Teachers’ Jobs and Kids’ Futures

A group of parents in Chicago have filed a suit to stop Chicago Public Schools’ plan to close 54 schools.  The suit argues that students in special education programs will be negatively affected in a way that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In reporting on the suit, The Chicago Sun-Times quotes CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennet, who said: “We have a shared responsibility to do everything we can to ensure a bright future for every child.”  These words sound wonderful.  However, they contradict the action being taken by CPS.

I live near Trumbull School, which is being closed because of alleged “underutilization.”  The school’s problem is that it hosts several special education classes, which are capped at 14 students per class, half the expected number of a general education class. Several experts have said that the school is not underutilized if adjustments are made for special education classes

More importantly, CEO Byrd-Bennett claims that she wants a “bright future for every child.”  If this is the case, why not bring students from neighboring schools (Chappell, McPherson) to Trumbull, which would lower class sizes at three schools, rather than packing classrooms at two schools?  It’s no secret that students learn better in smaller classrooms.  Empty seats at Trumbull would seem to give CPS a chance to give more students a chance to realize “a bright future.” Why close such a resource?

The only logical reason seems to that CPS wants to shed jobs. Is that what is best for the students and their future?  I don’t think so.  If the city can find money to build a new arena for DePaul near McCormick Place, it should be able to find money to keep schools like Trumbull open.  Do what is best for students.  Invest in schools and teachers.

Sabbath, July 1, 2012

[On Sundays, this blog looks beyond careers and work in “Sabbath.”]

A Forgotten Tragedy Inspires a Great New Play

Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company has a history of producing original, inventive work.  Its latest production Eastland, A New Musical follows in that tradition and might even raise the bar.  The play is based on a 1915 disaster in Chicago in which a tour boat capsized in the Chicago River, killing over 400 people.  While the play is based on this historical event, it dives much deeper into what happened to the people who died on the ship, their lives before the tragedy, and its meaning on an individual level.

I saw this play a few hours ago.  Normally, I’m not a fan of musicals.  However, author Andrew White and his musical partners Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman write lyrics and tunes that never call undue attention to themselves.  Instead, they are fully integrated into the play and add to its power.

There is no one dominant character in this play.  The tragedy affects all equally, victims, survivors, and characters who were not on the ship, such as an undertaker who cannot believe the number of corpses or a firefighter who is indignant with the ship’s captain and his excuses.  White juxtaposes scenes on the sunken ship with those that occurred earlier in the characters’ lives, which helps us understand the pain, joy, and hope they felt before they boarded the Eastland.

I can’t recommend this play highly enough.  It is thoughtful and powerful in reminding us how one day can change everything.

Postscript: Eastland  has been extended through August 19 – if you’re in or near Chicago, go see this play.  If you’re not near Chicago, plan a trip – see this play!

A novel that I read recently Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann follows a similar plot structure, building its story around the day Philippe Petit walked on a tightrope between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  If you don’t see the play, read this book.  Better still, do both.

 

Sabbath, January 29, 2012

[“Sabbath” is this blog’s Sunday feature that ponders work and life.]

Another New Year

This week’s post will be short.  I’ve spent the past two days at Lunar New Year’s parades on Chicago’s north side (Argyle Street) and south side (Chinatown).  The south side parade is much bigger and takes place in a community where Chinese-American business cover several blocks.  While it is smaller, the parade on Argyle Street marks the vibrant businesses on the street, many of which are owned by Chinese-Americans and Vietnamese-Americans.

Watching these parades is a joy because the people in the parade and the people in the crowd are from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.  The people standing on either side of me today were speaking to their children in Spanish and Polish.  Many of the young people marching in bands at both parades were African Americans. 

If you’re in Chicago, check out these parades next year.  If your in a city with an Asian American population, see if there is a Lunar New Year parade.  It’s great fun.

Children March in Chinatown

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 - Year of the Dragon

 

 

 

 

 

Fireworks on Argyle Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chasing Away Evil Spirits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sabbath, December 25, 2011

[Sabbath is this blog’s Sunday feature on intersections of work and life.]

Christmas and Things

In his Christmas sermon, Pope Benedict lamented how the holiday has become commercialized.   I agree with him.  From early November, one message saturates the airwaves: It’s time to “buy” for Christmas.  People line up for midnight sales on the day after Thanksgiving, which has taken on its own identity as Black Friday. 

I’m bothered more by people’s behavior than the fact that they are buying gifts for loved ones.  Too often we see people filling carts with the newest, biggest, most glitzy products.  They are buying what they are told people want: the hot toy, the 4G smartphone, the iWhatever.  What do people need?  What shows our love for people, rather than our ability to get in line and do what everyone else is doing?

I still buy books as gifts, especially for the children in my life.  The day will come when all media will be a download, but it’s not today.  A book pushes people away from the screens that dominate our work and personal lives.  A book says, “Slow down.”  A book keeps us connected to a paper-based tradition of learning and sharing knowledge that is over two thousand years old.  I hope books never go away.   

I also like to give food.  This gift can come in two forms: gifts certificates to local restaurants or some interesting kind of food that can be purchased here in Andersonville or another Chicago neighborhood. Last year, I gave two friends gifts certificates to Gene’s Sausage in Lincoln Square.  Gene’s is a cross between an old fashioned butcher shop and the best things about Whole Foods.  This year, I’m giving gifts certificates to Calo’s, an Italian restaurant that is a block south of my office.  Calo’s has something for everybody – from sit down dinners to great thin and thick crust pizza.  In past years, I’ve given friends Italian salamis, Middle Eastern appetizers, and even bacon-flavored chocolate bars.  Food is always a fun gift. 

Whatever I give, my goal is to share something with someone I care about, not simply to follow the line in a store or heed the call of a TV commercial.  Whenever possible, I like to surprise my friends and share some cool thing I found wandering through this city of wonders.  Most of all, I want to send a simple message of love and caring.  The Pope is right about that.  It’s not about buying things.  It’s about love.

Happy Holidays.

Sabbath, October 2, 2011

[“Sabbath is this blog’s Sunday feature that looks at intersections of work and life.]

More than Sports

I sometimes tell myself that I’m done with newspapers.  They deal in stale news, often slanted in a way that goes against my values.  I tell myself to stop wasting money, and then it happens:  An investigation of a corrupt politician or members of his family.  A profile of someone doing good in the community.  An editorial that makes me think about things a different way.  The Chicago Sun-Times still offers information and opinion that is relevant, often vital.  Roger Ebert consistently delivers such writing in his movie reviews, editorials, and blog posts.  So does Rick Telander.

Telander is more than a sports columnist.  He thinks about issues and challenges his readers to engage hard subjects.  Last year he wrote a series on football and brain injuries that was fascinating and painful at the same.  Now he is back with a new series, a study of Murray Park in Chicago’s Englewood community, the part of the city where basketball star Derrick Rose grew up.  Telander visited the area frequently last summer.  He found the land that Michael Harrington called the “Other America,” a real place most of us choose not to see. 

Reading about gang shootings, it’s often easy to forget that people live in areas like Englewood.  Telander introduces us to those people: teachers, park superintendents, police officers, and postal workers.  In today’s installment, he confesses that he quickly adapted to a community where people were shot and killed.  Only the most unusual murders get noticed.  Shooting is part of everyday life. 

Kids escape through basketball, dreaming of being the next Derrick Rose, the kid who was able to leave the neighborhood.  Telander profiles some of Rose’s friends who have chosen not to leave the community because they want to make it better.  At the end of today’s installment, one of Rose’s childhood friends is trying to calm a group of young people.  A car rides by and shot are fired.  The peace maker was shot seven times (His story will be continued in tomorrow’s paper). 

To his credit, Telander reports without judgment.  Often, he lets people in the community tell the story in their own words.  In the 1970s Telander wrote a great book called Heaven Is a Playground.  His profile of Murray Park describes young people on playgrounds, but no one would call it heaven.  At the same time, it’s too simple to call it hell.  Some, like Derrick Rose, have left the neighborhood and live better, safer lives.  Others choose to stay and fight to change it.  Telander introduces us to the range of humanity in Murray Park, and we are richer for the experience.  Without newspapers, we wouldn’t have such stories.  Our lives would be simpler – in the worst sense of that word.

Sabbath, May 1, 2011

[On Sundays, Career Calling explore life and work in “Sabbath.”]

Yesterday I attended “Let the Voice of the People Be Heard: a Haymarket Reenactment in Three Parts,” which celebrated the 125 anniversary of the riot and bombing.  In a time when labor is under attack and schools teach little about workers who fought and died to gain basic human rights, this type of event keeps history alive.  What were workers asking for 125 years ago?  An eight hour day. 

On May 1, 1886, thousands of workers across the U.S. went on strike.  Three days later in Chicago, a protest at Haymarket Square ended in a clash between protesters and police.  A bomb was thrown that killed eight officers.  Five protesters, all anarchists, were accused of the crime.

The police move forward to "preserve disorder."

 The reenactment depicted what it must have been like with a wave of police engaging the protesters:  Chaos and violence punctuated by a bomb that was thrown by – we don’t know who threw the bomb.  The men who were blamed for the act and executed faced death in a spirit of celebration.  They did not apologize for their beliefs. 

Before and during the reenactment, singers of all skill levels treated the crowd to labor songs from Joe Hill and Woody Guthrie.  Jon Langford and Bucky Halker performed during the reenactment, reminding the crowd that folk and traditional music is very much alive in Chicago.

Many people in the crowd wore t-shirts or buttons honoring the workers’ protests inWisconsin.  A group of transit workers from Iran told the crowd about their struggles to gain better working conditions.  Next to the stage, someone waved the black flag emblazoned with a red A, the anarchists’ banner.  A spokesperson from the I.W.W.  talked about the union’s recent successes in organizing a Starbucks in the U.S.and – gasp – a Wal-Mart in Canada. 

The spirit of Haymarket lives. . . in Iran.

 

Many people contributed to this event, but its main driving force was Paul Durica of Pocket Guide to Hell.  Durica has put on similar labor reenactments, but this was a master stroke.  As one speaker commented, May 1 is the workers’ holiday everywhere in the world except theU.S.  For one year at least, thanks to Paul Durica, the reenactors, musicians, and all the other people who put on this event, May Day was alive and well inChicago.  The Tea Party will be forgotten soon (but not soon enough).  The sacrifice of Albert Parsons and the other martyrs of Haymarket Square will live on. 

 Sunday Extra Helpings

 Chicago History Museum’s “Dramas of Haymarket”

 The Library of Congress’s archive on the Haymarket Affair

Aljazeera English reports on worldwide celebrations & protests on May Day.

More Photos

Albert & Lucy Parsons

 

If this were a Tea Party event, front page of the New York Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America in 2011: Corporate power looms over the workers' monument

The Spirit of Labor in 1915

Huffington Post reports on a historical reenactment of a labor protest in Chicago in 1915.  As photos from the event show, issues that haunted this country 95 years ago are back again:  hunger, unemployment, and poverty.  What’s most interesting is that the city’s current unemployment rate (10.5%) is higher than what it was in 1915.  This kind of event brings history to life and reminds us how labor activists fought for rights that are now being stripped away across the U.S.

The group that organized this event is Pocketguide to Hell.

Sabbath, February 6, 2011

[On Sundays, Career Calling ponders work and life beyond career.]

Shoveling

The newspapers and TV weather hucksters made last week’s snow sound like the end of the world: “Snowmageddon,” “Snowpocalypse.”  Chicago was hit with 20 inches of snow, the third largest amount in the city’s history.  The wind blew some drifts 3-4 feet.  But it wasn’t the end of the world, not even close.

On Wednesday, I shoveled the front walk and went to work for half a day. At that point most of my neighbors had not faced the problem yet.  Sidewalks were blanketed and cars buried.  However, by the time I came home at four o’clock, almost every sidewalk was cleared and most cars were dug out.  It took the city another day to run a plow down the side streets, but the main streets were kept pretty clear.  Chicago’s not perfect, but it knows how to deal with snow. 

The media wants to tell another story.  It focuses on the problems.  Some drivers were stranded on Lake Shore Drive and had to be rescued.  Their cars had to be towed.  A CTA bus got stuck and the drivers also had to be rescued.  Should the media report such stories?  Sure.  But, to my knowledge, no one was hurt or died in these incidents.  Broadcasters and editors are so desperate for the big story that they’ll blow up any event to generate interest (and ad revenue).

The city was shut down on Wednesday and many businesses were still closed on Thursday.  Friday was back to normal.  Yesterday, I went with some friends to enjoy the Lunar New Year Parade on Argyle Street.  The crowd was as big or bigger than last year.  Some people climbed on snow banks to get a better view of the parade.  No one complained.  Happiness – and firecrackers – marked the New Year. 

I woke up this morning and saw that it had snowed a few more inches.  I grabbed the shovel and cleaned the sidewalk.  Big deal.  I’ll still take Chicago winters over Florida summers anytime.  We can put on coats, gloves, and boots to survive the cold and snow.  Humidity?  Let them keep it in the Sunshine state.  Give me four seasons.  And a shovel. 

Sunday Extra Helpings

Jack Higgins of the Sun-Times captures the event in a self-deprecating cartoon.

 His paper provided breathless coverage, a sign of the times in our excited media culture.

Blizzard? Some People Still Have to Work.

Chicago’s been hit by a blizzard.  Schools and many business are closed (probably for a couple of days).  Even so, some people still have to work.  Francine Knowles of the Sun-Times­ interviews experts on the role of managers during such crises.  If most of the leadership staff makes the struggle to get to work, those who stay home might be looked upon as less dedicated.  If managers expect front line workers to show up and do their jobs, it is essential that the leaders are also on the job.  If you’re a manager and your company’s not closed, you’re late!

Postscript:  The Sun-Times online edition has a great story about how people go to work on this almost-impossible-to-commute day.

Sabbath, May 16,2010

[Sabbath is Career Calling’s Sunday feature that ponders work & life beyond career.]

The Work of The Place

Few poems capture the influence of work on a city more than Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago.”  The poem sings the glory and grit of labor. . . its magnetic pull on the farm boy [Who are today’s farm boys?  What is attracting them? Let’s not talk about that. Arizona wants the last word.] . . . its criminals and poor families.  Sandburg saw the full range of possibility and tragedy.  Deeper, he understood that working people fueled the city’s growth:

“Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to

            be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a

            tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage

             pitted against the wilderness. . .”

Here work is captured with all of its animal energy and human cunning.  Sandburg knows that nothing can be made without some kind of destructive, violent activity: “Shoveling. . . Wrecking. . . Planning. . . Building, breaking, rebuilding.” 

People in Chicago and other cities talk about the way their neighborhoods “used to be.”  We remember the downtown of our childhood.  Labor and work turned those realities into memories.  Last summer I went on a tour that focused on the history of Chicago skyscrapers from the late 19^th century to the present.  The guide talked about architectural styles and building materials.  What was common to all these building was men (and later women) piling bricks, riveting steel, working high above ant-like office clerks and shoppers on the sidewalk.  The place changes – work never ends.

The stockyards are gone.  Sandburg’s “Hog Butcher for the World” is now a center of commerce, world class universities, and diverse neighborhoods.  Still, it’s a city that’s all about work: yesterday’s butcher is today’s banker, today’s researcher is yesterday’s steelworker.  The plumbers, electricians, and carpenters are joined by the new craftsmen, IT and telecom professionals who build the networks that feed the information economy. 

Our work now is as much of the mind as the body.  Some still need to know how to use the hammer.  More – most – need keyboard skills and the patience to stay sane in windowless offices and cubicles.  In the digital age, our challenge as working people is regain the “laughing,” “cursing” “fierce as a dog” pride that Sandburg celebrates:

“Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked,

            sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of

            Wheat, Player with Railroads, and Freight Handler to the Nation.”

His Chicago, his America, was sweaty and dirty.  It worked hard and took pride in what it produced.  May we find our way back to that kind of work.

Happy Sabbath.