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June 21, 2012 
School closings discriminatory, coalition tells U.S. Education Department
By
Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah
/ Chicago Tribune
A coalition of students [like from Make The Road New York] and community members from several cities filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday, alleging that policies to close underperforming schools discriminate against African-American and Hispanic students.
Groups in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, Washington and Baltimore filed Title VI complaints with the Department of Education, asking for the federal agency to investigate school closing policies and staff overhauls of underperforming schools known as "turnarounds." One of the groups, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, failed twice this spring to get a Cook County judge to blockChicago Public Schools' plans to close or revamp 17 low-achieving schools.
Jitu Brown, education organizer with KOCO, said officials with the federal agency discouraged him from filing a complaint Thursday, saying they were not likely to get a better result.
"They said they generally tend to use the same criteria as the courts," Brown said.
The Chicago complaint focuses solely on Dyett High School, where Brown has been a longtime local school council member. CPS announced this year that the Washington Park school would be closed gradually over three years.
The complaints call for the Department of Education to investigate school closings in each of the cities and demand a national moratorium on shutting down failing schools without reform that includes community input.
For original article, click here.
More on: Public Education 
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 Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYCOn March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.
Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.
At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.
With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership. 
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