Protesters "Mic Check" School Board Meeting

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 14, 2011 10:40PM

Today's School Board meeting was brought to a halt when protesters staged a "people's mic check" to voice their opposition to Chicago Public Schools' large-scale plans for charterization and turnaround programs to counter failing schools.

At least 10 people were escorted from CPS headquarters by security and the school board quickly retreated to continue their meeting in a closed door session while protesters screamed, "We see through the soundbites... You have betrayed the public trust...These are our children, not yours... You have produced chaos....You should be fired."

A study by UIC professors last year showed that the turnaround model espoused initially by CPS during the Richard M. Daley administration has served largely to re-segregate the school system. WBEZ and Catalyst Chicago last week tracked 10 years of mapping school turnarounds and closings, which were replaced by selective enrollment charters.