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On Tuesday, Fuentes Elementary School parents Miriam Ortolaza and Angelica Juarez held a demonstration in Chicago to oppose the closure of their children’s schools. Fuentes is one of seven schools that the Acero charter network has identified will close this year, affecting 2,000 students and 250 workers who live in predominantly Hispanic working-class communities. More than 100 of the affected students are new immigrants.

The closures at Acero are part of a wave of threatened closures across the U.S., including scores in Milwaukee, Seattle, San Francisco and nearly 100 schools in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), according to a mid-2017 list leaked last month . Negotiations between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

Acero’s board claimed earlier this month that it supported the Chicago Public Schools district’s decision to close schools that were “no longer profitable,” according to media reports.

Parents, teachers and students gathered in Fuentes on Tuesday and asked “Whose schools?” They shouted slogans and demanded that the school remain open. Our schools!” Supporters of the Grassroots Committee of Chicago Educators chanted, “Stop Acero’s school closings in Chicago! For the united struggle of teachers and workers against all budget cuts and school closures!”

On Wednesday, hundreds of parents, teachers and students attended a demonstration officially organized by CTU. For its part, the CTU bureaucracy claimed in a webinar Tuesday night that the charter school network, which along with the Democratic Party is leading the attack on educators and the working class, may be “under pressure” to change course.

The CTU bureaucracy is politically aligned with Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CTU lobbyist. Johnson made clear that educators and parents will have to accept deep “sacrifices” to pay for the more than $1.2 billion public school deficit in 2024-25. Like other school districts, Chicago was hit hard by the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to allow federal COVID school funding to expire.

World Socialist Website Reporters spoke at length with teachers and parents at a protest at the Fuentes school on Tuesday afternoon.

“Everyone should have equal right to education”

Miriam, Acero-Fuentes’ parent in Chicago, explained why she organized the demonstration.

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Regarding her son’s special educational needs, she said: “The real reason I’m holding this rally is because I have a child with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). “Often because of the number of students in Chicago Public Schools, kids tend to fall off the cliff.”

Miriam continued: “The ratio is good with 1 teacher to 15 students. Their needs are met. He’s improving. Even though he has an IEP, he is known here. My main focus is to ensure my child’s development. I want him to be independent and successful. He’s one of the top kids academically, and that’s important to me as a parent. The school was very welcoming and welcoming. He is very happy here. “He wasn’t what he used to be.”

Miriam spoke up, saying her working-class parents had to foot the bill for Acero’s financial crisis. “They are closing seven of our schools due to debts. Acero’s CEO earns a salary of $260,000 a year. So there is clearly money for payroll. The decision was made without consulting the parents. The staff didn’t know.