By Susan Dufresne and Anthony Cody. In the past 13 years of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top test-driven education policies, art has been pushed to the margins in our schools. Students have lost countless hours for creating art, music and dance that expresses themselves. But artistic expression is like the …
By Michelle Gunderson. The hunger strike for Dyett High School ended this morning on day 34. Once again I headed to the south side to be with my friends and fellow education fighters known as the Dyett Twelve. Education activists had been told that the hunger strikers would have an announcement this morning, and …
By Michelle Gunderson. We sit under the trees at Dyett High School yet again on Sunday night. The Dyett 12 hunger strikers sit in a tight circle while a crowd of over a hundred of Chicago’s activists listen in. I know almost every face in this crowd. They are people who understand struggle and know what the word …
By Michelle Gunderson. A circle of ten people sit outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office demanding a meeting with the mayor. They have not taken solid food for 12 days. The Dyett hunger strikers ask that a decision be made regarding their proposal to keep the only open enrollment high school in the Bronzeville …
By Michelle Gunderson. Twelve people sit in a circle under the trees outside Dyett High School in Chicago on a hunger strike. They share stories of their experience with Chicago schools – teachers they have loved, principals they have battled, the times they have been arrested fighting for equity in our schools. …
By Michelle Gunderson. Twelve people sit in a circle under the trees outside Dyett High School in Chicago on a hunger strike. They share stories of their experience with Chicago schools – teachers they have loved, principals they have battled, the times they have been arrested fighting for equity in our schools. …
By Michelle Gunderson. This is the time of year when teachers start thinking about what the next school year will bring. We wonder what classes we will be given, what our students will be like, what joys and challenges we will face. Teaching is a profession that occupies the mind – teachers think about schooling …
By Michelle Strater Gunderson. “What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.” John Dewey Last week the Local School Council at Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago …
By Michelle Gunderson with Katie Osgood. Who in the world believes there is justice in telling a six year old that they are average – are a C? The whole definition of being six is to be someone who is extraordinary. When you ask first graders if they can dance – they say yes. If you ask first graders if they …
By Michelle Gunderson. My friend who is a janitor in the Chicago Public Schools told me that he warned his daughters to only use the bathrooms at school if they have to. He said, “I know how impossible it is to get our schools clean right now. It just can’t be done with the cutbacks.” Can you imagine telling …
