www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/back-to-school/chi-cps-boycott-12-aug12,0,2532880.story
Ministers rally to urge kids to stay home on first day of class, but a dads group opposes the idea as school funding issue is weighed
By Robert Mitchum and Ray Long |Chicago Tribune reporters
August 12, 2008
Nearly 50 ministers on Monday embraced plans for students to boycott at least the first day of Chicago Public Schools classes, a move aimed at ramping up pressure on state officials to address widespread inequities in education funding.
The church leaders from the city's West and South Sides pledged their support as lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday to meet in a special session Gov. Rod Blagojevich called to consider the funding issue that has vexed lawmakers for decades.
Gathering outside Marshall High School, 3250 W. Adams St., the ministers said they would urge their congregations and communities to participate in the first-day boycott Sept. 2 and attempt to enroll Chicago students in New Trier Township High School District 203 in north suburban Winnetka.
"We refuse to continue to allow the State of Illinois to orphan our educational system," said Rev. Albert Tyson of St. Stephen AME Church.
Also Monday, another group of clergy urged a different tactic on Chicago's first school day. Organizers of the 5th annual Million Father March asked fathers to escort children to class on Sept. 2. "The first day sets the tone for the entire year," said Rev. Sharyon Cosey, a former Chicago teacher.
No one expects a resolution of the school-funding issue in Springfield this week, including Blagojevich, who for the first time Monday publicly expressed doubt that reform legislation would pass quickly.
Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago), the pastor of a major South Side church who is spearheading the boycott, and African-American lawmakers want funding reform on the front burner because wealthy communities spend thousands of dollars more on each student than do poorer districts.
Blagojevich said he hoped progress could be made as soon as this fall, but he made it clear he disagreed with Meeks' call for a boycott.
"It's counterproductive to urge kids not to attend school," Blagojevich said at a separate event. "If a child misses a day of school, that child will miss an opportunity to learn. I think children should take advantage of every possible day they can to go to school."
Further, he said, Chicago Public Schools would lose some state money if students skip because average daily attendance helps determine each school district's overall funding.
New Trier District 203 Supt. Linda Yonke, bracing for Meeks' attempt to enroll 1,000 students, labeled the ministers' move a "political action" she hopes won't be disruptive.
Meeks has said Chicago students should not stop the boycott after one day. He wants the students to continue their protest by showing up in the lobbies of downtown Chicago buildings, where they could be taught by retired teachers as they wait for education funding reform.
Like Mayor Richard Daley, Chicago school officials said they agreed with the ministers' goal of correcting disparity in state school funding but disagreed with their approach.
"It's the right issue," said Rufus Williams, president of the Chicago Board of Education. "It's always the right time. But the method of keeping children out of school is one that we are diametrically opposed to."
The minister's group gathered outside Marshall High supported the tactic.
Comparing Marshall's 46 percent graduation rate to New Trier's 99.8 percent rate, Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Church denounced disparities in which students on the North Shore have thousands of dollars more spent on them than Chicago schoolchildren.
"Money does matter," Hatch said. "The funding disparity, of course, brings not only unequal investment but obviously unequal outcomes."