Capital Improvement Hearings First Week Of May From CPS:
The Chicago Public Schools will be hosting a series of public hearings throughout the month of May on its capital-improvement program. The hearings will be held throughout the city. They give students, staff and community residents an opportunity to provide input on the planning process for the 2009 Capital Improvement Program, which details what school construction, upgrades and maintenance will be scheduled.
The hearings will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the following days:
· Wednesday, May 7—Walter Payton College Prep, 1034 N. Wells St.
· Thursday, May 8—Bell Elementary School, 3730 N. Oakley Ave.
· Wednesday, May 14—Jackson Language Academy, 1340 W. Harrison St.
· Thursday, May 15—Pershing West Middle School, 3200 S. Calumet Ave.
· Wednesday, May 21—Lindblom Math/Science Academy, 6130 S. Wolcott St.
· Thursday, May 22—Morgan Park High School, 1744 West Pryor Avenue
Registration for each of the hearings will run from 4 to 5 p.m. Each hearing will be open to questions and comments pertaining to the capital needs of any Chicago public school.Public hearing sites are accessible to people with disabilities, and sign language interpreters will be present. If residents need more information on the hearing, they can call CPS Department of Operations at 773.553.2905, TTY 773.553.2699.
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Del.icio.usDoes anyone know whether any other reporters were there for any of them? There was certainly nobody else there at Morgan Park High School the last day of the hearings when 13 buses from Gallistel Elementary School unloaded more than 500 students, teachers, parents and community leaders (including Alderman Pope) behind the slogan "One Gallistel, Not Three" (Gallistel is currently spread over four blocks between 102nd and 104th on Ewing, with a total of 1,400 students. Apparently that's not "news" because Gallistel is (a) not in a community with clout and (b) located too far from the TV stations to merit coverage.
I've also heard from CPS insiders (not in "Operations" by the way) that Gallistel is not even on the list for major renovations, despite assurances to the contrary. Because a great deal of the Capital budget is now coming out of TIFs, only those areas with very lucrative TIFs (like the 48th Ward, Mary Ann Smith) can pry the capital dollars out for school improvements. If this "business model" be true (and I suspect it is), then the TIF scam in Chicago is going to guarantee that the rich get even richer in school improvements while the poor get much much much poorer.
Gallistel is not the only dramatic facilities story, just the one that turned out the most human beings (from age three or four to age eight or ninety) to be ignored by official Chicago.
Why are Rufus Williams and Arne Duncan ignoring the needs of the 1,400 children at Gallistel?
If that gun scare from the Gallistel "branch" at DeSales High School (Gallistel 5th graders are on the third floor of that building, although you'd never know it from outside) had proved real two weeks ago -- and some Gallistel kid gotten shot -- would Arne Duncan have discovered how to get to S. Ewing Ave.?
Or would he just have muttered one of his patented sanctimonious talking points about guns being the problem from the safety of his limousine in Hyde Park?
Hint. There are major street gangs in South Chicago, the East Side, and Hegewisch. In fact, the one murdered kid from Whitney Young was abducted out there near Gallistel a little over a year ago (not within 15 miles of Whitney Young).
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