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Meeks Set To Protest At Wrigley, Daley Takes Umbrage

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 25, 2008 8:35PM

09_25_meeks.jpgState Senator James Meeks, who recently led a controversial two-day boycott of Chicago Public Schools, is set to protest at a Cubs playoff game next week by surrounding Wrigley Field with 6,000 people to protest what he claims is a funding disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. But the city's most powerful White Sox fan is asking Meeks to knock it off. Said Mayor Daley:

We waited 100 years for the Cubs to get in. You shouldn’t disturb them. I really believe that. They've been very helpful [by contributing to] a lot of programs. This is their day...It doesn’t do any good in the long run. People are getting tired of it. Everybody knows the inequity. We’ve been talking about it for a long time. This is nothing new. I don’t know why you’re finally writing about it now. It’s just a waste of time for the children. If he wants to do that, so be it. [But], those kids should be in school and tutoring programs.
For his part, Meeks has said:
When we went to Winnetka, that pushed a button that hadn’t been pushed before. By us going to Wrigley Field, it’ll push another button that hasn’t been pushed before. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. What the mayor has been doing is the same thing the same way. We're doing things a different way.