join. She asked CPS Board to investigate. She should be asking the State’s Attorney.

Syvester Hendricks of the Afrosytric Youth Association asked for a moment of silence for the recently deceased children including his own. He then said that after public relations by the Board, there was a good turnout for LSC elections. Scott asked if this was a compliment? Hendricks said it was. He then spoke of a fax machine # for James Deanes Office, #1401, which seemed to not work for some candidate applications. Scott told the procedure for providing proof.

Debbie Sims wanted to set up a meeting with Eason-Watkins.

Janice Jones state she was a parent and community activist at Harlan High School (and Alderman Lyles office). She said at Harlan: “We are in danger. We are unsafe. The drugs, the violence and gangs are an everyday presence. These are signs we are unsafe.” She said they could not wait. Action needed to be taken today.

She said that since September, there have been 1,500 suspensions and 1, 140 arrests. She said security was outnumbered. They needed more security, cameras, and space. They needed a population cap and to return boundaries to the way they were before the CPS administration sent violent gangs to Harlan. She said they are overcrowded (not a small school) and accepting no more students from closing schools. They needed a position paid by the Board for a disciplinarian with zero tolerance for fighting. Food fights and disrespect to the staff went on every day. For two years, Harlan has been receiving students transferred from Calumet High School, which stopped taking 9th graders in September 2004.

When calling the office where seven girls fighting, she heard a stream of swearing. There’s unruly behavior. She said Scott came out after the shooting in the school in the fall. (Remember last month Scott told a Harlan parent at that time the Principal had said she had not received the deserved number of teachers and had programming and crowding problems. Scott said she did not mention security. He was there after a shooting and felt someone needed to tell him?

She said they are losing good parents. The firefighter who spoke the preceding month took his student out of Harlan after he was beaten by a gang of 15 violent people. Scott accepted the blame for what had not been done and said it would be fixed immediately. Harlan parents would be back in April.

Renee Buchanan and a male junior from Harlan reiterated the fear they have going to class and to school. It is hard to get to class in three minutes because of fights in the hall. One student in anger punched a hole in plate glass in the lunchroom, leaving blood all over the hall. She said “We’re terrified,” and it’s hard. The male student said there were riots in the school and students were “wrecking havoc.” He was also terrified because he could be stabbed or shot at any time. Munana thanked them all for coming down.

Derrick Banks who is a vendor and a parent and husband of an educator said that his program “Streets that Teach” could help alleviate the crime wave in our schools and hoped the Board would consider it. Munana thanked him for coming.

John Connor , a junior at Kelly High School, spoke about limiting the access to public school for military recruiters. Rather than simply obeying the NCLB bill for recruiters to have equal access to students as college recruiters, military recruiters had overstepped their roles. There had been incidents of recruiters coming and going without checking with office, following and pressuring students, roaming the halls. Notice they are at Kelly and Northlawndale Prep. They are not roaming the halls of Harlan, Wells or Clemente. Scott agreed and said they were getting report and intended to create a strict list to be given to principals. Connor asked how his group could get information. Scott (who had finally arrived at the meeting) told Don Pittman to arrange communications. The public participation was then over. Munana thanked everyone and Scott apologized for staff not doing its job.

Before closed session staff gave reports on removing books from libraries and changes for schools going on probation. Charter schools are not held accountable by the same standards as regular schools.

After closed sessions, payments for workman compensation cases were approved along with fees for lawyers handling law cases against the Board, real estate purchases, and Board items by number.