Tuesday, September 6th, approximately 12 people, mostly children, waited with bated breath, for the reappearance of the bus stop closest to their home. Gale School was cut as a bus stop last fall, when Chicago Public Schools cut 270 stops in a cost saving measure. Parents were outraged that their children would have to walk over a mile in the dark, on a desolate road daily, children as young as 6, were expected to be at the bus stop at 6:30 am, many of the families affected had no car to help alleviate this issue. “Too often, arbitrary decisions are made that deeply impact our lives without our consent. CPS is notorious for this, “said Tiffany Mikell, mom of 10 year old Cameron. This has motivated us to act to get this bus stop decision reversed. We wrote letters, our children wrote letters, our community members wrote letters, we visited the offices. We got no response from CPS!! It took a press conference to finally get the CPS Board of Education members to meet with us. We heard positive reports from Kevin McGuire, director at the CPS transportation department that they will reinstate our bus stop, but we could not wait to see those words in action. This campaign has truly been an exercise of people power and persistence, and we are so grateful to have won this victory for our children and have them witness the process. When we fight, we win!!
