In downtown Chicago on May 25, thousands of educators, students, and supporters coalesced around demands to stop deep cuts in education funding. Protesters vigorously chanted, picketed, and marched on the Board of Education, City Hall, and the State Building to oppose drastic budget cuts by both city and state governments.
The demonstration was organized by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, but dozens of other groups, such as Students and Teachers Fight Back! and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, attended the rally to show solidarity and support. In addition, hundreds of Chicago Public School students from across the city came directly from school and participated in the rally.
The protest began at 4 p.m. and lasted for several hours. In spite of the efforts of the Chicago Police Department, demonstrators could not be contained to the sidewalk. Protestors surrounded and blocked off Clark Street in front of the Board of Education and encircled the four streets around City Hall.
Although the immediate budget cuts proposed by the State of Illinois and the Board of Education were the focus of the protest, a litany of attacks on education were opposed, including efforts to create full-day kindergarten programs and decrease funding for special needs children. In addition to the main demand to “Save Our Schools!,” popular chants included “Banks Got Bailed Out; Schools Got Sold Out!,” “Protect Our Pensions!” and “Huberman Has Got To Go!”
With Chicago Public Schools already in a proclaimed $700 million deficit, Governor Pat Quinn proposed to slash education funding a further 15 percent in February. This in turn increased the CPS deficit to nearly $1 billion. The resulting cuts, proposed by Board of Education Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman, are draconian in scope.
Teachers face thousands of layoffs and a universal reduction of pensions. Other “cost-saving” measures include a minimum class size of 37 students per teacher, eliminating all sophomore sports teams, and substantial cuts to art, music, drama, and other important extracurricular activities.
Teachers and students demand both more funding and that funding shortfalls be addressed by “cutting from the top.” They also are demanding that CPS open their books for review by teachers.
The current education budget would be a devastating blow to education in Chicago by laying off teachers, increasing class sizes and canceling badly needed school programs.
The money exists to fully fund education. The banks have been bailed out with trillion of dollars in aid and the Pentagon gets unlimited funds to wage war in the interests of Wall Street. Demanding that teachers, students and workers bare the economic burden of the capitalist crisis, CPS president Ron Huberman and the board of education are acting as agents of the city’s elite and the billionaires.
It’s time to fight back. Education is a Right! No Budget Cuts! No Layoffs!
