Then the Angel of Christmas Past appears. He shows CPS a vision of the time when the district refused to racially integrate schools and share its public resources equitably with all its children … when CPS promised teachers pension benefits in union contracts, but then took so-called pension holidays, using those designated dollars to fund other projects … when a top district leader closed 50 schools under the guise of saving money while simultaneously making shady deals with contractors to steal millions from the system for her own personal gain.
CPS is sad, but says that all happened long before its current administration got there.
Then the Angel of Christmas Present appears. He and CPS soar through Chicago, peering into schools with startling racial disparities of school resources. One integrated downtown high school has a seventh floor, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool abutted by floor-to-ceiling glass panes through which sunrays cast a heavenly glow. It also has a collegiate library stocked with thousands of new books and the latest technology, plus a 500-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium for school musicals and assemblies.
Then CPS travels to Tiny Tim High School on the far South Side, whose dank, dirty pool has been broken for more than a decade; it hasn’t had a librarian in about as long, and the outdated books that line the shelves are covered in dust. The auditorium, which was beautiful in its heyday, is now decrepit and dark; students were locked out after the music and theater departments, which once managed the space, were cut. This school has an all-black student body.
It wasn’t until CPS peeked into the classrooms that he breaks down and weeps: The downtown kids are learning AP Calculus on a SMART Board, and the far South Side kids are taking remedial pre-algebra with eraser-less wooden pencils and worksheets.
Then the Angel of Christmas Future appears. He gives CPS a glimpse of the not-so-distant yet-to-come. CPS can barely stand to watch.
There are 60 students in every classroom. All the art and music classes are gone; old, rusty instruments and dried-out art supplies are haphazardly tossed into unused weight and locker rooms, as all P.E. and sports programming across the city have been discontinued.
Teachers just returned from a 97-day strike. They have bags under their eyes and move like zombies as they futilely try to manage overcrowded classes of inattentive, disillusioned students. The district filed for bankruptcy, and the courts have declared that retired teachers can only get 22 cents on every promised pension dollar.
Businesses and residents leave Chicago and the state of Illinois in droves.
CPS cries out, “What have I done? I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!!”
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