Candlelight Vigil and March Delivers a Message: "Support Our Schools, Don't Close Them!"

Parents and community supporters will hold a candlelight vigil this afternoon in Lake View to protest planned school closures. Sixteen public schools are currently slated for closure and "turnaround."

Lake View was chosen as the location for the silent vigil because it is the Mayor's neighborhood. The Mayor has made decisions that impact community schools without visiting the schools or talking with parents. Since the Mayor has failed to show up in their communities, the parents are going to his neighborhood to deliver their message: "Support Our Schools, Don't Close Them!"

Parents of children attending these schools are concerned because the closings were planned without their input, and because schools that have been closed and put through the turnaround process have shown little if any improvement, despite receiving millions of dollars in funding.

WHAT:
A candlelight vigil featuring parents and students speaking out to keep their schools

WHERE:
Lake View High School, 4015 North Ashland Avenue

WHEN:
TODAY, Monday, February 20
4:00 p.m.

WHO:
Parents, students and a broad coalition of community supporters, including
Action Now, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Blocks Together, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and others

WHY:
To demand that the Mayor and the Board of Education listen to parents, and Support Our Schools Instead of Closing Them. To call on CPS to work in partnership with school communities, and to invest in real school improvement plans that respect the parents and educators in the schools.