School of thought
Dear Pride Campus Supporter,
Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan announced that the Chicago Board of Education's vote on the proposed Social Justice High School-Pride Campus scheduled to take place Oct. 22 will be postponed until the Nov. 19 board meeting.
With this delay, the Illinois Family Institute and select ministers from around Chicago are voicing strong opposition to the school. They have launched an 'unabated email and letter campaign' to stop the school's approval, and so we are in great need of balancing their negative campaign with as many letters and e-mails of our own in declarative support of the Pride Campus. Please e-mail or mail a letter of support to Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan and the Chicago Board of Education. ( The contact info is below. ) For those of you who spoke at the public forum, please consider restating your words in print and sending them to Duncan and copying them to the Chicago Tribune and/or Chicago Sun-Times.
The school aims to unite various identities and create a supportive college preparatory environment for all students. The questions of how to be an ally and what it means to be an ally will act as the guiding inquiries for the student body. Furthermore, the school will exist as a training hub on LGBT issues and social-justice curricula for teachers, both locally and nationally. Social-justice history, practices and discussion will be embedded in the curriculum, allowing for all students, including LGBTQ youth, to find representation in the courses they are taking in school.
Pride Campus is the work of inclusiveness and equality. Please join in supporting a school model that embraces all students for who they are and the potential of who they can be.
Please e-mail Arne Duncan at aduncan@cps.k12.il.us with your letter of support. To cc the Chicago Tribune, e-mail ctc-tribletter@tribune.com . To cc the Chicago Sun-Times, e-mail mcooke@suntimes.com .
To mail or fax a letter, send it to: Arne Duncan, Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools, 125 S. Clark, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603; the fax number is 773-553-1502. To send to the board, mail a letter to: Chicago Board of Education, 125 S. Clark, 6th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603; the fax number is 773-553-1601.
Thank you for your time and efforts.
Sincerely,
The Design Team-Social Justice High School-Pride Campus:
Rito Martinez—Principal/Social Justice High School; Chad Weiden—Assistant Principal/Social Justice High School; Katherine Hogan—English Department Chair/Social Justice High School; Dr. William Greaves—Liaison to the LGBT Communities/City of Chicago; Renae Ogletree—Director of Student Development/Chicago Public Schools; Aaron Bowen—Student Development/Chicago Public Schools; Paula Gilovich—Education Director/About Face Theatre; Dr. David Stovall—Associate Professor, Dept. of Educational Policy Studies/University of Illinois at Chicago
Policing the police
Through my involvement with a community-based task force concerned with youth issues, I am seeking your assistance in improving the manner in which the Independent Police Review Authority ( IPRA ) responds to juvenile-initiated complaints alleging police misconduct.
This plan will allow IPRA to 'fast-track' juvenile-initiated administrative complaints alleging police misconduct by prioritizing these distinctly separate from adult-initiated accusations against the police. This also allows juvenile complainants to be assigned to designated IPRA investigative personnel familiar with current juvenile issues and resources throughout the City. This improvement of services will benefit all juvenile complainants by ensuring that specially-designated and trained IPRA juvenile investigative personnel are sensitive to issues such as GLBT, HIV/STD, homelessness, immigration, and other issues that may be a factor in the determination of the complaint.
IPRA is in the process of reviewing and re-designing many of their procedures in order to improve services. A show of public support will help persuade IPRA to incorporate this measure into the investigative protocol involving juvenile complainants.
E-mail IPRA at Mark.Payne@IPRAChicago.org or write to IPRA at: Ilana B. R. Rosenzweig, Chief Administrator, Independent Police Review Authority, 10 W. 35th, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60616.
Thanks,
Bob Zuley, Chicago
