Chicago’s selective enrollment schools came about because, “In 1980, after “more than a decade of battles between the federal gov. & Chicago” regarding segregation in CPS, CPS was put under a consent decree and a court-mandated desegregation plan.”
interactive.wttw.com/firsthand/segr… “But a 2019 WBEZ study showed that only 20 percent of magnet and test-in schools met the racial makeup goal of the desegregation court order.”

Want to shout out fellow CPS educator @noraflanagan who every day for the past week has created threads on Brandon Johnson.
The 🧵’s are on policy, gender equity, education, arts, budget, treatment not trauma. We know Paul Vallas is terrible but truly realize #BrandonIsBetter

https://twitter.com/noraflanagan/status/1640687922922790913

Every time another Chicagoan is dehumanized by the Chicago Police Department, neighborhoods/schools are defunded to pay for CPD’s brutality. The City claims they’ll “reform” CPD, again, which just equals more funding for the police
A thread of payouts since 2010 because of CPD. “Over the past decade, Chicago has paid more than a half billion dollars for police misconduct.”
npr.org/2020/09/19/914…

In the past 2 days it’s come out that 1) Mayor Lightfoot encouraged CPS to give a no bid contract to her friend for broken computers
2) Tried to prevent video being released of CPD wrongfully entering a women’s home
But no worries we can trust her when she says schools are safe Don’t worry CPS I’m on my lunch break

The emotion that I have this morning upon finding out that Chicago Public Schools finally announced being remote is relief with anger. I’m angry for the hours my partner (CPS educator) & I spent talking about what we would do if CPS went through with the ridiculous hybrid plan. Like countless other parents and educators we had to publicly demand the safety of our students and city over proposed “safer” models. Our brains weren’t able to focus on remote best practices because we were so concerned about basic humanity. We discussed leaving the profession.

On Friday in Chicago, Black & Indigenous organizations led protests that wanted to take down a statue of Columbus. CPD responded by attacking protestors. A statue dedicated to hate was more important to the city than Chicagoans. The Columbus statue should come down, here’s why... Columbus and his men tortured, raped, enslaved, and murdered the Indigenous people that they encountered in the Caribbean.

vox.com/2014/10/13/695…

Even though having police in Chicago’s schools is proven to harm Black, Brown & students with special needs & costs $33M per year, the Mayor refuses to even consider it.

It’s now time to remind everyone what the Chicago Police Department has done. #DefundCPD

Extensive Thread “The Justice Department found that CPD’s accountability system is broken, that officers...are rarely disciplined, officer training is woefully inadequate, and the use of excessive force disproportionately affects people of color in the poorest...”
chicagoreporter.com/justice-depart…

In Chicago we can follow the lead of Minneapolis. We can cut ties with Chicago Police in our schools. We can create programs like conflict resolution, true restorative justice, & mentor programs. We can have crises counselors. We can do that with #PoliceFreeSchools grassrootscollaborative.salsalabs.org/policefreescho…

A researched thread on why police should NOT be in our schools, anywhere in America.

Police in schools harm Black & Brown kids & students with disabilities.

So don’t come with your antecdotal story about how Officer ___ is so nice at your school...

Research not anecdotes. “Research shows that the mere presence of police officers in school increases the likelihood that a student will be referred to law enforcement for adolescent behavior. School-based arrests, which fall more harshly on students of color...”
povertylaw.org/wp-content/upl…