Halt the Back-to-School Boycott

It’s time to send a clear message to the over 377,000 minority Chicago Public School students and their parents: Go to school this Tuesday. It’s simply socially irresponsible to boycott classes September 2nd, and I’ll give you three reasons why.

The first reason is that getting a good education is the most critical thing students and their parents can do to reshape their world now and in the future. And the first step on that journey is to attend class every day, but especially the first day of school in the new academic year.

The second reason is because the overwhelmingly convoluted and flawed system of funding public education in Illinois is based on student attendance on that first day: the larger the attendance, the larger the allotment of funds to the district. Because Illinois has consistently ranked 49th in this country in the amount of money the state spends on public education, every penny counts.

And the third reason is because since the boycott was called last month, a socially responsible lawsuit was filed last week by the Chicago Urban League against the State of Illinois (based on a similar case with a successful outcome in New York) to reconstruct the State’s current public education funding scheme on the grounds that it “disparately impacts racial and ethnic minority students who attend school districts with a high concentration of minority students by distributing an unequal level of funding to those school districts” in violation of: (1) the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003; (2) the Uniformity of Taxation provision of the Illinois Constitution; (3) the students’ rights to attend ‘high quality education institutions’ guaranteed by the Education Article of the Illinois Constitution; and (4) the equal protection clause of the Illinois Constitution.

Amen!

Even in the face of the gun violence that took the lives of 35 CPS students last academic year, Chicago must go back to school. Police Superintendent Jodi Weis must roll up his sleeves and build strong bridges with parents and community organizations to reclaim Chicago streets and sidewalks so our children can go safely to and from school.

CPS has been rebuilding its facilities and retooling its teachers and administrators, and continues to make substantial academic achievements despite the meager allocation given it by the State under the current funding system. Why create more obstacles for 92% of the CPS student body that is minority, by calling a boycott of the first day of classes? It sends the wrong message to our students and it takes money we can’t afford to lose, out of our emaciated school budgets. How does that educate and empower all our future presidential candidates? Chicago must go to, and stay in, school this year.

I understand Rev. Meeks’ frustration; despite several years as a state senator, he hasn’t been able to trigger legislative action to change this inequity. However, on this issue, timing is everything: Meeks’ July boycott call is now made unnecessary with the August civil rights suit, enabling our students to attend school this September.

The choice is clear, Rev. Meeks: check yourself today, and call a halt to your boycott. Be on the side of those who truly support our students. It’s their future and NOT your ego – or whatever motivation – that’s important. The socially responsible in Chicago are NOT twiddling their thumbs. We’re fighting on every front – in our homes, on our streets, in our classrooms and now, in our courts – taking the battle where it belongs: to the doorstep of justice and fairness. Let’s give our State, our city and our school district the chance to overcome yet another legacy of slavery and dismantle these barriers to racial and economic opportunity for all.