Hey kids,



Unless, you're skipping school to demand a better education.

In that case, you can keep as many children as you can find out of school their first week in order to sanction an administrative body which has no direct control over the policy with which you disagree. You can further bring much needed attention to your cause by busing those students to Winnetka and pretending to register them at a school where classes started nearly two weeks ago. That way, the students participating in your boycott can either miss a week at their own school or two weeks at a new school that will, in any case, not accept a student who lives outside the district.

Then, you can parade those same kids around to local business who have committed the grave crime of having the wrong civic focus. Which only makes sense if you're going to assert that public education should be privately funded. In which case, what was the point of shuttling the kids to New Trier?

The issue of funding for public schools is vital and deserves attention. However, there was clearly a better way to go about this. How about doing the symbolic registration on Aug 21 when classes started at New Trier? And instead of taking the kids into the lobbies of businesses downtown, take them to the state legislature in Springfield. Don't you have an office there Mr. Meeks? Hold a press conference with the governor; make Arnie Duncan go down there with you. Then come back and tell the media that even though the funding for CPS is neither sufficient nor equitable, it's still important that every child be in school on the first day and every day thereafter.