Chicago school officials walk out of a parent meeting in which they were criticized.

[madfloridian]

That's really making it clear to parents that the school officials are not going to be listening to them, no more than they are listening to teachers.

They simply walked out of the meeting when things got heated.

CPS Officials Abruptly Walk Out Of Meeting With Avondale-Logandale Parents


From Progress Illinois. While getting a tongue lashing from State Sen. Iris Martinez about their plan to move forward with the consolidation of Avondale Elementary and Logandale Middle School, Chicago Public School officials abruptly walked out of the planned meeting with parents and school staff.

Parents, community members, and the Avondale Local School Council (ALSC) were floored when three Chicago Public School officials walked out of their scheduled meeting to discuss plans to consolidate two schools in the Logan Square community, Avondale Elementary and Logandale Middle School. After several protests and having to come up with their own counterproposal to the idea of combining the two schools, opponents of the plan scored a meeting with three CPS officials to present their argument for keeping Avondale and Logandale separate.

During their meeting with CPS Director Jose Alvarez, Director of School Demographics James Dispensa, and Chief Area Officer Craig Benes, ALSC unveiled their proposal, which called for transferring Avondale's 5th grade class to Logandale, which would fully address the building utilization issue that CPS offered as the reason behind consolidation. That move would improve the "Space Utilization Ratio" for both schools, putting them each within the 60 percent to 80 percent range that the Avondale and Logandale Local School Councils say CPS considers efficient building use.

"You always talk about parent involvement -- well this is parent involvement," State Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) insisted. "This community will not stand for not being involved in this process.... There's a way for us to come together. We are willing to come together. For me not to know what you're doing when my office is across the street from the school, that is a complete lack of respect."

..."While getting a tongue lashing from Sen. Martinez, whose comments garnered applause from many of those in attendance, the CPS officials grabbed their belongings and abruptly walked out of the meeting with parents and school staff, according to Bridget Murphy of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.

They must not care what they think. Their minds are made up, and nothing parents or teachers say will change them.

[Rex]

1. See, when you are an offical you can just get up and walk out.

Teachers cannot just get up and walk out of meetings...but that is okay, when you think you have job security you can just get the fuck up and walk out. Not so for teachers...hell in some state they get arrested for protesting! What a fucking racket. School board, fool board should all be run by CEOs. :sarcasm:

[madfloridian]

3. A teacher would never get away with walking out.

How true.

[madfloridian]

2. Alvarez criticized also earlier in April.

http://www.wbez.org/story/news/education/parents-give-cps-earful-about-school-consolidation-proposals-84947#

"But some parents had questions about what would happen to faculty and staff members at both schools, and whether the combined facility would have enough resources to accomodate all of their children....Others, such as Leticia Barrera with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, said CPS didn't give parents enough warning. The district's request for community feedback is too little, too late, she said.

"Don't play with us, and don't lie to us!" Barrera said. "They made the proposal, they announced it in the (school) newsletter, they send letters, and now they are here listening to us? We are wasting our time!"

But CPS officials maintain the consolidations and closures are not a done deal until the Board of Education approves them. One school on the original list has already been removed, said Jose Alvarez, who works with District CEO Terry Mazany.

The district says it's unclear how many teachers - if any - would lose their jobs. The Board of Education could consider the proposal at its April 27 meeting.'"

They don't even know the number of teachers.

[yurbud]

4. it's not that their minds ever could have been influenced by parents.

[madfloridian]

7. They have their agenda. Teachers and parents don't matter.

[yurbud]

9. and their employers are not teachers, parents, or voters. They work for the rich who want to break

then privatize public schools.

[madfloridian]

10. They no longer think about who elected them. Only who donated...

huge sums to their campaigns.

[Skittles]

5. COWARDS

[madfloridian]

6. Yep, they don't want to hear any dissension.

Their minds are made up.

[Brickbat]

8. Fucking cowards.

Keep pushing, people. Cowardice and greed always outs.

[madfloridian]

11. ....

It angers me so much that they ignore the voices of the people.

[madfloridian]

12. It's the new attitude of the governing class toward the activist class.

We don't care what you think.

[msanthrope]

13. why shouldn't Avondale-Logandale consolidate? They are next to each other.

The buildings are next to each other, and both will remain open, but leadership will be streamlined into one principal. Why shouldn't CPS seek efficiency?



"From an outsiders’ perspective, the Avondale-Logandale consolidation would appear the least controversial among the current batch. The two schools are located right next to each other in the 2900 block of North Sawyer, and the plan calls for neither to be closed. Yet it has produced enough of an uproar that a CPS contingent essentially fled a boisterous meeting with parents at the school on Tuesday."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/5052443-452/parents-want-a-voice-on-school-issues.html

[Rex]

14. That is not the real issue, but thanks for showing another side of

the story...cowards always flee.

[msanthrope]

15. Well, maybe they thought the issue of children walking to a different building for lunch

was de minimus, given all the various problems CPS is currently facing.


"The parents said they don't want their kids to have to walk back and forth between the two buildings for lunch and gym. They also worry about the limited resources, such as a library that would be shared by about 1,000 students."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-25/news/ct-met-cps-consolidation-0426-20110425_1_local-school-council-middle-school-cps-officials

[Rex]

16. Even if they did, they are supposed to be leaders in their fields

and when you walk out of a meeting...well usually you go back to your boss and he/she fires you.

Jus saying how it works for most people.

They went and failed. Now they blame the parents.

Lame. Yet I guess I should expect that.

[msanthrope]

17. Oh, I don't blame the parents. I blame the grandstanding State Senator

who demanded notification because her office was across the street from the buildings.