Filed under: event, schools | Tags: anti-violence, arne duncan, chicago, funding, illinois, rally, rufus williams, soldier field, violence
Hot off the CPS press release:
CPS students will take center stage to talk about school funding and safety on Tuesday, June 10 at Soldier Field. The “Shout-Out for Schools” rally will give our city’s young people the opportunity to have their voices heard on the issues that affect their everyday lives and future opportunities. The event will be from 10 a.m. to noon, and about 35,000 students from all across the city have signed up for school-organized field trips to the “Shout-Out” rally.
“This is the time for our students to be heard on the critical issues of school funding and safer communities,” said Chicago Board of Education President Rufus Williams. “Every year, we fight in Springfield for a better funding system for our schools—one that is fair and that provides an increased and sustained investment in our students. Our legislators now need to hear from the people who are most affected by their failure to reform school funding.”
The state budget approved over the weekend and now under review by Gov. Rod Blagojevich is estimated to provide about $98 million in new revenue to the CPS. About $17 million of that funding is targeted for new programs. That means about $81 million of the revenue boost could be used by the CPS to reduce its $180 million budget gap, leaving a $99 million hole and forcing the school district to look for deeper cuts and additional revenue sources. Because of the uncertainty in Springfield, the CPS is expected to push approval of its Fiscal Year 2009 budget back to August.
The June 10 “Shout-Out for Schools” rally will feature speeches from many CPS students, as well as from education leaders from Chicago and across the state, and a call to action organized by students leaders involved in the Mikva Challenge program. The event will also include an entertainment lineup that features Kid Sista, Rich Kiddz, Kuumba Lynx, Uni, Ben One, and CPS student finalists from the “Louder Than A Bomb” poetry-slam competition.
Filed under: article, schools, teenagers, violence | Tags: chicago, college, cps, engelwood, medill, violence
This week marks a week since the murder of student Marcus Greer. Why is this notable? Because that means a CPS student has died in a month. This has been something left out of the wall-to-wall coverage the rise in violence has been receiving lately. Although it is a small accomplishment, it is one worth noting. It will be small victories like this that lead us on the way to taking back communities and bringing about real change.
On that note, I wanted to spotlight more positive acts local teens doing. Joshua Pollock recently wrote about John Hope High School senior LaTreal Peterson. Peterson was recently a recognized as a Gates Millenium Scholar and plans to attend the University of Wisconsin Madison in the fall to study business. He sees providing more opportunities for young people in their schools and communities as a way of curbing violence.
Filed under: Miscellaneous, chicago, gangs, schools, violence | Tags: chicago, chicago police, gangs, outreach, violence, youth
Dr. Ron Rufo is a crime prevention speaker with the Chicago Police Department. His police work mainly focuses on juvenile crime and speaking to various students about the dangers of joining gangs. In March, Rufo was stationed at Crane Technical High School the day student Ruben Ivy was killed.
Below, Rufo talks about a boy who learned the consequences of gangs the hard way.
Transcript:
So then I talk about paralyzation. I talk about dying. I talk about paralyzation. Then I talk about a young man that I actually tried to help when I was in the ninth district. I get a little choked up sometimes telling this story because it’s true. This young man was a good boy, but he lived in the heart of a gang on Morgan Street.
He said to me, “Officer Rufo, I don’t want to join a gang, but they’re pressuring me.”
One September when I was going to a school I happen to see this young man and his mom was pushing him in a wheelchair. He had got shot
He said, “Didn’t you hear what happened to me?”
Because that was my old beat.
He said, “Didn’t you hear what happened to me?”
I said, “No I didn’t. Can you tell me?”
He said, “Well, a couple guys got shot.” A rival gang, which is down the street, came over and started shooting.
The one guy he mentioned got killed, and I didn’t know about that. Another kid got shot in the leg…or like the lower leg by his ankle. And he got shot in the back. He said, “I’ve been paralyzed since.”
That’s what I tell these kids.
He asked me what I was doing. I said I was in preventive programs. I go out and teach kids about not joining a gang. He said would you mention my name and mention this to them:
“I didn’t listen to you and look where I’m at. My mom has to clean me, bathe me, and do everything else. My so-called gang, my so-called family never came to see me at the hospital, and they walk across the street while my mom is pushing me. “
Now, he’s got to be about 21.
He said, “Where are they now? I gave my life for them, and look what I have to live for: Nothing, and this how I’m going to be the rest of my life.”
Filed under: article, chicago, event, legislation & initiatives, organizaion, research, schools, teenagers, violence | Tags: article, chicago, communities, daley, gangs, ny times, school, violence
The paper of record brought its attention to the second city with a recent article on the deaths of Chicago students and the steps being taken to prevent more deaths from happening. It offers a very detailed overview for those who might not be familiar with the story, but ultimately stakes out familiar territory. We get the impassioned quotes from schools CEO Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley, balance from an expert and community resident, and, last but not least, a student. In the end, the article asks nothing or challenges the reader or those being interviewed. I felt led on by the beginning of the article because I thought the focus of the article would stay with the community groups who are escorting Crane Technical High School students to school, but by paragraph four it had already moved on. Left out again is the fact that many of these shooters and gang members are as young as the victims or/and drop outs. Left out again is the mention of students trying to organize and lead in their communities, rather standing idle as politicians and other leaders do the talking. Left out again are more community groups and churches who are marching and leaving their doors open late to save those on both sides of the gun. Not given enough depth is the issue of poverty and outside factors that are at the root of this violence.
Props to CLTV and Alexander Russo for shining a different light.
Filed under: blogs, research, schools, violence | Tags: blogs, chicago, research, schools, violence
Courtesy of eduwonkette
The blog eduwonkette recently posted an interesting piece that looks in depth at violence in Chicago schools. The article goes beyond gun violence and uses research to study overall violent incidents at school and students’ attitudes toward violence.
I’m happy to see it separate the recent gun violence and the violence that happens within many schools. Many media outlets — including this one– have all too easily tied the problem of students getting killed as one tied directly to the schools, but out of the more than 20 students killed by guns this school year, only two were on school grounds. Many have tried to use this fact to take away the blame for the schools and put it strictly in the hands of parents and law enforcement. On the flip side, a teacher recently told me in an interview that the Chicago Public Schools isn’t running away from these deaths but cynically embracing it in order to push for stricter gun-control laws.
What is the best first step forward? Maybe just talking about it and getting people to pay attention. The schools are part of these communities where these kids are being killed –just like a church, a mom-and-pop shop and other local institutions. Schools can’t think of themselves as not having a stake in this, since it is their job to educate these children, one of the most valuable jobs to have in a community. All too easily many (and even some churches) fail to see that point.
An excerpt from eduwonkette:
What long-term effects can we expect from this wave of violence in Chicago? This Science paper, “Firearm Violence Exposure and Serious Violent Behavior,” provides some insight. The authors analyzed data from Chicago, and argued that there is a causal relationship between exposure to firearm violence and subsequent perpetration of serious violence. The effects were quite large – “exposure to firearm violence approximately doubles the probability that an adolescent will perpetrate serious violence over the subsequent 2 years.”
Education bloggers (present company included) spill a lot of ink over the smallest details of accountability plans, but it’s important to remember that this is the context in which our schools are working. Community problems inevitably seep into schools, and the interventions that we spend the most time talking about do little to help kids manage the emotional toll of these events.
Filed under: chicago, legislation & initiatives, schools | Tags: gage park, gun control, high school, illinois, lobbying, school funding, schools, springfield, state capitol
James Edwards/Medill
Gage Park High School students wait to visit the Illinois House of Representatives in the state capitol last week.
Filed under: chicago, event, legislation & initiatives, schools, teenagers, violence | Tags: benito juarez high school, chicago, chicago police department, chicago sun-times, chicago tribune, church, crane technical high school, crime, daley, peace, ruben ivy, violence
This past weekend saw one of the most violent outbreaks across the city in recent memory. Reports vary on the total number of people who were shot between Friday and Sunday. The Chicago Sun-Times reports 37, while the Chicago Tribune and AP lists 32. What’s the same in each story is that six of the victims died, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The two youngest victims, Melvin Thomas and Rhonell Savala, were shot and killed right outside Free Salvation M.B. Churck on the South Side Friday night.
All but two of the shootings are reported to have been gang related. Police blame the rash of shootings on the warmer weather and gang tensions in different neighborhoods. They cited the last two years of the very same weekend to illustrate the cyclical nature of the violence. During the same weekend in 2007, 19 people were shot, while in 2006 the number was 21.
The shootings came in the wake of new report by the Chicago Police Department that showed crime down in the city for the first three months of the year, including a 1% drop in the murder rate in March of this year compared to March 2007. Police plan to deploy additional officers to what they call hot crime spots.
Overshadowed by the violence was the effort in communities to try and prevent it. One such event took place Saturday morning at Crane Technical High School, where student Ruben Ivy was shot killed one month ago. Students and other volunteers worked to clean the area around the high school and other designated blocks. In a press release, Ernest Gates, of the Near West Side Community Development Corp., stated:
“If something happens that involves a Crane student, there is a lot of negative coverage. The good kids are saying, ‘Hey, what about us?’ All the attention is placed on the kids with problems, but the vast majority of students are there to get an education and get on with their lives.”
Also on Saturday, La Dia de Los Ninos 3K Walk/Run was held to assist students at Benito Juarez High School with their future college education.
In addition, an e-mail campaign has recently surfaced calling for a citywide peace fast. No particular organization is mentioned, but it said to be the word of local-area ministers and clergy.
CITYWIDE PEACE FAST
‘A City United for Peace’
April 21st – 23rd, 2008
6:00am until 6:00pmThirty-one youths have lost their lives to gun violence this school year. Hence, the faith community of Chicago will corporately pray for unity and peace in our communities. Pastors and faith leaders are calling on all believers to deny themselves of something that will be a personal sacrifice from 6:00am until 6:00pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You may deny yourself of food, meat, soft drinks, cell phones, or television but whatever you select should be something that is a sacrifice for YOU. Mark 9:29 says, ‘Some things come only by fasting and prayer!’ Therefore, we will fast and pray together as a city for three days for three specific things: 1. Provision, 2. Protection, and 3. Prevention. Jeremiah 29:7 says ‘Pray for the peace and prosperity of the city’. Violence anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere, so please JOIN US!
By all means, PLEASE share this email with everyone you know!
Thanks,
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Progress
A Washington High School parent voices her displeasure with the recent developments at the school.
James Edwards/Medill
Parents, students and administrators gathered Tuesday at Washington High School to try and reestablish a dialogue after last week’s meeting that resulted in a fight breaking out. Both meetings were the result of growing violence and gang tensions at Washington and its surrounding Southeast side neighborhood.
In a three-hour meeting originally scheduled for less than two, rumors and innuendo were brought to forefront along with solutions. Among the main ideas discussed is expanding parent patrols in the neighborhood and around the schools. Parents, on the other hand, would like to see a better line of communication between families and the school. They expressed disappointment in not receiving notices and being out of the loop on various matters. Through the bickering, grandparent Dorothy Mendez held back tears in her plea for something to be done.
“The security at this school need to do their job. … Please parents take care of your children. These children are lighting up their cigarettes and marijuana.”
An anti-violence rally at George Washington High School turned ugly Thursday when a series of fights broke out in a crowd of students being dismissed for the day.
