Si Se Puede! It Can Be Done! Yes, We Can! Signs of Hope in Our Struggle?

 There are signs of hope for our struggle-- if students, parents, faculty, and the community stay strong and keep our eye on the ball. 
 The Save Senn Coalition has had two main aims--

 ● One aim is to have the naval academy removed from the Senn High School building, so Senn can grow and flourish. Anchors Away. 

 ● Another main aim is to maintain Senn High School as a general community high school with its current diverse student body, a school open to all.   

Important statements have been reported recently to the Senn Strategic Plan Committee, which has been meeting regularly for two years, with strong attendance and participation  from the community, teachers, and students. The reports suggest we may see a let up regarding the stone walling on the issue of removing the naval academy from the Senn building, and finally respecting the wishes of the majority of the community. And we may see a let up on the maneuvering to replace Senn High School with smaller selective entrance schools. 

This hope is supported by an article in the May 8th News-Star. Lorraine Swanson reports in a lead article on Senn that Alderman Mary Ann Smith has “seemed to back off an alternative plan that she supported earlier calling for closing Senn as a neighborhood school…”

The article reports that “Smith also announced that because of the success of Rickover Naval Academy…the academy may eventually be moving into its own separate building.”  That sounds good to us. Declare victory, and leave.  

 Not that we are forgetting the third main aim of the Save Senn Coalition--opposing militarization of youth.

 We will not be forgetting to raise the issues of the current illegal and unjust U.S. wars with cadets--and   the students of Senn H.S.-- even if  the naval academy does move. 

 And, we will continue to educate students, faculty and the community against the direction CPS has taken with its entire militarization program--one it boasts is the largest in the land, and that devotes   1/3 to two times more resources per student to JROTC programs than it does to general community high schools.  Why is the Board of Education  subsidizing the Pentagon's JROTC programs when the Chicago public schools  are so short of funds and resources for all our students? See the News-Star   One View op-ed on April 17 by Craig Mousin,   "Funding of military academies deprives general public education" (www.chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID= 49&subsectionID=164&articleID=4690)

  One other important point that is coming up is about   ensuring that political power remains in the hands of the elected Local School Council (LSC). Mayor Daley and the business community have been doing all they can to undercut the power of parents, teachers, students, and the community in the Local School Councils.  Mary Ann Smith is reported in the article by Swanson to have said that she will recognize the Senn LSC as having a major say in the plan that is adopted to improve Senn. Since the LSC has been the initiator of the Senn Strategic Plan Committee, which favors strengthening the general community high school that is Senn High School, this sounds very good. 

 We all need to keep our eyes open and our organizations  active to make sure that the positive words and plans for a further developing and growing Senn High School are achieved. 

A Victory Against Military Recruiting Posters at Senn

 As you may know, activists against militarization of the Chicago Public Schools have managed to get some guidelines passed by the Board of Education restricting military recruiters in the schools. 

 One recent result of this success is that military recruitment posters have been taken down from various walls in Amundsen and Whitney Young High Schools, and now from Senn High School as well. 

  If you see military recruiters violating the guidelines to stay at a table and not rove around and actively solicit  students., please let us know the time and date. Also, if you see   military recruiting posters around, either in Senn   or Rickover Naval Academy, outside of the counseling offices, 

please let us know that too. Please be specific about where they are.

Since we support  efforts to end all forms of trying to recruit youth into the U.S. military, we urge you to assist in making this happen. One of the reasons we take this stand is because we oppose the military carrying out illegal orders to engage in aggressive wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, and to now threaten  Iran. Based on U.S. and international law (since the U.S. government signed the UN Charter) the U.S. is not allowed to attack another country that has not attacked the U.S. or to militarily threaten a country unless they have threatened the U.S. Neither Iraq nor the government of Afghanistan nor Iran attacked or threatened the U.S. with attack.   

Many Senn H.S. Students Participate Successful Rally & March May 1st For the Rights of Immigrants & All Workers

 Thousands and thousands working people and students, including immigrants struggling for immigrant rights, marched once again in Chicago on May Day, International Workers Day, on Thursday, May 1. The day of marching and boycotting work and school also took place in over 30 other cities across the U.S., and in nations across the globe. 

Among those marching was a contingent over 70 from Senn High School.  Many other schools and colleges also had contingents.

Front and center in the march and rallies was a   vision of a world where workers’ and immigrant rights are guaranteed. This   can be seen in the many slogans for this year’s actions: No One is Illegal! Defend Immigrant Rights! Defend Workers’ Rights! Stop the Raids and Deportations! Stop Funding Wars! Fund Reconstruction and Social Programs! They say go back, but we say fight back! and many more.  

 The West Coast longshore workers called a strike for May Day, expressing   opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq, and against racism and repression organized by the government. 

We need to build on the spirit of all for one & one for all, of unity on the basis of defending the rights of all.

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Free Film and Discussion Program

On Resistance in the Military to the Illegality and Injustice Of the Conduct of the U.S. War in Iraq The documentary film “Breaking Ranks” shows four resisters and the reasons they have refused to continue on in the U.S. military. Instead, they went to Canada. In Canada they have gained support from the people for their resistance and legal efforts to remain despite apparent knuckling under by the Canadian government to the U.S. government.
There is an issue for us: What stand and action should we take on this? Is there is a role of support that we should take up for these four resisters and for many others like them who have remained in the U.S. including in Chicago? 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14 at the Edgewater Pubic Library, 1210 W. Elmdale, at the corner of Broadway

The film (55 minutes) will be followed by discussion. ALL views are welcome.

Co-sponsored by Neighbors for Peace and the Save Senn Coalition

This entry was posted on September 14th, 2008 and is filed under News and Updates.