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3 Things to do:

June 12, 2006

ok, set aside a few minutes if you can and see what you can fit in your schedule. There's alot going on.

It's much better to do this with a friend, so invite them over for tea, write your letters and put on your best hat and go to the city coucil meeting in the morning for two good causes: public art and public transit. !

If you are busy, perhaps you could just forward the email to your public transit, art, and otherwise thoughtful friends.

Thanks!

*Warning: We have no proof-reader on duty so there may be dangerous and inappropriate typos in tadoy's emial. I'll do my bset.

1. How can the mayor find money for the Olympics, but not the CTA?

Please write, call, or, hopefully go to the rally Wednesday 9AM for public transit and then the 10AM city council meeting. info below.

2. Please also attend the same city council meeting for the public art issue.

That's right, two reasons to go to city council! (sorry for the late notice, best we could do.)

3. Please write a letter for Waters school, which has been vital to our environmental community in many many ways. info and sample letters below.

And, never underestimate the value of spreading the word. Please forward this email.

We love to hear back. Let us know if you go! -J.

__________________________________________________________________________

1. How can the mayor find money for the Olympics, but not the CTA?

Demand funding for public transit! No Cuts to service! No fare increases!

Wed, June 13, 9:00 am at CTA Headquarters, 567 W. Lake
10:00am at City Council Meeting,
City Hall, 121 N. Lasalle

Email the CTA with your comments at: ctahelp@transitchicago.com
Board Secretary Greg Longhini: (312) 681-5022 glonghini@transitchicago.com
President Ron Huberman: (312) 681-5000 rhuberman@transitchicago.com
Chairman Carole Brown: (312) 681-5031 cbrown@transitchicago.com

* In our previous email, we forwarded a message from the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. (LVEJO)

While we support their commitment to improved public transit, Beyond Today organizers have chosen the more general position that the people of Chicago should have excellent public transit and not have to choose between service in different neighborhoods. There was a line in their email about the debate over whether the budget should focus on the blue or pink line. That was LVEJO's position and not ours. We believe that it's most important to fight to change the priorities of our state, county, and city to make our public transit system one of the best.

Thanks for the emails. And sorry that slipped through.

_______________________

2. Please also attend the city council meeting in the morning for the public art issue.

another message from Paul:

Folks,

The press has been great and your efforts have been too. (photos from the rally Monday here) But here’s what I learned today:

Because the Department of Cultural Affairs proposed ordinance to “streamline” the commissioning process was introduced by the Mayor, the vast majority of the Aldermen will defer to him. Sure, we all wrote our alderman and all of us art types live in about 12 of the City’s 50 wards. The other Aldermen are not getting the message.

What I was told is that before the City Council meeting is called to order a number of Aldermen will approach the Mayor and ask him what he wants and he either says he doesn’t care or tells them he wants the ordinance passed. Either way we probably lose. Look at the math of the previous paragraph.

In fact, there is really only one way we have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning and that is if we get another turnout of 200 or more people at City Hall, 10 AM Wednesday morning. We then become a sufficient critical mass that we can overwhelm the odds. As Kevin Nance said in the Sun-Times: Two hundred people in Daley Plaza is one thing. Two hundred people in the City Council chambers at 10 a.m. Wednesday would be another.”

And if we do that, then we can work at creating a truly workable ordinance that not only let’s (makes) the Department of Cultural Affairs serve the citizens of Chicago (and you) and do a great job, but protects the public and our taxpayer dollars too.

We have a slim chance of succeeding. It depends on YOU, and you includes the artists who didn’t show up for fear of repercussions – the threat of not having a Cultural Center exhibition or the threat of not getting a DCA commission. That might be a legitimate threat if only 1 or 2 of you show up, but if the number is 25 or 50 more artists who might fall into that threatened category you know the DCA is not going to cancel their whole exhibition schedule and wipe out all those who would or should get a commission.

You are in control of your future. Show up and actively participate in making your future better, or stay home, be passive and have no one to blame but yourself.

Your future is in your hands, and your feet.

I’m on your side, but I can’t do it without you.

I’ll be there early,

Paul Klein

_______________________

3. From John Bechtel of Water's School Local School Council:

This is the week we are all writing letters and calling Arne Duncan and
Mayor Daley. Let's bombard their offices with a ton of mail!

Attached ( in this case, at the end of this email) are samples of letters in English and Spanish that can be
printed out and signed by you. You can either drop them off at the
Waters School office (on Campbell between Wilson and Sunnyside) to be sent or send them yourself.

Here are the addresses and phone numbers:

Arne Duncan
CEO
Chicago Public Schools
125 South Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60603
773-553-1550

The Honorable Richard M. Daley
Mayor, City of Chicago
121 N LaSalle St.
Chicago, IL 60602
312-744-5000

Thanks for taking the time.

Please join us for our meetings, either on Wednesday evening at 8:30 pm
at the Fieldhouse (Sunnyside and Campbell in the garden) and Thursday 10 am in the school.

---------------------------------------------------

SAMPLE LETTERS

To Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley both in English and Spanish.

NO CUTS At Waters School
Don't Leave our Children Behind

Dear Mr. Arne Duncan,
Waters Elementary has just received a $100,000 cut from its 2007-2008 budget and additional loss of programs and teachers! We are writing today to URGE you to RESTORE these funds and teachers. We are a public, neighborhood school that has, for the past 15 years re-visioned and re-made itself into a Chicago Public Schools success story. Waters has become a model of integrated, multi-cultural education. All our programs interact and support each other. Cutting essential positions will de-rail success.

This $100,000 budget cut and additional personnel cuts are forcing Waters to eliminate the following positions and/or programs:
" LIBRARIAN
" COMPUTER INSTRUCTION
" BILINGUAL COORDINATOR
" READING SPECIALIST

It is impossible to imagine a viable 21st Century, multicultural, City of Chicago school, without these positions and programs. Since school reform began in 1990, Waters was transformed itself through consistent effort into a model, local, public school:
" Waters test scores have marched steadily upwards.
" Waters has built long-term partnerships with Universities*
" Waters has partnered with Arts organizations**
" Waters has partnered with Environmental organizations ***
" Waters has partnered with technology service organizations ****
" Waters has engaged our families and community in our educational process

Waters' success and initiative has resulted in the awarding of dozens of grants and awards, large and small, that have transformed the educational experience of our students. Most importantly, all these partnerships, grants and initiatives are philosophically woven into one unified whole:
integrated education, where one discipline enhances the others.
To remove key, essential, supports from the Waters education structure at this time would be a kind of vandalism.

Please help us to restore these destructive cuts in education,
Sincerely,

*National-Louis, Northwestern, DePaul, Northeastern Illinois, Libraries, Literacy and Learning
**Chicago Arts Partnership in Education, Street Level Media, Video Machete, Arts Resource in Teachers, Oppenheimer Teacher Incentive Grants, Illinois Arts Council, Reading In Motion, International House of Blues, Looking Glass Theatre
***The Nature Conservancy, Friends of Chicago River, Friends of the Parks, the Botanic Gardens, Openlands, Garfield Park Conservancy, Cook County Forest Preserves,
****Northwestern Consortium, Hewlett Packard ~ Technology through teaching, Illinois State Laptop initiative, Technology Literacy Challenge Grant, Learning Power, DeWitt Wallace (Readers Digest) Grant

------------------------------

NO CORTES PARA LA ESCUELA WATERS
No Atrasen A Nuestros Hijos

Estimado Sr. Arne Duncan,
Waters Elemenatry ha recibido un corte,$100,000 en su presupuesto de 2007-2008 y addicional maestros y programas! Le URGIMOS que RESTAURE estos fondos. Esta es una escuela publica,de un barrio que por los ultimos 15 anos ha cumplido con una vision y se ha transformado en una escuela publica con una historia exitosa. Waters es el modelo de una escuela educativa integrada, multi-cultural. Nuestros programas se comunican y se apoyan entre si. Cortar posiciones esenciales nos van a descarrilar.

Cortar $100,000 del presupuesto y maestros forzara a que waters elimine los siguientes puestos/programas

" BIBLIOTECARIA
" INSTRUCTOR DE COMPUTACION
" COORDINADOR BILINGUE
" ESPECIALISTA EN LECTURA

Es imposible inmaginar ,una escuela en la ciudad de Chicago,viable en siglo 21,multicultural,sin estos puestos y programas. Desde la reforma escolar en 1990,Waters se ha transformado mediante esfuerzo consistente en un modelo de escuela publica local.

" Waters ha aumentado sus calificaciones
" Waters ha creado vinculos con Universidades*
" Waters ha enparentado con organizaciones en el Arte**
" Waters ha enparentado con organizaciones en El Medio Ambiente***
" Waters ha enparentado con organizaciones en Tecnologia****
" Waters ha entrelazado a nuestras familias y comunidad en un proceso educacional*****

Waters,su exito e iniciativa ha resultado en recibir becas y premios,grandes y pequenos, que ha transformado la experiencia educacional de nuestros estudiantes. Mas importante, becas, associaciones,e iniciativa filosofica estan entrelazados y unificado:
Educacion integrada,donde un discipulo realza a otros
Remover el apoyo clave y esencial a la educacion de structural de WATERS seria un vandalismo.

Porfavor ayude a restaurar estos cortes destructivos en educacion.

Atentamente,

-------------------------------

NO CUTS At Waters School
Don't Leave our Children Behind

Dear Honorable Richard M. Daley,
Waters Elementary has just received a $100,000 cut from its 2007-2008 budget and additional loss of programs and teachers! We are writing today to URGE you to RESTORE these funds and teachers. We are a public, neighborhood school that has, for the past 15 years re-visioned and re-made itself into a Chicago Public Schools success story. Waters has become a model of integrated, multi-cultural education. All our programs interact and support each other. Cutting essential positions will de-rail success.

Please help us to restore these destructive cuts in education,
Sincerely,

-------------------------------------

NO CORTES PARA LA ESCUELA WATERS
No Atrasen A Nuestros Hijos

Estimado Alcalde Richard M. Daley,
Waters Elemenatry ha recibido un corte,$100,000 en su presupuesto de 2007-2008 y addicional maestros y programas! Le URGIMOS que RESTAURE estos fondos. Esta es una escuela publica,de un barrio que por los ultimos 15 anos ha cumplido con una vision y se ha transformado en una escuela publica con una historia exitosa. Waters es el modelo de una escuela educativa integrada, multi-cultural. Nuestros programas se comunican y se apoyan entre si. Cortar posiciones esenciales nos van a descarrilar.

Cortar $100,000 del presupuesto y maestros forzara a que waters elimine los siguientes puestos/programas

" BIBLIOTECARIA
" INSTRUCTOR DE COMPUTACION
" COORDINADOR BILINGUE
" ESPECIALISTA EN LECTURA

Porfavor ayude a restaurar estos cortes destructivos en educacion.

Atentamente,