Should Chicago School Children Skip School For Money?
There is a movement growing in Chicago for children attending underfunded urban public schools to skip the first day of class in protest. It wouldn’t just be hooky, but a widespread political and social statement against systematic discrimination in funding and resourcing:
Comparing Marshall’s 46 percent graduation rate to New Trier’s 99.8 percent rate, Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Church denounced disparities in which students on the North Shore have thousands of dollars more spent on them than Chicago schoolchildren.
“Money does matter,” Hatch said. “The funding disparity, of course, brings not only unequal investment but obviously unequal outcomes.”
Here in Maryland, you know we know the same thing. I’m torn on the issue of skipping school, because the kids won’t truly grasp what their actions are other than getting out of class. But something has to be done to draw attention to the achivement gap in American education, and it might just take something as extreme as this.
I am from Chicago and this is the WRONG move to make. Many people do not understand that the first day of school in the Chicago Public School system is critical because that first day of class determines how much funding each school gets from the government. This type of campaign is idiotic and irresponsible. Start a boycott or a protest AFTER the first day of school. Get teachers involved along with parents and lets fully educate our children on why this issue is important. But to send hundreds of students to a majority white school just to be turned away is just plain crazy. I am soooo mad over this….in case you couldn’t tell
Fresh
24 Aug 08 at 8:45 pm
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