Listen to the Students

Late last week a number of CPS students descended upon the headquarters of the school system. The students know what is taking place and by taking place I mean that they understand real cuts have already been made to budgets and a reduction in the respective staffs has already taken place within the various buildings. The kids get it!!

When you get right down to it, the students have every right to protest the losses. Heck, they are the very ones who feel the impact of too few dollars, too few supplies and too few teachers.

Too often in this country a good number of people have admonished students for protesting. I say god love them for sticking up for their right to receive a decent education. In fact, that is exactly what we want people to do in terms of understanding their rights as well as to advocate for themselves. Expressing their First Amendment right in a responsible fashion is great to see. Also, having a desire to see the phrase 'with liberty and justice for all,' come to fruition is most noteworthy.

As I said, CPS, listen to the students.

Dick

Thanks for the Memories!

Last night's Hinsdale Central boys soccer banquet may well be the last one I ever attend. On the surface, one might say, "What on earth does this have to do with School Count Corp and assisting those children in need?" The answer is this...the night and the people involved have everything to do with our work.

This year the KICK initiative, headed by Mitch Collins, Bryan Loebig, Nick Silva and Jimmy Walker raised over $15,000!!! Never before has any endeavor, by any foundation raised such an impressive amount of funds so that our company can help others. It wasn't just that the KICK event raised that amount, they even involved soccer alumni!!!

My memories of my many decades of involvement with HC soccer as both a coach, timer and announcer are many. In total, as I write this brief blog, the many people who have been a part of this program have put a broad smile on my face. Your many acts of kindness, support and generosity are the likes of which I have never experienced.

I will ever be grateful!

Thanks for the memories,
Dick

Charters to Close

Thee fact that four south side charter schools are most likely to be closed in June of 2016 shouldn't come as a surprise. The four charters are languishing in terms of making academic progress. And that should come as no surprise since a good number of charter and non-charter public schools are having difficulties where the poverty rate is high among along with a whole host of other problems.

As noted in the past, the performance, generally speaking, of the charter schools compared with traditional neighborhood school is not all that different. Some charters do well, some don't, just as is the case with neighborhood schools.

The low academic performance of the four charters should not obscure the more important issues facing educators, families and students in the various types of buildings. Academic performance and progress are difficult to address where the environment presents serious problems well beyond the four walls of the building or the manner of organizing the school.

My issue is this...the four schools will close and the children will again go elsewhere but will the issues of low wages, unemployment, crime in the area, blight, and more be addressed? I have seen no evidence over the past years. What I would hope is that the CPS brass would look at the conditions that exacerbate the likelihood that growth is not taking place.

Merely shutting down any type of school, with little or no other attendant action, will do absolutely nothing.

Dick

All Sorts of Safety for Kids

I subscribe to the notion that there is a way to both make children and firearms safer. Look, it took us years to put seatbelts in vehicles to lessen the likelihood that there would be fewer deaths and injuries. Some people ranted and raved at the prospect of having to wear seatbelts and some cussed up a storm that it became law. In the final analysis we are all the better for adding this safety feature to cars.

Surely we can make sure that guns are safer. If the proposition is that guns and kids can be kept safer, as the starting point, why on earth wouldn't we want to take steps to ensure that both occur?

Let me go back to the car. You have to have a key to start the car (okay, I realize that many cars are keyless now). Is it possible that a person with a firearm would have to have a key to operate it? No key, no use of the gun. It is a random thought but, the point being, we need to sit down and take seriously any number of ways to improve gun safety and the safety of our citizens.

As I've intimated throughout the week, the fact that a 9 year old was gunned down ought to make all of us take seriously what the implications are for our friends, neighbors and families. Time to pull together.

Dick

It Doesn't have to be this Way

In 2013 the Centers for Disease Control pointed out that there were 33,636 deaths in this country due to the shooting of said firearm. That's roughly 90 deaths a day. There's no need to compare this number to those killed in transportation accidents or any other cause. The number is simply sad and most distressing.

Raising the primary question among all of our fellow citizens, is this acceptable or even remotely tolerable? I suspect most people think this is not something that can continue.

Whether it's suicide, accidental shootings, or other forms of firearm death, this simply can't continue without some action. Why would a civilized nation continue to tolerate this condition? We shouldn't. It doesn't matter the form of death; car accidents, firearms, disease or other forms of meeting ones fate, we can do something about it.

Yeah, I know this is a contentious issue but on one thing I am certain everyone can agree and that is on the issue of firearm safety. Ask any decent gun owner and they will tell you that safety is a major concern of theirs. So, that's where we all have to start...the issue of safety. Everyone should want to find a way to keep safe and to ensure the safe use of guns. There are lots of options about how to achieve this goal and the sooner we tackle this, all the better.

I, for one, am tired of seeing 9 year-olds gunned down in the middle of the afternoon. We all ought to be driven to action to see to it, as best as possible, that the chances of this happening again are limited through sensible gun safety action.

Thanks,
Dick

Kids Getting Killed

Late yesterday, around dusk, a 9 year-old boy was shot multiple times on the south side of Chicago. He lost his life. A 9 year old mind you. As I think about the children we serve in the city schools of Chicago and all the problems that they have to deal with, the proliferation of guns on the streets is but another stark reminder of too many mountains to climb. How is a 9 year-old to overcome this?

We lose too many young people to gun violence and everyone can certainly agree to that fact. And what we will, what will I, what will any of us decide - if anything - to do about it.

For our charity, we will continue to do our best to help the students in the classroom.

On another front, we have to add voices, reason and action to stem the flow of gun violence. Whatever the causes, wherever shooting deaths occur, and no matter our lot in life we have to be more proactive in seeing to it that a fourth or fifth grader doesn't meet their end to life at the end of a barrel.

No matter what our U.S. Constitution, along with the amendments, there IS a way to deal with the harm inflicted daily by guns. You see people created our charter, we are the ones who pass laws and regulations of all sorts, and the citizenry are those who can either stand by idly or come to our senses to make this a safer country, one worthy of young boys and girls living long past the age of nine.

Yes, as the saying goes, "We the People..." The people of this country can and must take action. I can think of fewer ways, at this moment, to think of creating "a more perfect union" than to address the issue of gun violence.

Thanks,
Dick

Schools Back in Session

Now that my surgery is over and I'm on the mend, it is time to get back to the business of children, schools, our charity and the plight of education. As they say in the elementary grades, "if you can play right you'll have to have a timeout!" Well, that's just what I needed as I recuperate. Doing much better!!

As October has quickly moved into November, the time is short on a State of Illinois budget. Why is this a big deal? The budget passed by the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education is banking on receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in order to make the budget work. Word has it that if the state doesn't 'pony up' then the CPS brass will make drastic teacher cuts, translate...thousands of positions, leading into the holidays.

I don't get the sense that much positive movement has taken place on this front and there is every likelihood that the wheels are already turning in terms of determining which staff members and how many of them will get pink slips. In fact, I'd be shocked if these draconian cuts don't occur.

A sad state of affairs for all concerned. That last word is really it, isn't it? Are the 'powers that be' really that concerned?

Dick