Post by title1parent on Sept 4, 2008 5:29:09 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1144101,2_1_AU04_SKLFUNDING_S1.article
School funding protest hits Loop
September 4, 2008Recommend
By Jenny Song The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Chicago students skipping classes to protest Illinois' school funding system received some education Wednesday in the lobbies of downtown Chicago government and business buildings, where retired teachers set up impromptu classrooms.
The bright orange T-shirts of Chicago public school students and their supporters stood out from the conservative work attire at 18 sites, including City Hall, the James R. Thompson Center and Boeing's headquarters. Companies cooperated and in some cases offered the classes speakers of their own.
Organizers said boycotting students will continue to skip classes in their regular schools all week. Retired teachers have been giving lessons in math, reading and writing as a substitute for regular classes.
"We don't want them to miss a day of learning, not by any means," said Lenette Edwards, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher.
State Sen. James Meeks, the boycott's leader, said he could not yet estimate how many students participated in the boycott's second day, but he said the number was in the hundreds. The day before, when school started for CPS, more than a thousand students boarded buses to suburban Northfield, where they symbolically registered at the affluent New Trier High School.
School funding protest hits Loop
September 4, 2008Recommend
By Jenny Song The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Chicago students skipping classes to protest Illinois' school funding system received some education Wednesday in the lobbies of downtown Chicago government and business buildings, where retired teachers set up impromptu classrooms.
The bright orange T-shirts of Chicago public school students and their supporters stood out from the conservative work attire at 18 sites, including City Hall, the James R. Thompson Center and Boeing's headquarters. Companies cooperated and in some cases offered the classes speakers of their own.
Organizers said boycotting students will continue to skip classes in their regular schools all week. Retired teachers have been giving lessons in math, reading and writing as a substitute for regular classes.
"We don't want them to miss a day of learning, not by any means," said Lenette Edwards, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher.
State Sen. James Meeks, the boycott's leader, said he could not yet estimate how many students participated in the boycott's second day, but he said the number was in the hundreds. The day before, when school started for CPS, more than a thousand students boarded buses to suburban Northfield, where they symbolically registered at the affluent New Trier High School.