[ProgressiveEd] Steering Committee

[BYMJSK4@aol.com]

Dear folks,
So much has been happening so quickly.  Thank you for your emailed responses 
to my email about the upcoming meeting with Chancellor Klein and Michele 
Cahill.  In light of this meeting, several people have made a request for 
PENNY to reconsider its Wednesday demonstration.  I'd like the steering 
committee to meet Monday at 6 P.M. for a brief meeting to plan our next 
steps.  The meeting will be at Ann's (310 Riverside @ 103rd Street).
A quick update:  Chancellor Klein's office scheduled our meeting for April 
10.  That gives us time to develop a plan.  They want only three people from 
PENNY to attend that meeting.
My recommendation, which I'll present at the steering committee tomorrow, is 
that we go ahead with the demonstration.  This is a demonstration in support 
of our schools.  It is also an acknowledgment of the support Mr. Klein seems 
to be willing to extend to the work we've been doing.  It is NOT an attack on 
Mr. Klein.  In a conversation I had with Beverly (Children's Workshop School, 
and one of the people most responsible for getting this meeting with Mr. 
Klein for PENNY), we came up with the idea of delivering a gift to Mr. Klein 
along with a thank you card at the demonstration.  It would be a way of 
underscoring the kinds of support we believe our schools need, while 
acknowledging publicly the overtures Mr. Klein has made to work with us.
I'm working on a draft of a letter that we can also deliver to Mr. Klein 
during the demonstration.  I think it's important for us to show our unity 
and our determination, even while we applaud the efforts that others are 
making to turn around this system that has worked so poorly on the whole in 
the past.  We're asking people to be flexible and to respond quickly.  At 
this moment, I would assume that the demonstration is on and hope that every 
school is mobilizing to bring people there (with signs and slogans).  There 
will be an email on the listserv Monday evening.  Thank you. 
Bruce Kanze