CHICAGO (WBBM) — Students and parents from several of the 10 schools threatened with closure by the Chicago Public Schools rallied at Rainbow/PUSH headquarters on the South Side.
Deneen School is scheduled to be re-staffed because of underperformance. Twins Armani and Amani Piett attend Deneen School said their experience has been good classroom instruction and great after-school programs.
“We might just have a nervous breakdown,” said one of the twins, drawing laughter and applause from those attending the rally.
They then shouted in unison, “Please don’t break up and destroy our Deneen family.”
Wendell Phillips High School also will be re-staffed. Brandon Cransberry ranks third in his junior class and is beginning to look at colleges.
“I want letters of recommendation for college,” he said. “How can I get a letter of recommendation from people I don’t know?”
Phillips student body president Aaron Walker said his teachers allow students to become somebody and have sharply improved their grades and ability to learn.
“Today, the Board of Education is telling the world that our teachers are inadequate,” he said. “We say that our teachers are brilliant and talented by measure.”
Walker said many of Phillips’ teachers stay late and dedicate themselves to helping students learn. He said if the school is re-staffed, a process known as “turnaround” at the Board, that extra assistance cannot be assured.
CEO Ron Huberman dropped the Gillespie, Mollison, Guggenheim and Paderewski Schools from the list last week. The board of Education meets Wednesday.
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