On the 10th day of their hunger strike, a group of parents and activists rallying to save a Chicago high school were joined by national education leaders, a handful of elected officials and dozens of organizers who wanted to lend their support.
But as Jitu Brown, Irene Robinson, Anna Jones and about six others who have stopped eating to draw attention to their cause gathered in front of Dyett High School, another one of the hunger strikers collapsed after testifying before the Chicago Board of Education.
Paramedics had to treat Jeanette Taylor-Ramann, the second striker to need medical care after giving up solid foods.
“These hunger strikers are doing something sacred for their schools and their community,” said Dan Montgomery, the president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 100,000 teachers and school support staff.
The 12 activists from the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett High School are refusing to eat to force the CPS board to decide the fate of the Washington Park school, which was once slated for closure.
The district has accepted proposals from three community organizations to run the school. Charter schools were not considered.
But while CPS leaders have said they are committed to a “community driven process” to eventually determine the fate of the school, the Bronzeville activists say there have been constant delays that they think will eventually lead to the school being permanently closed.
At the board meeting, newly installed President Frank Clark said the protesters are justified to push for answers.
“The issue around Dyett, I do agree, has gone on for a very long period of time,” he said. “We do need to reach a conclusion. It may or not be the conclusion that everyone wants, but a conclusion is necessary as soon as we can do that.”
On Wednesday, the strikers sat in their chairs in front of the school as they have since Aug. 17. Some said they were struggling with fatigue and dizzy spells. The coalition wants to see Dyett transformed into a science-focused school.
Although the activists have been battling to save Dyett for six years, their hunger strike comes at a particularly crucial time in the Washington Park community. Although plagued by violence, poverty and a scarcity of grocery stores and retailers, the neighborhood is also undergoing a modest rejuvenation. A new shopping center with a major grocer opened this year. And there has been an influx of new condos and multi-unit developments. The neighborhood is being considered for the Obama Presidential Library.
Yet long-term residents complain that they don’t have a quality, open-enrollment school where they can send their children.
“I will stand here and I will fight … until the last breath I have,” Robinson said outside the school Wednesday. Robinson, a grandmother who had nine children attend Dyett, had been hospitalized Monday.
Kenneth Brown, 18, was one of 13 students in the last graduating class from Dyett. Because there were no underclassmen, and few classes offered, his experience was limited. So, on Wednesday, Brown stood with the protesters.
“For CPS to throw our school away is just wrong,” he said. “It feels like they are trying to erase us from our community. I hope what happened to my school never happens to anyone else.”
Twitter @lollybowean
Twitter @perezjr
