The CPS board was to approve ten new Chicago charters yesterday.
The Chicago Board of Education was expected to approve 10 new charter campuses and expand 5 existing charters at its monthly meeting today. Instead, it withheld its vote. Before that non-vote, Board Headquarters at 125 S. Clark was the site of pickets, rallies and hours of community testimony demanding that the Board reject charters and instead support neighborhood schools.
“Charter school contracts have always been approved – they were there for the asking. The community has been demanding quality neighborhood schools, schools that all children can attend, not charters,” said President Karen Lewis, who added that, “Maybe today’s decision to rethink these charters is a signal from the Board that it is going to take its charter oversight role more seriously now. We look forward to the possibility of a more collaborative working relationship with the Board that is focused on improving teaching and learning in Chicago.”
Fred Klonsky 