Saturday, October 12, 2013

Chicago - Legacy of La Casita


Labor Beat:

On Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 a van rented by the Chicago Teachers Union pulled up outside Whittier School, along the fence opposite from which once stood "La Casita", the diminutive one-story structure that housed a makeshift library and community center. It was an empty lot now because Chicago Public Schools decided to demolish it on the pretext that it was 'unsafe'. The La Casita supporters had an independent engineer look at it and he reported that demolition was not necessary. It could have been repaired and fixed up. But the school board saw it as a symbol of community independent resistance to the dismantling of public education. At considerable expense CPS had it demolished in August 2013, three years after the parents, students and supporters began occupying it.

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