When we were in Chicago in July 2011-- Julie, Gloria, Angel, Lisa and a slew of others --- at meetings with CORE and others from around the nation -- CORE led us all on a march through downtown Chicago visiting all the banks that were stealing money out of the public schools, something incomprehensible here in NYC, given that our leaders are probably having lunch at many of these banks.
Chicago Teachers Union Launches Public Awareness Campaign
Against Corporate Assault on Public Education
‘Stand Up to the Fat Cats’ film continues the fight for city-wide education equality
CHICAGO—The
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) kicked off a public education campaign
against the rise school privatization schemes and the corporate assault
on public education with the release of an animated, satirical short
film, Stand Up to the Fat Cats.
The video seeks to rally the public against corporate infiltration in
public education and encourage them to join the fight to provide
resources and support for neighborhood schools.
The five-minute film can be viewed at www.ctunet.com or on www.
Stand Up to Fat Cats places a spotlight on the history of corporate school reform in Chicago and proposed 20thcentury
advancements that ultimately led to the deterioration of many of the
city’s neighborhood schools. The film also introduces us to parodies of
popular faces in Chicago’s education debate, including venture
capitalist Bruce Rauner, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Board of Education member
Penny Pritzker, venture philanthropist Bill Gates, the Broad Foundation,
the Koch Brothers and, out-of-town school reformers such as Stand For
Children and Democrats for Education Reform.
From the formation of the CTU in the mid-20th century
to its present-day battles with lawmakers and charter school operators,
wealthy, private-interest fat cats have had their paws in public
education for years. After a dominant new feline landed in City Hall in
2011, bringing in a litter of corporate cronies, the CTU went on a
year-long offensive in a cat-and-mouse battle against anti-teacher
propaganda.
Through, Stand Up to the Fat Cats,
viewers can revisit how Chicago’s educators stood up to these frisky
and felonious kitties once again during the 2012 strike, rallying
throughout the city against the closing of public schools, the
endangerment of their livelihoods and the jeopardizing of the future of
thousands of the children. As the bed time story depicted in the video
goes: Rowdy Rauner and the Litter Box Crew are
out to destroy the teachers union and starve neighborhood schools in a
sneaky campaign to fatten the pockets of private charter operators and
their billionaire friends.
As
the Chicago Public Schools system is expected to announce by March 31,
2013, the closing of nearly 150 neighborhood schools, the mission of
the Stand Up to the Fat Cats campaign is clear: Don’t let fat cats bully students or educators anymore!
Sample Tweets:
Chicago Teachers Stand Up to Corporate Fat Cats! #EDUJustice http://ow.ly/g0A1D
Chicago Teachers Say No to Rahm Emanuel's Fat Cat Friends! #EDUJustice http://
A Bedtime story from Chicago Teachers Union @ctulocal1 #EDUJustice http://ow.ly/g0A1D
Chicago Teachers Say No to Rahm Emanuel's Fat Cat Friends! #EDUJustice http://
A Bedtime story from Chicago Teachers Union @ctulocal1 #EDUJustice http://ow.ly/g0A1D
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