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Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him?
The
latest in a slew of national stories about youth violence in Chicago,
this article from the New York Times details how some kids at Crane
high school in Chicago are being escorted to school each day by parents
and police -- a "joyless parade," as the article describes it (After Killings, Escorts for Chicago Students).
What the article doesn't note is the far-reaching damage that Mayor Daley and Chicago school officials are doing to their own school reform efforts by conflating out-of-school teen deaths with the city's school system -- for little apparent benefit -- or why city officials are, willy-nilly, linking street and school violence.
For city officials, the original motivation behind emphasizing the school connection to any violent incident was apparently to secure additional state funding and enhanced gun control legislation. Neither of these things have happened.
Instead, Chicago schools are once again being described as violent and dysfunctional -- and few outside the system understand that this is largely a broader Chicago issue. As the Times reports, none of this year's teen deaths have happened at school, and that most of those killed had troubled pasts. In-school violence is down over all, thanks to $55 million a year in security efforts by CPS.
Previous posts: Murder Epidemic In Chicago Isn't Really School Crime
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Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I totally agree. As a newcomer to Chicago and to CPS, I was trying to figure out why every time a teenager was killed over the weekend or at night, the news would report it as a CPS student killed. in contrast when a teen from the suburbs was killed, it would just be reported as "suburban teen" killed and didn't mention their school automatically. By continously linking the two, you create the impression that all of those young folks are being killed on school grounds during school hours. It does terrible things for the city's image and in particular the school system's image.
Someone needs to revisit this policy.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I totally agree. As a newcomer to Chicago and to CPS, I was trying to figure out why every time a teenager was killed over the weekend or at night, the news would report it as a CPS student killed. in contrast when a teen from the suburbs was killed, it would just be reported as "suburban teen" killed and didn't mention their school automatically. By continously linking the two, you create the impression that all of those young folks are being killed on school grounds during school hours. It does terrible things for the city's image and in particular the school system's image.
Someone needs to revisit this policy.
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I believe that you asked the correct question Alexander. One could call the Mayor self aggrandized with his own power to mobilize the media in our town to follow his agenda on the CPS student murder question. Duncan is following the Mayor’s lead trashing the image of CPS and convincing families that all lower income schools are potentially dangerous places.
Why? Daley and his advisers believe that mass outrage over the killing of students, deaths that are often not related to schools, may get gun control legislation he has wanted for a very long time over the top in the General Assembly.
I think that the Mayor is honestly concerned over the killing of young people in Chicago. But the dynamics of these killings are far more complex than either he or Duncan can come to grips with. Gentrification which has been the life blood of the rise in property values in Chicago is changing neighborhoods and impacting gang boundaries in numerous communities, and even outside of the city by pushing low income families into suburbs. School closings, and transformations, as numerous commentators on this blog have noted have created new conflicts in high schools receiving students from multiple neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs. Poverty has become more grinding and painful than ever in Chicago, the unemployment rate for drop outs from CPS is breath taking, to use George Schmidt’s phrasing.
Duncan is powerless and must support whatever the Mayor tells him to do. He is not an educator, he was not qualified to take the job he has, and serves at Daley’s pleasure. He will do whatever he is told, even if it is hurting the CPS image in the long run.
Chicago’s crisis of killing minority youth is probably no worse or better than other major urban cities in our country. As several articles Alexander has posted have demonstrated, most school districts do not emphasize the connection of the murdered minority youths living in their cities to the school district for rather obvious reasons. All of this emphasis on the murdered CPS students would not be so bad if in fact some part of the Mayor’s strategy had worked, but none of it has.
Daley’s bills for all forms of gun control have failed in the General Assembly. Law abiding citizens in low income communities of Chicago believe their lives and their children’s lives are in immediate danger. The non-minority higher income populations of both the city and the suburbs have increased fear of minority youths who are characterized as magnets for violence and murder. In short this entire campaign has been a failure.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I believe that you asked the correct question Alexander. One could call the Mayor self aggrandized with his own power to mobilize the media in our town to follow his agenda on the CPS student murder question. Duncan is following the Mayor’s lead trashing the image of CPS and convincing families that all lower income schools are potentially dangerous places.
Why? Daley and his advisers believe that mass outrage over the killing of students, deaths that are often not related to schools, may get gun control legislation he has wanted for a very long time over the top in the General Assembly.
I think that the Mayor is honestly concerned over the killing of young people in Chicago. But the dynamics of these killings are far more complex than either he or Duncan can come to grips with. Gentrification which has been the life blood of the rise in property values in Chicago is changing neighborhoods and impacting gang boundaries in numerous communities, and even outside of the city by pushing low income families into suburbs. School closings, and transformations, as numerous commentators on this blog have noted have created new conflicts in high schools receiving students from multiple neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs. Poverty has become more grinding and painful than ever in Chicago, the unemployment rate for drop outs from CPS is breath taking, to use George Schmidt’s phrasing.
Duncan is powerless and must support whatever the Mayor tells him to do. He is not an educator, he was not qualified to take the job he has, and serves at Daley’s pleasure. He will do whatever he is told, even if it is hurting the CPS image in the long run.
Chicago’s crisis of killing minority youth is probably no worse or better than other major urban cities in our country. As several articles Alexander has posted have demonstrated, most school districts do not emphasize the connection of the murdered minority youths living in their cities to the school district for rather obvious reasons. All of this emphasis on the murdered CPS students would not be so bad if in fact some part of the Mayor’s strategy had worked, but none of it has.
Daley’s bills for all forms of gun control have failed in the General Assembly. Law abiding citizens in low income communities of Chicago believe their lives and their children’s lives are in immediate danger. The non-minority higher income populations of both the city and the suburbs have increased fear of minority youths who are characterized as magnets for violence and murder. In short this entire campaign has been a failure.
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? It's pretty clear that this is just another example of our biased mainstream news media doing it's magic to subconsciously make 'public schooling' a bad thing. They have done a great job at doing their jobs poorly -- yes, they have falsely manufactured an image that only kids going to public schools get killed, leaving the impression that those going to privatized schools are safe. But this isn't a matter of telling Daley, or Duncan, or the mainstream news that they're distorting the situation, this is a crafted image they propagate intentionally. A privatized school system will be a profit center for some people, at the expense of the kids.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? It's pretty clear that this is just another example of our biased mainstream news media doing it's magic to subconsciously make 'public schooling' a bad thing. They have done a great job at doing their jobs poorly -- yes, they have falsely manufactured an image that only kids going to public schools get killed, leaving the impression that those going to privatized schools are safe. But this isn't a matter of telling Daley, or Duncan, or the mainstream news that they're distorting the situation, this is a crafted image they propagate intentionally. A privatized school system will be a profit center for some people, at the expense of the kids.
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? A privatized school system will be a profit center for some people, at the expense of the kids.
And the Local 1
Why Is The Press Letting Him? A privatized school system will be a profit center for some people, at the expense of the kids.
And the Local 1
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
That’s an easy question It never was his system . The system he grew up with was the
Cathoilc School system . He still dosen’t know or understand the Public School System
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
That’s an easy question It never was his system . The system he grew up with was the
Cathoilc School system . He still dosen’t know or understand the Public School System
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Wow, I am surprised by this thread and Alexander's take on this. I have been in youth work for almost 20 years, and kids have been dying with regularity all this time. Now, because we are identifying these kids as part of CPS, it seems that the media and the general public are beginning to see these slain youth as real people (not just gang members/monsters!). Some good may come from this attention and maybe even some good ideas and resources. Surely, gambling a little reputation is worth trying to save some lives.
I am also not sure why Alexander thinks the Mayor is the one putting this frame on the story. The media people at CPS are certainly not doing this. In fact, Duncan and Mike Vaughn repeatedly remind folks that CPS violence in school is down. I think the media came up with this link between the killings and CPS, and because it humanized the tragedy, Duncan has not fought it very aggressively. He should be praised for this not chastised.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Wow, I am surprised by this thread and Alexander's take on this. I have been in youth work for almost 20 years, and kids have been dying with regularity all this time. Now, because we are identifying these kids as part of CPS, it seems that the media and the general public are beginning to see these slain youth as real people (not just gang members/monsters!). Some good may come from this attention and maybe even some good ideas and resources. Surely, gambling a little reputation is worth trying to save some lives.
I am also not sure why Alexander thinks the Mayor is the one putting this frame on the story. The media people at CPS are certainly not doing this. In fact, Duncan and Mike Vaughn repeatedly remind folks that CPS violence in school is down. I think the media came up with this link between the killings and CPS, and because it humanized the tragedy, Duncan has not fought it very aggressively. He should be praised for this not chastised.
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I think it is simple. Associate the deaths with CPS. People will become fearful and fed up with CPS. Citizens will demand more charters.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? I think it is simple. Associate the deaths with CPS. People will become fearful and fed up with CPS. Citizens will demand more charters.
Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Brian -- your comments on how the mainstream media has presented these recent acts of violence is very enlightening -- you bring up a some very good points about how youth violence is hardly a recent series of events and how these recent murders have become a very big news item that has sparked the interest of the general public. But I very much doubt the news media linked these killings with CPS with the altruistic intentions hoping to bring out a grass roots movement to save our kids. Their track record indicates nothing like that. The talking heads on the evening news should be very ashamed of how they distort facts just to build market share and to appease the hidden agendas of management.
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Brian -- your comments on how the mainstream media has presented these recent acts of violence is very enlightening -- you bring up a some very good points about how youth violence is hardly a recent series of events and how these recent murders have become a very big news item that has sparked the interest of the general public. But I very much doubt the news media linked these killings with CPS with the altruistic intentions hoping to bring out a grass roots movement to save our kids. Their track record indicates nothing like that. The talking heads on the evening news should be very ashamed of how they distort facts just to build market share and to appease the hidden agendas of management.
Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 3:36 AM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Richard M. Daley became Cook County State's Attorney in 1980 and Mayor in 1989. For the past 28 years, he had been in charge of law enforcement in the Chicago area, either directly, or indirectly.
During those years, Richard M. Daley could have focused on the causes of gang proliferation, on the development of government (schools and elsewhere) programs to derail gang activity, and ultimately the disestablishment of the major street gang nations ("People" and "Folks" for anyone who doesn't know) from the city's wards and communities.
Instead, Daley allowed the gangs to become central to his own political organization (watch closely on any Election Day in Chicago, at the precinct level) across at least half the city's wards, and across the majority of the wards that are predominantly African American and Latino. Daley also allowed the gangs to take over tiers in both Cook County Jail and the Audy Home, which they still sort out to this day. Daley's allies in Illinois government, especially since the expansion of what's now called the "Prison Industrial Complex", have ignored (if not facilitated) the same pattern within most Illinois correctional facilities. As a result, any gang member knows where he will be when he is locked up (but woe to someone who is unaffiliated when he is locked up) and who he will be with. It's only when the government is really pissed off at some kid that a six-pointed guy is put into the five-pointed portion of, say, County.
Beginning in the 1990s, Daley went into privatization mode, attacking just about every service provided by government. The privatization of much of the custodial work in CPS (which now costs double or more what it did prior to 1995) was just the first step in undermining public service and promoting privatization. The destruction of public housing, the elimination of most programs (except on a "fee" basis) from public parks, and the relentless teacher bashing that's been part of "Renaissance 2010" has all been part of this.
So now, Chicago is treated to what is simply the latest iteration of this cowardice and connivance by Daley --
-- CPS is attached to every iteration of gang violence
-- Daley's preacher patronage army signs on for every "gun control" event, as it guns and not gangs were the problem
Daley's crime empire -- more than "Hired Truck," the hiring scandals that sent Sorich and others to prison, and the massive privatization and destruction of public services (from housing and parks to schools) -- will ultimately be his real legacy.
Even Chicago's most craven media touts (my favorites are at the Sun-Times, where Mary Mitchell will soon be celebrating her second decade of ignoring the ugliness of Daley's segregated corporate "school reform" hoaxes) won't be able to hold the line against the fact forever.
And it surprised me that Daley dared appoint an outsider to head CPD. After all, to learn just how far the gangs have infiltrated the "fabric" of Chicago (I'm talking about the communities, not that international tourist orgy hovering along Lake Michigan) a top cop from outside only has to spend a couple of days in his own courtrooms, his own lockups, and his own jail and Juvey center. Just ask anyone which side is for the fives and which for the sixes.
Now to solutions?
It's too late.
Working with the kids who have nothing and little future takes years, sometimes generations, not quick fixes and not profit potential at all! Coaching Little League is for public spirited volunteers, but nowadays, thanks to Daley's "reforms" at the Park District, Little League costs about $100 for each kid, so the kids who could use the organization (especially during Little League season) are left watching from the sidelines until they get pissed off and disappear down the alleys.
The same is true for the coaches and others who put in their time going the "extra miles" in public service at the more than 40 public elementary and high schools Daley and Duncan have attacked and closed since Duncan became CEO in 2002. How many coaches, community based teachers, and extra curricular sponsors do you think the Daley administration wiped out at Austin, Calumet, Collins, Englewood in the drive to privatize? Every teacher at every school that's been attacked, from Williams and Dodge through Bunche and Morse up to this years targeted six was an asset to that community, some knowing the realities going back two and three generations.
For their trouble, these teachers, coaches and principals have been defamed to the world by Richard M. Daley and his cheerleaders and appointees.
Daley has spent so many decades teacher bashing, park district bashing, and public housing bashing that there is no longer a lot of willingness on the part of the people who have to do the extra work of public service to step up one more time. Anyone who's been paying attention knows that if you keep working long enough in an inner city public school, eventually you are going to be fired for "underperformance" (or "underutulization," or "under..." something or other).
Just ask the teachers and principals at Orr, Harper, Copernicus, Fulton, Howe and Morton from the front lines. (Or Gladstone, Carver Middle, DeLaCruz, Edison, and a dozen others from a little less intensely).
As you can see, I could go on. But I have other things to do. By the time Richard M. Daley had me sued for $1 million and fired from my teaching job (of 28 years) I knew every gang and every gang banger at Bowen High School. Part of the job is trying to figure out, before it's too late, what to do for these kids when they at not toxic and murderous. But part of that job is also recognizing that in a city and nation as corrupt as this, perfection is far from what we are going to achieve when we serve the children of the victims of the USA on a daily basis, as public servants in our schools, parks, and housing projects. In an era of privatization and an orgy of greed, we're now seeing the results.
The gangs, as everyone knows, are rather ruthless capitalist enterprises. They struggle for market share and location. (Why do you think the major corners are all within a couple of blocks of expressways?). The guns (and baseball bats and other weapons) that are killing young people in Chicago aren't the guns that most people own to protect themselves and their families -- despite all the pious irrelevancies from Richard M. Daley and his traveling road show of paid-off preachers. The gangs and their products are what's out there...
Why Is The Press Letting Him? Richard M. Daley became Cook County State's Attorney in 1980 and Mayor in 1989. For the past 28 years, he had been in charge of law enforcement in the Chicago area, either directly, or indirectly.
During those years, Richard M. Daley could have focused on the causes of gang proliferation, on the development of government (schools and elsewhere) programs to derail gang activity, and ultimately the disestablishment of the major street gang nations ("People" and "Folks" for anyone who doesn't know) from the city's wards and communities.
Instead, Daley allowed the gangs to become central to his own political organization (watch closely on any Election Day in Chicago, at the precinct level) across at least half the city's wards, and across the majority of the wards that are predominantly African American and Latino. Daley also allowed the gangs to take over tiers in both Cook County Jail and the Audy Home, which they still sort out to this day. Daley's allies in Illinois government, especially since the expansion of what's now called the "Prison Industrial Complex", have ignored (if not facilitated) the same pattern within most Illinois correctional facilities. As a result, any gang member knows where he will be when he is locked up (but woe to someone who is unaffiliated when he is locked up) and who he will be with. It's only when the government is really pissed off at some kid that a six-pointed guy is put into the five-pointed portion of, say, County.
Beginning in the 1990s, Daley went into privatization mode, attacking just about every service provided by government. The privatization of much of the custodial work in CPS (which now costs double or more what it did prior to 1995) was just the first step in undermining public service and promoting privatization. The destruction of public housing, the elimination of most programs (except on a "fee" basis) from public parks, and the relentless teacher bashing that's been part of "Renaissance 2010" has all been part of this.
So now, Chicago is treated to what is simply the latest iteration of this cowardice and connivance by Daley --
-- CPS is attached to every iteration of gang violence
-- Daley's preacher patronage army signs on for every "gun control" event, as it guns and not gangs were the problem
Daley's crime empire -- more than "Hired Truck," the hiring scandals that sent Sorich and others to prison, and the massive privatization and destruction of public services (from housing and parks to schools) -- will ultimately be his real legacy.
Even Chicago's most craven media touts (my favorites are at the Sun-Times, where Mary Mitchell will soon be celebrating her second decade of ignoring the ugliness of Daley's segregated corporate "school reform" hoaxes) won't be able to hold the line against the fact forever.
And it surprised me that Daley dared appoint an outsider to head CPD. After all, to learn just how far the gangs have infiltrated the "fabric" of Chicago (I'm talking about the communities, not that international tourist orgy hovering along Lake Michigan) a top cop from outside only has to spend a couple of days in his own courtrooms, his own lockups, and his own jail and Juvey center. Just ask anyone which side is for the fives and which for the sixes.
Now to solutions?
It's too late.
Working with the kids who have nothing and little future takes years, sometimes generations, not quick fixes and not profit potential at all! Coaching Little League is for public spirited volunteers, but nowadays, thanks to Daley's "reforms" at the Park District, Little League costs about $100 for each kid, so the kids who could use the organization (especially during Little League season) are left watching from the sidelines until they get pissed off and disappear down the alleys.
The same is true for the coaches and others who put in their time going the "extra miles" in public service at the more than 40 public elementary and high schools Daley and Duncan have attacked and closed since Duncan became CEO in 2002. How many coaches, community based teachers, and extra curricular sponsors do you think the Daley administration wiped out at Austin, Calumet, Collins, Englewood in the drive to privatize? Every teacher at every school that's been attacked, from Williams and Dodge through Bunche and Morse up to this years targeted six was an asset to that community, some knowing the realities going back two and three generations.
For their trouble, these teachers, coaches and principals have been defamed to the world by Richard M. Daley and his cheerleaders and appointees.
Daley has spent so many decades teacher bashing, park district bashing, and public housing bashing that there is no longer a lot of willingness on the part of the people who have to do the extra work of public service to step up one more time. Anyone who's been paying attention knows that if you keep working long enough in an inner city public school, eventually you are going to be fired for "underperformance" (or "underutulization," or "under..." something or other).
Just ask the teachers and principals at Orr, Harper, Copernicus, Fulton, Howe and Morton from the front lines. (Or Gladstone, Carver Middle, DeLaCruz, Edison, and a dozen others from a little less intensely).
As you can see, I could go on. But I have other things to do. By the time Richard M. Daley had me sued for $1 million and fired from my teaching job (of 28 years) I knew every gang and every gang banger at Bowen High School. Part of the job is trying to figure out, before it's too late, what to do for these kids when they at not toxic and murderous. But part of that job is also recognizing that in a city and nation as corrupt as this, perfection is far from what we are going to achieve when we serve the children of the victims of the USA on a daily basis, as public servants in our schools, parks, and housing projects. In an era of privatization and an orgy of greed, we're now seeing the results.
The gangs, as everyone knows, are rather ruthless capitalist enterprises. They struggle for market share and location. (Why do you think the major corners are all within a couple of blocks of expressways?). The guns (and baseball bats and other weapons) that are killing young people in Chicago aren't the guns that most people own to protect themselves and their families -- despite all the pious irrelevancies from Richard M. Daley and his traveling road show of paid-off preachers. The gangs and their products are what's out there...
Sat May 3, 2008 at 1:38 PM
Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System?
Why Is The Press Letting Him? from the violence project:
The paper of record brought its attention to the second city with a recent article on the deaths of Chicago students and the steps being taken to prevent more deaths from happening. It offers a very detailed overview for those who might not be familiar with the story, but ultimately stakes out familiar territory. We get the impassioned quotes from schools CEO Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley, balance from an expert and community resident, and, last but not least, a student. In the end, the article asks nothing or challenges the reader or those being interviewed. I felt led on by the beginning of the article because I thought the focus of the article would stay with the community groups who are escorting Crane Technical High School students to school, but by paragraph four it had already moved on. Left out again is the fact that many of these shooters and gang members are as young as the victims or/and drop outs. Left out again is the mention of students trying to organize and lead in their communities, rather standing idle as politicians and other leaders do the talking. Left out again are more community groups and churches who are marching and leaving their doors open late to save those on both sides of the gun. Not given enough depth is the issue of poverty and outside factors that are at the root of this violence.
http://theviolenceproject.com/2008/04/28/ny-times-on-chicago-schools/
Why Is The Press Letting Him? from the violence project:
The paper of record brought its attention to the second city with a recent article on the deaths of Chicago students and the steps being taken to prevent more deaths from happening. It offers a very detailed overview for those who might not be familiar with the story, but ultimately stakes out familiar territory. We get the impassioned quotes from schools CEO Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley, balance from an expert and community resident, and, last but not least, a student. In the end, the article asks nothing or challenges the reader or those being interviewed. I felt led on by the beginning of the article because I thought the focus of the article would stay with the community groups who are escorting Crane Technical High School students to school, but by paragraph four it had already moved on. Left out again is the fact that many of these shooters and gang members are as young as the victims or/and drop outs. Left out again is the mention of students trying to organize and lead in their communities, rather standing idle as politicians and other leaders do the talking. Left out again are more community groups and churches who are marching and leaving their doors open late to save those on both sides of the gun. Not given enough depth is the issue of poverty and outside factors that are at the root of this violence.
http://theviolenceproject.com/2008/04/28/ny-times-on-chicago-schools/
