Dozens were arrested yesterday, during the last of three protests calling for a moratorium on the mass school closings in Chicago.

After marching through the South and West sides of the city, protesters entered City Hall in downtown Chicago, blocked elevators, and many subsequently arrested.

The Chicago Public Schools Board will vote on the 54 Chicago school closures this Wednesday.

From the Grio:

Chants of “Hey Rahm, lets face it, school closures are racist,” and “Brick by brick, wall by wall, no school closings. Save them all,” rang throughout City Hall’s main lobby Monday afternoon while workers and patrons weaved through protestors to make their way to their destinations in the building.

…

“These school closures and all of these reforms in Chicago and in the nation are just budget cuts in disguise,” said Jeremy Peters, a teacher at Paul Roberson High School in Englewood.

As he took a lunch break, he said, ”They want to close down the most underutilized (schools) which is really a symptom of neighborhood health, rather than anything else, because these neighborhoods that they’re closing schools are suffering long-term issues from segregation, discrimination, home foreclosures.”

Fifty-three elementary schools and one high school, primarily in Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods, are planned for closure. Protesters contend it’s an attack on minorities and the most vulnerable neighborhoods in the city.

Read more at the Grio

 

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