CCC Administration Refuses to Meet with Save City Colleges Coalition & Kicks them out of Malcolm X College

Save City Colleges Refused Meeting Space at Malcolm X

Watch it on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PrxVy_QYY8

Part of the "reinvention" plan for Chicago City Colleges is to remove the name of Malcolm X from one of the campuses, and paint over the its wall mural image of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s. But these are just symbolic representations of much deeper attacks against public eduction in Chicago at the college level. The Save City Colleges coalition, made up of student groups, faculty members, union locals, and community leaders, arrived at Malcolm X on May 26 expecting to have a hearing with Chairman of the Board of Trustees Martin Cabrera and officials from City Hall, as was previously agreed to. But they found out that it was cancelled. And to add to the insult, Malcolm X security (the irony of it all!) kicked the coalition out of the building. The coalition has stated: "The grassroots organizers point to the dangerously reduced transparency of decision-making for the largest consolidated body of higher education in the state and claim that all of the above decisions had been made by administrators lacking in education experience and credentials and without good-faith consultations with employees, students or grassroots community representatives." Length - 3 min.

Malcolm X College security head won't allow SCC a meeting space,

and throws the coalition out of the building.

Photo: ©2011 Labor Beat

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From the Mouth of Babes: The [Business] Advisory Councils Run the Reinvention Show

Thanks to people who attended the Reinvention Task Forces presentation recently held at Malcolm X College, we gained a better perspective of who has the veto power at the Reinvention castle. A CCC headquarters employee that caters to the members of the Advisory Councils explained their role to some of the presentation attendees when asked why the Advisory Councils did not have a presentation on that day if they were listed in parallel with the Task Forces in the Reinvention website.

Paraphrasing what the employee said:

1-    The Advisory Councils (AC) are constituted by people in the business and “civic” communities, in highly placed government circles, and by the aristocracy of community leaders who have high-level connections with the business and the government powerbrokers. (Not actually her words, but the most accurate translation.)

2-    The AC meet periodically, and also hear presentations by the Task Forces and the CCC administrators, where they provide “recommendations” on what needs to be changed, added or dropped. In other words, they are the ones that give the seal of approval.

So who are the AC? According to the Reinvention website (http://reinventingccc.org/task-forces/advisory-council/):

Advisory Councils

The City Colleges Reinvention initiative also relies on external expertise to guide the Task Forces in helping to make City Colleges a world-class institution. The five advisory councils, composed of recognized leaders, are:

·         Community Advisory Council

o    Martin Castro, President and CEO, Castro Synergies, LLC

o    Phillip Jackson, Executive Director, The Black Star Project

·         Civic/Foundation Advisory Council

o    Lester McKeever, Managing Principal, Washington, Pittman and McKeever, LLC

o    Whitney Smith, Program Manager, Joyce Foundation

·         Business Advisory Council

o    Jerry Roper, President and CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

o    Omar Duque, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

·         Academic Advisory Council

o    Brian Fabes, CEO, Civic Consulting Alliance

o    Jesse Ruiz, Board Chair, ISBE

·         Capital Planning Advisory Council

o    James Frankenbach, former President, Rush North Shore Medical Center

o    Elzie Higgenbottom, CEO, East Lake Management & Development

**********************

Careful inspection of the listed members reveals that business people comprise 70% of those listed and that they populate every single council, even the community one. We must keep in mind that an additional and key structure of business and billionaires’ control over the Reinvention are the so called “Partners.” Again as listed in the Reinvention website, they are (http://reinventingccc.org/partners/):

Partners
Foundations

We are grateful for the support Foundations are providing to fund our activities. Sponsors include the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust, the Joyce Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pro Bono Support
The Civic Consulting Alliance is playing a critical role in supporting our efforts and has recruited a number of professional services firms who are contributing to our efforts on a pro bono basis. Firms providing pro bono support include:
 

·          Accenture

·          KPMG

·          McKinsey & Company

*************************

We have spoken before about some of these so called partners, in particular the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Accenture and the Civic Consulting Alliance. We pointed out that the Civic consulting Alliance is the pro bono arm of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the most influential pack of business leaders and CEO’s in Illinois. As we will detail in an upcoming post, the Commercial Club of Chicago is the most influential force in the Reinvention tragedy and in the whole of Chicago.

So there you have it folks, the real driving and decision making force behind the Reinvention are Chicagoland’s business leaders and their allies.

PEARL

May 26 6:00 pm Meeting

Students, Workers and Community Members:

SAY NO
to Rahm and the corporations!!

　

Last week Rahm Emanuel was installed as the new mayor of Chicago. Students, workers and community members from the Coalition to Save City Colleges were there. We marched and protested the continuing legacy of corporate welfare and City Hall patronage at the expense of working class, minority and immigrant people. Emanuel's so-called "tough-minded collaboration" on issues of public education has so far only served the interests of bankers and corporations.

Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley played a key role in fast-tracking through Congress the anti-worker NAFTA bill which has deindustrialized our economy and devastated the economies of our neighboring countries. Now Rahm Emanuel, Michael Madigan, Arne Duncan, Pat Quinn and their cohorts are trying to fast-track public sector unions and our educational system over the cliff. The attacks on unions and collective bargaining rights in the drive to replace public schools with private charters, and the "reinvention" of the City Colleges of Chicago are part of bipartisan and international strategy by the richest few. To fight back, students and working/unemployed people need to unite in solidarity as our sisters and brothers have in Egypt, Wisconsin and now in New York.

Say NO to the corporate takeover of Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago!


Say NO to the dismantling of public sector unions!


Say NO to layoffs of workers and the cuts to programs and services for students and our communities!


Defend union rights and civil rights! Join our coalition efforts to halt the LaSalle Street assault on the City Colleges of Chicago.

May 26 6:00pm Meeting:

Malcolm X College - 1900 W. Van Buren St.

on the "reinvention" of the 7 City Colleges†

Contacts: Jessi Choe (jessichoe@gmail.com), Steve Edwards (welfarewrkr@igc.org),
Theodore Fabriek (fabriek21@yahoo.com)

Join our coalition's efforts to halt the Lasalle Street assault on the City Colleges of Chicago

Meeting at Malcom X College

On the Reinvention of the 

City Colleges of Chicago

May 26, 6 pm

 

Contacts: Jessi Choe, Steve Edwards (welfarewrkr@igc.org), Theodore Fabriek

Complete details of Monday's March for Public Education @ Emanuel's Coronation

March and Rally for Public Education: Monday, May 16, 9:30 a.m.

From Roosevelt University 430 S. Michigan Avenue, to the Pritzker Pavilion/Millennium at Michigan and Monroe

Students, Workers and Community Members of Chicago: March on Rahm Emanuel’s Inauguration Day!

Monday is the swearing-in ceremony of Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel.  We call on students, workers and community members to join us in a march and rally against the continuing legacy of corporate welfare and City Hall patronage at the expense of the working-class, minority and immigrant people.  Emanuel’s so-called “tough-minded collaboration” on issues of public education only serves the interests of bankers and corporations--even before he is installed in office.  We say NO to the "reinvention" of the City Colleges of Chicago to suit LaSalle Street.  We say NO to the privatization of our public schools and colleges, the dismantling of public sector unions, worker layoffs, and cuts to programs and services for students and communities. We demand shared governance, accountability, and transparency at the City Colleges of Chicago.

Join us in solidarity and protest the coronation of Emanuel Daley III!  We meet at Roosevelt University at 9:30 a.m. and will march together to the corner of Monroe and Michigan and as space allows near the Pritzker Pavilion.

Urgent: Video Invitation to March @ Emanuel's Inauguration

Students, workers, and community leaders will march on Monday morning at 9:30 from Roosevelt University to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park where Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s swearing-in ceremony will be held.

They demand an end to the old Daley regime’s tactic of marginalizing the voices of students, staff, community members and other stakeholders in matters directly affecting them.

Watch video announcement at 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds845tKX4PQ

Please distribute widely.

PEARL

Report of Yesterday's CCC Board Meeting & the Reinvention

Below we reproduce a report from one attendee to yesterday's CCC Meeting. We would like to highlight two major issues addressed in this report.


1. It confirms the analysis presented in the first posting of this blog (back in March) that the major aim of the Reinvention is to rearrange the CCC's priorities and programs to track students into terminal associate degrees and certificates to make them "job ready." This is in direct conflict with having these students transfer to four-year colleges and universities—unless you can split their bodies and send one part to their new low-pay job and the other to the university.


2. It describes how Vice-Chancellor Bisarya misrepresents the degree of the sense of inclusion and support that the Reinvention has amongst faculty, students, staff and the community. He failed to report that during last week's presentation by the Reinvention Task Forces at Malcolm X, the faculty explicitly stated that they mistrust the administration and expressed a desire to be allowed to vote on the recommendations. Something which Bisarya dismissed as unrealistic.

PEARL
***********************


About 50 people attended the board meeting today. The board itself had about 22 board members and guests sitting together at tables while the audience sat together as a separate group--the old royalty vs. commoners model.  4 CCC security guards stood in 3 different areas of the room and 2 police officers stood by their squad car at the entrance of the building.

The board was in full public relations mode. [Wright College student Viviana Arrieta] and Rev. [Paul] Jakes skillfully defended the rights of the students, teachers and community in the two minutes they were given to speak. Rev. Jakes challenged the administration to actually meet with the community as scheduled on May 21 at Malcolm X college. Ashley Turner, a newly-elected student trustee from Kennedy-King was the only student representative from the entire 7 city colleges. In contrast, Michael Mutz, Vice Chancellor of Client Services and Student Engagement, (no kidding), was given probably 1/2 an hour to show slides and talk about a juried art exhibit from the 7 city colleges.

Chancellor Hyman gave an update on how reinvention is going in the district. She mentioned that her remarks were on the website www.reinventionatCCC.org. The real detailed analysis of how reinvention is progressing came in the "CCC Reinvention Update", by Alvin Bisarya,Vice Chancellor of Strategy and Institutional Intelligence. My take on this report was that it was an attempt to refute some of the criticisms that we and, undoubtedly others, have raised.

According to Bisarya,the driving force behind reinvention began over two years ago when Mayor Daley asked for, "A higher turnout of taxpayer money invested in education". Other pressures came from the white house and the for-profit industry wanting to lower the default rate on student loans. He spent a great deal of time talking about producing students who were "job ready" and even citing private schools which partnered with businesses to design curriculums matched to their employment needs. He also spoke about partnering with Workforce Development. I think this gets into the real economics behind reinvention. He referred to a "CCC Whitepaper", which is probably on the CCC website. Other people may have read it and can report on it and other information they may have.

Bisarya used alot of statistics to claim that a Reinvention Task Force had been working for several months with 60 faculty and students to come up with ways to raise the retention and graduation rate of students at CCC. He said new Reinvention Task Forces would be set up now and throughout the Summer to gather more ideas from faculty and students. He also went to some length to emphasize that the CCC board had already met with diverse communities. The one community he cited several times was a meeting with the 15  community organizations called the Chinese-American League. He claimed over I00 people attended the meeting. The main concern the attendees raised, according to Bisarya, was that current and future students at CCC would be able to get jobs.

Finally, Bisarya said the Reinvention Task Force was working with Chicago Public Schools on building the developmental skills of high school students before they entered CCC.

March on Emmanuel's Inauguration to Demand Accountability from the City Colleges

City College Students, Workers and Community Members to March on Rahm Emanuel’s Inauguration Day

Speakers:

Viviana Arrieta, student at Wright College and Students for a Democratic Society President

Jokarhi Miller, student at Malcolm X College and District SGA Council Parliamentarian

Nubian Malik, community activist

Reverend Paul Jakes, Jr., New Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church

Theodore Fabriek, student at Kennedy-King College and District SGA President

Community leaders, students and teachers will hold a press conference in direct response to the mixed messages sent after a verbal agreement was made on Wednesday at Reverend Jakes’ church. At that meeting, Martin Cabrera (Chairman of the City Colleges of Chicago Board of Trustees), another Board member, and a representative from the mayor’s office had all clearly agreed to hold a public meeting at 6pm May 21^st at Malcolm X College.  A follow-up letter to Reverend Jakes signed by Chairman Cabrera indicated no such confirmation.  In light of this lack of good faith, students, workers, and community leaders will march on Monday morning at 9:30 from Roosevelt University to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park where Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s swearing-in ceremony will be held.  They say NO to privatization and the corporate manipulation of the public education systems in Chicago to serve the needs of big business.  They demand an end to the old Daley regime’s tactic of marginalizing the voices of students, staff, community members and other stakeholders in matters directly affecting them.

Organized by Save the City Colleges

For more info contact  jessichoe@gmail.com

Labor Beat Video of Friday's Protest against the Reinvention @ City Hall

Please watch on Labor Beat (url below) the video of the press conference held at City Hall last Friday protesting the Reinvention policies. We need more events like these and more students, faculty, staff, and community supporters organized to expose and oppose the Reinvention.

You can watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL24LnjGhow

Thanks to the Labor Beat crew for covering the event.

PEARL

City College Students and Community Leaders to Challenge New District Policies

NEWS ALERT: For Immediate Release

Press Conference/Protest: Friday, May 6, 10:00 a.m.

City Hall, 5^th Floor Mayor’s Office, Chicago

Press contact: Jessi Choe, cell 312-404-2463, jessichoe@gmail.com

City College Students and Community Leaders to Challenge New District Policies

Speakers:

Theodore Fabriek, student at Kennedy-King College and District SGA President

Viviana Arrieta, student at Wright College and Students for a Democratic Society President

Jokarhi Miller, student at Malcolm X College and District SGA Council Parliamentarian

Jamila Onyeali, South Side community leader

Nubian Malik, South Side community leader

Reverend Paul Jakes, New Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church

Reverend Michael Stenson, General Assembly Church in Englewood

Students, faculty, and community leaders will hold a press conference to raise the alarm about policy decisions by the City Colleges administration designed to swell the ranks of pinstripe patronage workers including politically-connected contractors at the expense of frontline services for students.  Students and their supporters are organizing to attend the next Board of Trustees’ meeting next Thursday May 12^th to raise these concerns directly with new Board members appointed by Rahm Emanuel.  Students have already filed suit with the Circuit Court and plan to escalate their organizing efforts to stop the administration from selling out their schools.  They say NO to privatization and the corporate manipulation of the education systems in Chicago to suit the anti-education needs of big business.  They also demand an end to the old Daley regime’s tactic of marginalizing the voices of students, staff, community members and other stakeholders in matters directly affecting them.