Vol. 71/No. 45      December 3, 2007

Officials initially charged 38 students with “gross disobedience and mob activity” for taking part in an action in the cafeteria of Morton West High School, in this Chicago suburb. They faced suspensions of up to 10 days and 18 were threatened with expulsion. The school board’s action and the students’ efforts to defend themselves sparked national attention.

Parents and students protested outside the school November 6. A day later, 120 parents, students, and others attended a school board meeting to oppose the disciplinary actions. Most speakers applauded the students’ antiwar protest as a positive event.

Ben Nowakowski, district school superintendent, claimed the students’ action had nothing to do with free speech or protest but was a matter of disrupting the school.

Speaker after speaker at the hearing pointed out that there have been fist fights and windows broken recently, yet none of those involved received such harsh disciplinary action, indicating that the matter was indeed a political question of the right to protest.

Angel Cooper, a sophomore who took part in the antiwar protest, said that when she went to her appeal she was asked not about her activities but about the “leaders.”

“I don’t regret the protest because I brought a lot of people to this question—about Iraq and what it’s doing to our country,” senior Joshua Rodriguez told the media.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home