the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 29, 2010
Mayor Daley’s hatchet man in charge of the schools, Ron Huberman, proposed a budget with 700 million dollars in cuts, citing the fiscal crisis as the reason. Programs cut would include sports team coaches and after school programs.
Mayor Daley and many politicians have said that one of the best ways to prevent violence is to have after school programs where kids can learn something. But that didn’t stop his man in charge of the schools from cutting these programs.
Education research has always shown that fewer students in classrooms makes it easier for children to learn. But this new plan will put as many as 37 kids in a classroom. And behind all these changes are new attacks on teachers–eliminating raises and lowering pensions for new teachers–making it harder for teachers to focus on teaching.
They claim there is no money. False. Huberman–like Arne Duncan before him–handed out multi-million dollar contracts for software systems that don’t work. Useless for students–good for the profits of the companies that drain money from the schools.
The city of Chicago itself continues to hand out big subsidies to business. United Airlines got 35 million dollars when it wanted to move its headquarters downtown. MillerCoors beer got 20 million dollars for its headquarters.
Over the last number of months there have been large protests in front of board of education meetings. A still larger and louder protest would be a good idea.