Dear Mayor Rahm Emanuel
April 27th 2016
Imagine walking into your local city council meeting and while the meeting is happening and they are discussing the death of a young man due to police brutality. Aldermen are getting up and walking around and laughing and having side conversations when others are trying to discuss an issue that has plagued our city since the start of law enforcement. But this is not the only issue not getting properly addressed by the city council.
The city council is a very important gathering. It gives us a time to get a look into every part of the city and discuss how we can better get them to work together or even the playing field for people in higher risk neighborhoods. This can help people gain access to basic things like fresh, healthy food. This is also a time when aldermen should network. The more communication the better, but more specifically. communicating in a way that makes every one’s ideas clear will lead to the most clarity, revealing solutions to deep rooted issues in this city.
A prime example of how a lack of effective communication has led to the failing of the Chicago public school system. The CTU and CPS have not been able to come to a consensus about a contract, which is keeping students out of school, negatively impacting their education. This is shown clearly in how some CPS schools are well equipped to have students learning in a safe productive environment with teachers and students who care. Yet across the city there are schools that don’t have books, enough teachers, proper heating, or air conditioning; they may not even have computers.
Another reason why education opportunities are unequal in this city is when it comes to applying to high schools. There are only handful of good high schools for thousands of students that need a good education in order to be successful. I am a strong believer in the idea that education is major key to success, and if our education system CTU and CPS are willing to take away valuable days of instruction over a contract that CPS is clearly unable to carry out, then we need to find away to keep students in a place where they can keep learning the same content that they have been learning.
I am writing this letter to clarify the importance of these meetings, every time someone contributes to this meeting it can help further the growth and unification process of the most diverse and segregated city in America. At the last city council meeting when we all welcomed alderman King something that really stood out to me is when another alderman told her the only way to be successful in this job is to remember it is a job of service and always put the people first. If you guys are really serious about putting the people first, you will stop acting like you don’t care what each other has to say during important meetings that affect the communities of Chicago directly.
Sincerely, JB
I like the variety of examples you give regarding what issues need to be addressed by city council. I also like the opening paragraph because it sparks strong emotions in the reader. I cannot imagine having people laugh and talk while I discuss something so tragic. You might need to give a little more explanation of what you mean about the possibility of teachers getting the contracts they want in 2020. People who don't know the background on that might not get what you're talking about.
ReplyDelete