Chicago Public School Chief Defends Kids Missing School to Lobby State Legislature

ABC TV Chicago reports:

School children are attending a rally at Soldier Field to ask for more funding and safety legislation.

More than 30,000 students are at Soldier Field in addition to hundreds of faculty members and teachers to send a strong message to Springfield: that they want more state funding.

Thousands of students, divided by school, are attending the gathering, one of the largest Chicago Public School rallies of the year. Students of all different ages were bused into Soldier Field and all the Chicago Public High Schools are represented.

Arnie Duncan, the C.P.S. Chief, will speak to the students, as well as religious leaders and Mayor Richard Daley.

Students are enjoying music and entertainment, including the Jessie White Tumblers.

The atmosphere may be festive but the message is serious. The Chicago Public School System is asking lawmakers for more state funding.

According to Duncan, the district is terribly underfunded in all areas and is asking for more funding especially for anti-violence programs. The rally comes after another student was gunned down on Monday night.

Duncan says spending the money to bus the students, who are missing a day of school, to Soldier Field is a good use of time and money.

"You really want to have violence end. It's a tragedy we had another student killed last night. Twenty-three students were killed this year. We are really pushing for common sense gun laws so our students here don't have to live in fear," said Duncan, C.P.S. Chief.

Watch the video.Arne Duncan believes the goal of public education to lobby for more and more taxpayers money.Public schools really do have an ideology:it's called high taxes.