Dundee-Crown teens rally to support teachers
In a massive display of solidarity with teachers who will lose their jobs at the end of this year, hundreds of students from Dundee-Crown High School staged a brief walkout this morning to hold a rally in front of the Carpentersville school.
Holding pre-made and improvised signs that said "No More Pink Slips" and "Save Our Teachers," students said the recent dismissal of nontenured teachers in Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300 would reverse some of the recent gains at their school.
"We need to go to all the district board meetings," shouted Yessenia Mejia, a senior, through a megaphone. "Tell them you don't want your teachers to be cut. It's already hard enough to go to school in an environment that's not positive."
The rally was held one day before the District 300 school board is set to dismiss 10 high school and central office administrators as part of an ongoing effort to cope with delayed state payments.
Because of expected cuts in education funding, the district, which initially targeted about $6.5 million in reductions, is now looking to trim $13 million to $15 million from next year's budget, Superintendent Ken Arndt said.
"It's a very difficult goal to obtain because of the uncertainty of state finances," Arndt said Wednesday. "We're caught between a rock and a hard place."
Arndt is recommending a $1.5 million reduction in administrator salaries and benefits, including Thursday's planned layoffs, furlough days and an increase in the amount administrators must contribute to their health insurance.
Negotiations with the district's unions, which are expected to result in further cost savings, are ongoing.
Wednesday's demonstration, the first large-scale display organized by District 300 students to protest the recent cuts, took place during the school's study period. It lasted no more than 15 minutes and ended with a smaller group of students circling the building through the parking lot.
School administrators were apprised of the rally beforehand and applauded students' efforts to support their school.
"Doing it here doesn't have a big impact because we're not doing (the cuts) at the building level," Dundee-Crown Principal Lynn McCarthy said. "It shows support for our teachers, but it really doesn't do anything."
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