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Record Attendance At School Despite Boycott

Children Are Back In School Today After The Boycott Was Called Off

CHICAGO (CBS) ― There was record attendance for the first day of school in Chicago – despite a school boycott that was called off yesterday after just two days. Chicago Public School leaders say it had little impact on the first day of school.

State Senator James Meeks, the boycott's organizer, will get to plead his case for more education funding with the governor next Monday. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.

Nicholas Sanders is back in school today - after boycotting the first two days.

"It's great being back, seeing all my teachers from last year. It's good," Nicholas said.

Nicholas chose to skip school to travel to New Trier's freshman campus. He was among the nearly 1,000 students and parents who went there to highlight the funding disparities between suburban schools like New Trier and city schools like Ronald Brown.

"Coming back here, it seems small and limited compared to what they get over there at New Trier," Nicholas said.

Nicholas learned that because residents pay higher property taxes in the New Trier township district, the schools spend $17,000 on every student. In Chicago, the schools only spend about $10,000 on each student.

Nicholas was the only one in his eighth grade class to take part in the boycott - but administrators say more than 50 students at Brown supported the boycott and skipped the first two days of school. Now they must play catch up.

"Teachers are introducing the children to their new literature books, teachers are expressing goals and objectives," said Principal Gail Baker, Ronald Brown Elementary. "Every day that a child is out of school, they've lost something."

Baker figures her attendance was down about 10 percent because of the boycott, but across the system, officials report a record attendance rate of 93.7 percent. They admit they worked hard to get parents to choose school over the boycott.

"Knocking on doors throughout the city, handing out school supplies," said Arne Duncan, CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

While school officials didn't support the boycott, they did give its organizer, Senator James Meeks credit for bringing much needed attention to the issue.

"What Senator Meeks was able to do in getting everybody's attention around that issue, it is the right issue and it is the right time," said Rufus Williams, President of the Chicago Board of Education. "And it's the right time until we get more funding into our schools."

While most of the students who took part in the boycott are back at school, officials say they want all students to return, so the two sides may join forces over the weekend.

School leaders say they plan to spend Saturday knocking on doors. Senator Meeks has offered to help – and administrators have accepted his offer.

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