MAY DAY! MAY DAY! -- School closings having a 'domino effect'

Waldheim

According to WBEZ reporter Becky Vevea, Chicago school closings are "part of much bigger restructuring effort— one that will affect more than 47,000 students and 132 schools."  Read this and see if you, or anyone else, can figure out this mess.

******

Hey, it's a beautiful May Day, a great day to visit Waldheim Cemetery and the tomb of the Haymarket martyrs and then head over to Union Park at noon for the Immigrant and Worker Rights March and Rally which sets off at 1 PM to Federal Plaza.

******
I went over to Whittier Elementary in the Pilsen neighborhood yesterday afternoon, where dozens of parents and community activists were meeting, to protest the removal of principal, Zoila Garcia. The move by the board came without warning or any input from the school's LSC and is seen by some as a move on the school's dual-language program. More to come on this.

******

Valerie Strauss has an important piece in today's WaPo, "Extreme Common Core rhetoric clouds serious debate." She writes:

Such talk [from right-wing critics] has opened the door for the pro-school reform organization Democrats For Education Reform to try to link anybody who criticizes the Core with the far right. 

****** 

Rahm, Chief McCarthy, and CeaseFire, are all celebrating and trying to take credit for the reported 42% drop in Chicago's murder rate from a year ago. There have been "only" 93 murders this year compared to 161 over the same period last year, says the chief.  But it's way too soon to be celebrating. Last night alone there were 3 people killed and at least 16 wounded in shootings across the city.

###