In
April of 2002, on a regular school day, I was teaching in my classroom
when about administrators and security , many wearing dark suits stormed
our building. Simultaneously, a fellow colleague ( We will call her
Mrs. ran up to me an said,
"Something is wrong, there are about 100 Chicago Public School
officials in the school , they are going in everyone's classroom. I had
no idea what was going on. I looked out the window of my third floor
classroom, only to find 3 Prison buses lined up outside the building. I
was concerned because this was shortly after the attack on the World
Trade Center. Shortly after that I. could hear our principal's voice
over the intercom calling teachers from classrooms K-9. We had no idea
what was happening.
Eventually we were called one by one to
the auditorium and given letters to our students that for the first time
in the history of public education, a public school would be closed. I
looked at my colleagues and said, "They are going to use these "so
called" failing test scores to close down every school in this city. "
They are trying to gentrify this city and this is the way they have
decided to do it. To use a criteria created through years of
underfunding, injustice and inequitable education to shut down schools
was the Chicago Plan. After years of teacher bashing in the media, the
community was ready for something new. They were ripe for the
introduction of new school models which in most cases left schools void
of any semblance of cultural identity and diversity. Inner -city schools
would become the target of one of the greatest master schemes of
betrayal, economic loss, racism and gentrification. A scheme that would
sweep the nation like wild fire resulting in the destruction of a great
American Institution, Public Education.
The consequence of
the Chicago Plan would result in nation-wide mass job loss for African
American educators, who by profession are the largest group of
profession African Americans. This initiative would eradicate economic
security in African American communities, minimize the number of college
bound African American youth, add to the impending housing crisis and
Create the loss of cultural identity and within 10 years a complete
reversal of everything gained since the 1954 case of brown Vs, the Board
of education. http://www.uscourts.gov/
This would be done without resistance and with complete acceptance and
cooperation by our own communities, our parents, communities, students
and even teachers would applaud the take-down of this great African
American institution, not realizing that they have just turned back the
hands of time and reduced our people to a status similar to that of 1954
when in most African American schools had few African American teachers
to serve as role models. Within a few years, the number of African
American teachers will drop to the lowest it's been since the early
sixties. This initiative," The Chicago Plan". has swept the nation with
the appointment of Arne Duncan as head of Education for the US
government. This Plan was about gentrifying communities in an effort to
take back large major urban school districts by reducing the number of
African Americans living, working and going to school in those
districts.
Eventually we were called one by one to the auditorium and given letters to our students that for the first time in the history of public education, a public school would be closed. I looked at my colleagues and said, "They are going to use these "so called" failing test scores to close down every school in this city. " They are trying to gentrify this city and this is the way they have decided to do it. To use a criteria created through years of underfunding, injustice and inequitable education to shut down schools was the Chicago Plan. After years of teacher bashing in the media, the community was ready for something new. They were ripe for the introduction of new school models which in most cases left schools void of any semblance of cultural identity and diversity. Inner -city schools would become the target of one of the greatest master schemes of betrayal, economic loss, racism and gentrification. A scheme that would sweep the nation like wild fire resulting in the destruction of a great American Institution, Public Education.
The consequence of the Chicago Plan would result in nation-wide mass job loss for African American educators, who by profession are the largest group of profession African Americans. This initiative would eradicate economic security in African American communities, minimize the number of college bound African American youth, add to the impending housing crisis and Create the loss of cultural identity and within 10 years a complete reversal of everything gained since the 1954 case of brown Vs, the Board of education. http://www.uscourts.gov/
This would be done without resistance and with complete acceptance and cooperation by our own communities, our parents, communities, students and even teachers would applaud the take-down of this great African American institution, not realizing that they have just turned back the hands of time and reduced our people to a status similar to that of 1954 when in most African American schools had few African American teachers to serve as role models. Within a few years, the number of African American teachers will drop to the lowest it's been since the early sixties. This initiative," The Chicago Plan". has swept the nation with the appointment of Arne Duncan as head of Education for the US government. This Plan was about gentrifying communities in an effort to take back large major urban school districts by reducing the number of African Americans living, working and going to school in those districts.
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