Protestors Supporting CPS School Closings Admit They Were Paid!

Chicago Sun-Times photo of Thaddeus Scott outside of HOPE Englewood where he says he was paid to protest in support of school closings. (photo by John J. Kim)

In a front-page investigation by Rosalind Rossi of the Chicago Sun-Times, two men admit they were paid by an organization called HOPE Englewood to protest in favor of closing neighborhood schools!

Action Now members have seen many paid protestors at school turnaround hearings and they have admitted to us as well that they were being paid $25 to show up and many didn’t even know why they were there.

It was also reported in the Sun-Times article that HOPE Englewood has received nearly 1.47 million in CPS contracts since 2010! Is it a coincidence that CPS is giving money to an organization that pays people to support CPS policies?

CPS has claimed that they are looking out for our childrens’ best interests and trying to improve education. If this is so, then why do they have to pay people in the community to protest and lie for them?

Action Now members go to rallies and protest because they believe strongly that they are working for justice. It is disturbing that CPS is paying people to impersonate true community activists and leaders that sacrifice their time and effort for a cause that they truly believe in. We are fighting against CPS school closings and AUSL turnarounds because we know how unjust and harmful they are to our children, parents, teachers and communities.

This is what a REAL protest looks like with ACTUAL community leaders fighting to save their schools from corrupt "big money" institutions like CPS and AUSL!

 

CPS and HOPE Englewood should be ashamed of themselves for preying on low-income people by paying them to protest against their own best interests and the interests of their communities.

Acton Now Holds MLK Day Rally To Protest School Turnarounds And Closings In African-American Communities

Herzl parent Kim Hemphill speaking about CPS setting up neighborhood schools in North Lawndale to fail by denying them basic resources

On January 16^th, 2012, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Action Now community members and parents from Dvorak and Herzl schools held a press conference to voice their concerns about CPS’ pattern of neglecting neighborhood schools in low-income minority communities and then suddenly remodeling and pouring resources into the school right before they announce it is slated for turnaround. The event was held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to highlight the fact that the racial and economic disparities that Dr. King saw when he lived in North Lawndale 45 years ago, still exist today in Chicago’s education system.

Marching past the Dr. King Legacy Apartments, the exact location where Dr. King lived in North Lawndale 45 years ago

As Herzl parent Kim Hempfill said, “We were told that our school would be closed if there weren’t significant gains in our ISAT test scores. Parents and teachers worked hard together to help our children improve and as a result, Herzl jumped 10 points on the ISAT in one year. Then we were told it wasn’t enough and that the school would be an AUSL turnaround. None of the schools in the area are given enough attention and resources they need to be successful except for Johnson, which is an AUSL turnaround school.” After the plan was finalized to turnaround Herzl, contractors have been in and out of the school, children have been moved out of rooms that they are told are going to be remodeled, there are plans for elevators to be put in the building and several other repairs are planned for the summer.

The march to Herzl Elementary

Lisa Russell is a parent of a student at Dvorak, and has seen this CPS pattern many times in the North Lawndale community. She says, “I don’t think the schools are failing, I think the system is failing the schools. You ask CPS for more resources for your school for years and years and you never get them, but then all of a sudden you start getting things when they are about to close the school or turn it into a charter. Parents and teachers came together to help the school improve and stop it from closing, but every time we hit the bar for progress that CPS demanded, they would raise it higher so that no matter how much we got better, it was never enough. They were setting us up to fail. The new renovations at Dvorak follow the pattern and we feel like we’re next. CPS doesn’t want neighborhood schools to succeed.”

Parents, teachers, students and community members gathered in front of Herzl, a school that is on the list to become an AUSL turnaround

Evidence gathered by the Chicago Consortium on School Research shows that school closings and turnarounds fail to improve student achievement and that the racial achievement gap has only gotten larger. Action Now held this press conference and march because we believe it is time to end the inequitable policies which have left low-income students of color in the bottom tier of schools, and which have left schools isolated from their communities.

Action Now members also joined a protest earlier that day on the South Side at Marquette Elementary that is slated for turnaround.

Press coverage:

ABC News (Action Now and Kim Hemphill in video)

Chicago Tribune (Kim Hemphill quoted)

NBC News (Action Now in video)

WGN Radio/RedEye (photo of Action Now and Kim Hemphill quoted)

Progress Illinois (video of Michelle Young speaking and march to Herzl)

Chicago Sun-Times

Even Mitt Romney Supports Raising The Minimum Wage!

Responding to a rope-line question at a campaign event on Saturday in Derry, New Hampshire, former Governor Mitt Romney stated that he favors raising the minimum wage automatically each year so that it keeps pace with inflation. Mr. Romney’s position breaks from conventional GOP opposition to raising the minimum wage.

When asked his position on the minimum wage, Mr. Romney said, “My view has been to allow the minimum wage to rise with the CPI [Consumer Price Index] or with another index so that it adjusts automatically over time….  I already indicated that when I was governor of Massachusetts and that’s my view.”

Whoa! If Mitt Romney can support raising the minimum wage, then it should be a no-brainer for Illinois Democrats!

Watch video:

Action Now Joins KOCO In Protest At Mayor’s Office To Stop School Closings

Chicago Tribune photo of Action Now President Michelle Young and other community leaders protesting outside of the Mayor's office (click image to zoom)

On January 4th, Action Now members joined Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and other local organizations in a protest and sit-in outside of Mayor Emanuel’s office calling for an end to CPS’ failed policy of school closings and turnarounds in low-income minority neighborhoods.

Video of Action Now members singing and chanting with others outside of the Mayor’s office:

Press coverage:

ABC 7 News

Progress Illinois

Chicago Tribune

Action Now Leader Mahaley Somerville

Action Now Leader Mahaley Somerville, age 90, was interviewed by the Woods Fund about her long history fighting for social justice.

“People are afraid to speak up, speak out, but I’m not. I always spoke what I thought was right.”

To read the full profile, click on the image to the right:

 

Action Now Protests Fannie Mae Lawsuit!

Gloria Warner sharing her personal struggles with vacant buildings in her community

Action Now rallied at the offices of Fannie Mae this morning (December 20th) to protest the lawsuit that the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) filed against the City of Chicago’s Vacant Property Ordinance. The FHFA lawsuit is an attempt to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from having to maintain and secure their vacant properties that pose a serious threat to the health and safety of families in Chicago’s communities that have been affected by the foreclosure crisis.

Action Now members marching and chanting outside of Fannie Mae

Action Now members have worked hard for three years to develop a vacant property ordinance that protects our neighborhoods from the crime, property devaluation and health risks associated with vacant homes. In the City of Chicago’s South and West sides and the Southern Suburbs, we have thousands of vacant buildings that were left behind when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refused to modify loans by reducing principle amount owed and threw families out into the street.  Now, these vacant properties sit open to trespassers, drug dealers and thieves, who destroy the buildings as well as the communities.

Trash at a neglected Fannie Mae vacant property on the West Side of Chicago

As Action Now Board Member Gloria Warner said, “I am extremely upset that the FHFA is trying to sue the City of Chicago so that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t have to take care of their vacant properties. It is shameful that the federal government is wasting taxpayer dollars on a lawsuit that is trying to make neighborhoods worse. They should drop their lawsuit immediately and stop trying to interfere with our efforts to make our communities safer!”

Press coverage:

ABC 7 News, “Group Protests Outside Chicago’s Fannie Mae Offices”

Progress Illinois, “Chicagoans Push Back Against Housing Ordinance Lawsuit”

Video of Action Now Board Member Charles Brown speaking at the rally (courtesy of Progress Illinois):

Victory! Cook County Passes Vacant Property Ordinance!

Action Now press conference and rally earlier this year calling for enforcement of Chicago's Vacant Property Ordinance

As a result of Action Now’s hard work on the issues of foreclosure and vacant properties, this morning, December 14th, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a Vacant Property Ordinance! The Cook County Vacant Property Ordinance is similar to the one we got passed in the City of Chicago, and it provides for municipalities in the county to have a uniform vacant property ordinance that they can use to address the problem outside of Chicago.

A member helping at a neighborhood clean-up that Action Now held on a block with several vacant buildings

Action Now Housing Policy Director Braden Listmann spoke at the Cook County Board hearing about why this ordinance is so important, “I would like to focus on things that we can all see and all feel when we live and work in the community. One of our members had her home broken into, her belongings stolen and then stored in a vacant property across the street from her. Other members living near vacant properties have to deal with drug dealers and gang members that use unsecured vacant properties as a criminal haven in their community. In some cases, children have been pulled into vacant buildings and assaulted. You know these facts if you live near vacant buildings that have been neglected during the foreclosure process. Action Now members fight for real changes in the community; and that means keeping people in their homes and ensuring that vacant homes are well maintained so they do not become a nuisance and a danger. Action Now members are willing to fight hard for better communities.”

Press coverage:

Chicago Sun-Times (Action Now’s Braden Listmann quoted)

Chicago Tribune (photo of Action Now at top of article)

Fox Chicago

Recent Minimum Wage and Education News!

Starting January 1, 2012, San Francisco will become the first city in the nation that has a minimum wage above $10 an hour! A 32-cent hike will push the hourly pay to $10.24. If they can do it, so can we!

To get involved in Action Now’s campaign to raise the Illinois minimum wage: go to www.raiseillinois.com

There was a also a great Op-Ed in the New York Times today called “Class Matters. Why Won’t We Admit It?” about the unaddressed link between poverty and education.

Excerpt: “Can anyone credibly believe that the mediocre overall performance of American students on international tests is unrelated to the fact that one-fifth of American children live in poverty? Yet federal education policy seems blind to all this… In Finland, with its famously high-performing schools, schools provide food and free health care for students.”

Click here to read more!

The problems this article addresses can be seen in Chicago with the recurring CPS agenda to close public schools with low-income minority students or privatize them by turning them into charters. Instead of trying to undermine public education for children in poverty, why not allocate resources (TIF $) to make up for the inequalities?

Action Now Members Travel To D.C. To Take Back The Capitol!

Action Now members on the bus to D.C.!

The journey to take back our Capitol for the 99% of Americans began in the early hours of December 5th as 41 Action Now members boarded the buses to Washington D.C. Members joined other community groups, unions, religious organizations, and unemployed workers to go to the nation’s capital from December 5-9th to break the grip that corporate lobbyists have on Congress.

Action Now members at the teach-in and sit-in at Illinois Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk. They stayed there for five hours while Kirk hid in the back room of his office!

They have been holding sit-ins at Congressmen and Senator’s offices, rallying and taking over K Street where corporate lobbying firms are located, setting up a People’s Camp on the National Mall, rallying outside of Speaker Boehner’s office and holding teach-ins and other events to show our legislators that the 99% will no longer be silent in the face of inequality.

For the most part, many of our legislators that routinely vote for tax breaks for big business and against helping working families were so scared that they hid from us or literally ran away. As Aaron Krager, a blogger who traveled to D.C., said, “Instead of talking to constituents, more than a few representatives are choosing to hide behind the very title that we the voters gave them… This is our Congress. These are the people who asked for our votes and then refuse to meet with us. It is no wonder they refuse to meet President Obama halfway on any policy goals. They run away scared, they fake meetings, and they claim ignorance in the face of the unemployed.”

Action Now marching down K street! Whose streets? OUR STREETS!

Action Now at the Capitol!

It has been raining in Washington D.C. all week but that has not slowed anyone down. It has only made us more determined to have our voices heard and hold politicians accountable!

Our fight is not over when we leave the Capitol on December 9th. This is only the beginning of a movement to reclaim our country for the people. We will continue to unite with others all over the country to build power and protest the government’s willingness to give tax breaks to the 1% while the 99% are suffering from unemployment and foreclosure, as well as cuts to schools, health clinics, libraries and possible cuts to medicare, medicaid and social security. The people united will never be defeated!

Rally outside of Speaker Boehner's office

Video:

Action Now and Stand Up! Chicago taking over K Street (footage courtesy of Stand Up! Chicago)

Press coverage:

• MSNBC
• CNN
• L.A. Times
• Washington Post
• FOX News/Associated Press
• International Business Times

School Closings Teach-In

Action Now members with other parents, teachers and community members at one of the workshops at the Teach-In

On December 3rd, Action Now members participated in a Teach-In held by the Chicago Teachers Union about how to stop the CPS plan to close or “turnaround” neighborhood public schools. This is not a new or effective policy for school improvement and it has increased the racial achievement gap. The 18 schools targeted are predominantly African-American and are located on the South and West Sides. Research has shown that closing schools or turning them into charters does not improve student academic performance, yet it continues to happen year after year.

Action Now members discussing ways to get the community involved in fighting against school closings

CPS refuses to involve parents, teachers, students or community members in the decision making process, even though we are the people that know the most about how to improve our schools! Instead of closing schools down, why not actually give that school the resources to succeed? CPS needs to address the problems of overcrowding, lack of basic resources (over 100 schools don’t have libraries), teacher lay-offs and their refusal to provide adequate funding for schools in low-income and minority communities.

AN President Michelle Young sharing her experience

The Teach-In on Saturday was an opportunity for teachers, parents and community members to come to together and create a plan of action to stop school closings and turnarounds. Action Now President Michelle Young spoke at one of the workshops about her involvement in successfully stopping CPS from closing Beidler Elementary. Action Now members also attended to learn about how to organize their communities to stop CPS from ruining their neighborhood schools.

Upcoming events: There will be a vigil at the Board of Education Headquarters (125 S. Clark) on December 13th at 6 pm and then on December 14th at 6 am there will be a Speak Out! at the Board of Education Monthly Meeting. Call (312) 676-4280 for more info.