To Fight For A Library, Moms Camp Out In The Cold

Anyone who's suffered through a winter in Chicago knows this old joke: "Chicago has only two seasons: winter and construction." It's only October, but nighttime temperatures in the Windy City are already down to the 40's.

Which is why it's unbelievable that last week, the Chicago Public School system  turned off the heat on parents camping out to demand a school library for their children. Since September 15, a group of parents in Pilsen, a largely Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago's Lower West Side, have been running a sit-in at the Whittier School field house. 

The small, one-story field house is a long-time community center and after-school hangout for the children of Whittier Dual Language Elementary School. Chicago Public Schools has called the building unsafe and has earmarked $356,000 to demolish it, making room for "green space."

Whittier doesn't need an athletic field, parents say. It needs a library. The stand-off between the school system and parents escalated last month when a group of largely Hispanic, working moms organized an around-the-clock sit-in to prevent the building from being demolished. Arguing that neighbors will donate labor and time to make the necessary repairs, they've held a protest at the field house they have nicknamed "La Casita" since September 10. They are blaming Chicago's city government for mismanaging more than $1 million in funds that could have been used to repair the building, they say. And they will not rest until their children have a library.

Whittier Elementary is one of 160 in the Chicago school system without a library. Since the sit-in began, donations of books from around the country have been streaming in. The parent group has catalogued the books and dedicated the new library.

Chicago Public Schools is not negotiating. On October 4, they ordered Peoples Gas to shut off the heat and hot water at the field house in preparation for the demolition -- despite the parents and children camping out in the building, and the dropping Chicago temperatures.

Although Chicago's City Council ordered CPS to restore the power and to postpone the demolition on October 6, this move by the school system shows a complete lack of concern for parents and students. Demolishing a much-loved community center and replacing it with a field in the name of "safety" is short-sighted. Risking the safety of mothers, fathers and children by switching off the heat in the field house is just hypocritical. Whose safety is CPS worried about, exactly?

The heat is back on, and parents are still demonstrating in the field house. Stand with Change.org for "La Casita." Sign the petition to Chicago Public Schools, demanding a library for the students of Whittier Elementary.

Photo credit: Solidarity with Whittier Parents' struggle