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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Meeks: Boycott is on

Time's up, the Rev. James Meeks said Thursday.

The three-day boycott is on.

"No more time. The window has expired," Meeks said.

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From the Pioneer Press:

Meeks may drop boycott plan

State Sen. James Meeks, D-15th, offered Monday to drop a three-day school boycott and planned trip to enroll students in New Trier schools if top Illinois Democrats -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones, and House Speaker Michael Madigan -- agree to publicly back a new $120 million, three-year plan to reform the state's most seriously ailing schools.

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From the Pioneer Press:

Winnetka, Northfield ready for Chicago school buses

If buses of Chicago school children roll into Winnetka and Northfield on Sept. 2, Sunset Ridge District 29 will greet them as visitors.

The district is a likely stop for planned demonstrations at North Shore schools next week, according to officials.

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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

I'll call off boycott with deal: Meeks

State Sen. James Meeks offered Monday to drop a three-day school boycott if top Illinois Democrats -- Gov. Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan -- agree to publicly back a new $120 million, three-year plan to reform the state's most seriously ailing schools.

Meeks, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, said he is flying to Denver today to meet Madigan and Jones at the Democratic convention, where he hopes Blagojevich also will join the discussions.

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From the Pioneer Press:

Meeks will come to Sunset Ridge

State Sen. Rev. James Meeks, D-15, met with Northfield police Thursday to establish safety guidelines for a planned demonstration at North Shore schools.

"We're in the planning process for their visits to the North Shore," said Northfield Police Chief William Lustig. "We will continue to meet with school officials, other police agencies and Rev. Meeks."

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From the Pioneer Press:

New Trier, police ready for Rev. Meeks

Winnetka Police Chief Joe De Lopez is wondering, like everyone else under the New Trier umbrella, what will happen on Sept. 2?

That has been the subject, De Lopez confirmed, of several meetings that have taken place recently in an attempt to flesh out the logistics of State Senator Rev. James Meeks, D-15, plan to bring "well over 1,000" Chicago grade and high school students to New Trier Township schools on the first day of school in Chicago.

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From the Southtown Star:

Q&A with Meeks on parents, schools

"School funding" is becoming the new "gun control."

Raise the subject with your neighbors, your colleagues, your friends, and be prepared for a necktie-loosening, shirt sleeve-rolling, handkerchief blotting, down-and-dirty fight.

Why? Because the politics of school funding have little to do with schools or money. The conversation quickly evolves into a debate about class, race and parental responsibility.

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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Meeks solicits support for school boycott plan

State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) met privately with the City Council's Black Caucus last week to explain his plan to have hundreds of Chicago Public School students boycott the first four days of classes.

Implied, but not stated, was the fact that Meeks would like aldermanic support for his controversial tactics. Apparently, he's not going to get it.

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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Sharpton joins call for school boycott

The Rev. Al Sharpton joined the growing movement to hold students out of class Sept. 2 in an effort to bring attention to funding inequalities for Chicago Public Schools.

Sharpton spoke at the New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday morning, saying too much inequality still exists.

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From the Chicago Sun-Times Letter to the Editor:

Skipping a day of school won't help students

As an educator in one of the Chicago Public Schools, I, too, am frustrated with the lack of funding for education. I am disappointed with parents that don't attend parent conferences, pick up their child's report card, write a note when their child is absent and volunteer time in the schools. Yet, these same parents are the ones who will show up and show out at the school if their child is suspended or expelled.

To read more letters click here.

From the Pioneer Press:

Chicago students at New Trier?

When Chicago Public School students board buses bound for New Trier schools on Sept. 2, they won't be carrying pencils and books.

State Sen. James Meeks, D-15th, is urging parents to keep their children out of Chicago public schools on the first day of classes Sept. 2 and travel with him to the North Shore to call attention to the inequalities in school funding in Illinois.

To read more of this story click here.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

School funding issue calls for drastic measures

Black people have to stop waiting for elected officials to figure out a more equitable way to fund education.

It hasn't happened. And you know what? It isn't going to happen.

For more of this column click here.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Daley says Meeks' school boycott plan isn't worth it

Mayor Daley said Tuesday he understands state Sen. James Meeks' frustration about the school funding disparity between rich and poor districts, but he said that doesn't justify an opening day boycott.

A South Side pastor with a huge congregation, Meeks has pledged to keep "several thousand" Chicago public school students out of class Sept. 2. Instead, he and fellow pastors will try to enroll them in the wealthy New Trier district in Winnetka.

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From the SouthtownStar:

Meeks urges protest by schoolchildren

Are white people in wealthy suburbs going to quake with fear when Chicago public schoolchildren come to town?

In an effort to grab headlines and focus attention on the inequities of public school funding in Illinois, state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) urged Chicago students to ditch the opening day of their school year and register for class in Winnetka.

To read more of this column click here.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

New Trier vs. CPS: Meeks plans protest

State Sen. James Meeks is urging parents to keep their children out of Chicago Public Schools the first day of class and instead board buses to the New Trier school district.

The plan is an attempt to bring attention to the "ever growing school funding inequalities between rich, white and poor, minority school districts in the state," said Meeks, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, on Sunday.

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Good cause, bad idea

Rev. James Meeks, you're wading into dangerous waters. On Monday, the South Side pastor and state senator pledged to keep "several thousand" Chicago public schools kids out of class the first day, Sept. 2. Instead, he and a long list of pastors will try to enroll them in affluent North Shore schools, including New Trier.

Sen. James Meeks wants to shine a glaring light on school funding disparities in Illinois, fueled by a system that relies heavily on property taxes. Property-tax-rich New Trier spends nearly $17,000 per kid. In Chicago, its $10,400.

To read more of this column click here.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Call for Chicago students to skip 1st school day

In a bid to highlight funding inequalities at Illinois public schools, community leaders in the nation's third largest school district on Monday called on students from poorer parts of Chicago to skip the first day of classes and spend the day instead trying to enroll at a school in a wealthy suburban district.

Critics of the planned Sept. 2 protest say it will undermine campaigns to get as many Chicago students as possible to attend the first day of classes and send the wrong message to children.

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