Public School Board Meeting Analysis

The beauty of a democracy is the accessibility and availability for citizens to voice their opinions. It is especially valuable for citizens to feel free to have their questions, comments and concerns heard. Having spaces where there is communication between the public and private groups is essential to retain a cohesive community. By public, I refer to John Dewey’s interpretation of these terms; to any who are effected either directly or indirectly by actions of private parties, and by private, meaning those with the power to change or alter their environment. Public school board meetings are such spaces. It allows for the consumers of education to be heard by the “producers” of education, or staff personnel involved. Ideally, concerns and …show more content…
A retired nurse stated the lack of attention given to nurses and the health department in CPS, her worries included the weeks it taked for them to receive coverage and overall lack of nurses available for students needs. Other’s voiced similar anxieties of the limited sources, services and overall quality of care received. One parent emotionally expressed how teachers, nurses and other personnel are greatly needed for “special education” students. The board simply replied with “ We will look into it” and called for the next speaker. Another spoke of a serious incident where a student was raped and her case was not looked into. A worried father voiced his worried of overcrowding in the schools as well as the lack of building maintenance received with radiators, heat, flooding and other physical damages to their school. He claimed a “patch” was put on it, and continued that they are tired “of receiving band-aids for open wounds”. He called for new necessary construction, which had been promised since 2003, 2005, and now more than ten years later, no care has been noticed. The board members response to most if not all of these concerns was similar, an insensitive statement of “ We’ll look into it”. Their ease with this response is troubling. All of these speakers portrayed exactly what Joseph Viteritti stated; “in big cities, where disadvantaged students are especially dependent on support services to be ready for school, the need for service integration is more pronounced” ( Viteritti, 2). This was clearly seen throughout the board meeting. What was more discouraging than the actual issues themselves, was the apparent absence of care on the part of the board members for these