Boycott Disrupts Chicago's 1st Day of School

Inner-city students make symbolic visit to wealthy suburb

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 2, 2008 4:12 PM CDT

(Newser) – Hundred of Chicago students missed the first day of school today as they tried to enroll in more affluent suburban schools, the Tribune reports. Students and parents are protesting the uneven division of wealth among Illinois public schools by attempting to enroll en masse in top-rated North Shore schools. It’s a symbolic gesture; residency is required to enroll.

“We do not believe a child's education should be based on where they live,” said state Sen. James Meeks, the Baptist pastor who organized the boycott. “Three decades of underfunded schools have led to the social ills we face today.” But Mayor Richard Daley blasted Meeks for using children to make his point. “It’s very selfish,” he said. “It does not serve anyone.”

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A school bus departs a school in this file photo. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Students walk the halls of North Lawndale College Preparatory High School in Chicago, May 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Hundreds of Chicago public school students with their parents line up to fill out applications in the New Trier High School today in Northfield, Ill., as they bprotest unequal school funding. (AP Photo)

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We are being forced to get an inadequate education and that's not fair. We ain't missing nothing by one day. - Yolanda DeNeal, whose children are boycotting school today

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Boycott Disrupts Chicago's 1st Day of School