“We had to fight" Lessons from Chicago Communities’ Struggle Against School Closings
Renaissance 2010 was Chicago’s school turn around model, just as Imagine 2014 is ours here in Philadelphia. These processes are what our districts think are going to help us. But, will they really help? Will our voices be heard? Will our thoughts be implemented into the system?
The process in Chicago began in 2005, 4 years before Imagine 2014 was implemented by Dr. Ackerman in Philly. I interviewed Osha Dancy, a high school student and member of Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), to learn about how the Renaissance 2010 process has played out in Chicago, and how students have been impacted by this reform. Based on what has happened in Chicago, we’ll see what may be in store for us here in Philadelphia.
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Shania: Your middle school, Price Elementary School in Chicago, was part of the Renaissance 2010 plan. Can you talk about what it was like?
Osha: Well before it was turned into a middle school, violence wasn’t really an issue. Then they started to close all these schools around our community and started sending students our way. The violence did increase because the new students didn’t get along with each other. So it was like a whole shake up.
Shania: Could you think a little bit more about why the violence was happening between students?
Osha: Closing schools in our community —well, not in our community, but schools that were nearby—brought students into our schools who had conflicts.
They kicked those students out and and when they got into our school, [students] fought each other, because of basketball rivalries or because of where we live, you know?
One person was with this group and another person was with that group and then someone says “that’s the guy who tried to jump me” or something like that...then they just start fighting and stuff. The violence just started increasing.
Shania: How has Renaissance 2010 impacted Chicago overall?
Osha: When you try to start closing down schools and students have to go all the way uptown to go to a different school, it’s kinda hard to get transportation to those places – especially when the city isn’t providing that transportation for students to go. Parents didn’t really know how to deal with it and students were worried about getting home after school.
Shania: How could this reorganization of Chicago Public Schools been done better?
Osha: They need to connect with us before they start making decisions. They don’t talk to us about what really needs to happen for our school not to be on the watch list. They don’t talk to us and come to our schools and really sit down with us and say what really needs to be done. They say the test scores are low, but what test scores? The math? The reading? What programs inside our schools are going to raise those? They know all this information, they’re just not sharing it with us.
Shania: What did KOCO and other organizing groups do to respond to Renaissance 2010?
Osha: At KOCO, we started to rally around [this issue] and the community started to get together and really started pushing for our schools not to get closed. We had to fight. And it was a long process but in the end they didn’t close our school.
Shania: Can you give a couple of words to students, parents and community members here in Philly?
Osha: Well for Philly I’ll say, if they’re trying to close down schools what you need is people power. We came with hundreds of people around our issue of school closings. When you do that they gotta listen to your voice. When communities come together, it’s powerful because you respect the different kinds of people and races [who are all] rallying around the same issue. They’re going to have to listen to you, and your voice will be heard.
By Shania Morris
This article was published in the Spring 2011 edition of The Union Rep. Download a pdf of the whole newsletter.
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