S/O strike: Chicago school community hunger strike

[NewOrleans]

Who are the hunger strikers?


A: The 12 people who say they are on a hunger strike, which began Aug. 17, are part of the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett High School. Among the hunger strikers are members of the venerable Kenwood Oakwood Community Organization, or KOCO, including the group's education organizer, Jitu Brown.

Q: What do they want?

Dyett hunger strikers gain support; striker collapses at CPS board meeting
Dyett hunger strikers gain support; striker collapses at CPS board meeting
A: The protesters want Chicago Public Schools to keep Dyett High School at 555 E. 51st St. open. Citing years of poor performance and declining enrollment, CPS slated Dyett for a three-year phaseout process beginning in 2012. By the last school year only 13 seniors were enrolled.

Q: Why is keeping Dyett open so important to the demonstrators?


A: The fervor over Dyett is in part fueled by frustrations about the city's decision in 2013 to close nearly 50 schools, most of them on the West and South sides, and the growth of privately-run charter schools. Community groups and the Chicago Teachers Union have fought to keep Dyett open for several years, citing the need to maintain neighborhood schools. Advocates have staged frequent demonstrations at City Hall. Discrimination complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Education over the closing.

Q: What about the CPS reponse?


A: Citing community pressure, CPS last October agreed to solicit proposals for a new-open enrollment school at Dyett that would open in the 2016-2017 school year. Three proposals were submitted to the school board, only one of them amenable to the coalition that includes those hunger strikers. They are proposing the Walter H. Dyett Global Leadership and Green Technology High School, which would incorporate a science curriculum intended to capitalize on the building's location in Washington Park and transform the facility into a LEED-certified green building.

A second proposal would create the Little Black Pearl School of the Arts. It would be an expansion of an existing school. A third is being pitched by a former interim principal at Dyett, Charles Campbell, who proposes the creation of the Washington Park Athletic Career Academy.

Q: What's next?


A: CPS had scheduled a hearing on the three proposals at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 at CPS headquarters, 42 W. Madison St. The hearing was initially scheduled for August, and the postponement helped prompt the hunger strike.