The [Friday] Papers

Sorry, events have intervened, this will be all for today:

* QT: Rubio, Bieber & Nugent.

* The Week in Chicago Rock.

The [Thursday] Papers
"After trimming the number of schools that could be closed to 129, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's school administration has entered the latest and what is likely to be the most intense phase so far in trying to determine which schools should be shut," the Tribune reports.

"In the past, political clout has played a role in the district's final decisions. Already this year, several aldermen have spoken out on behalf of schools in their wards.

"On the Near Northwest Side, for instance, the initial list of 330 underused schools included about six in the 1st Ward. Ald. Proco 'Joe' Moreno helped organize local school council members, school administrators and parents to fight any closing. He also took that fight to leaders in City Hall and within CPS' bureaucracy. Nearly all of the schools in the ward were excluded from the list of 129.

"It is effort and it's organizing and not just showing up at meetings and yelling. Anybody can do that," Moreno said. "Those schools that proactively work before those meetings and explain what they are doing, what they need and that they are willing to accept new students, that's when politics works.

"My responsibility in this juncture was to focus on these schools," he said. "I had to work on the inside, with CPS and with City Hall, and with my schools on the outside."

And with Fox News.

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"We know that charters work," Moreno told Fox News viewers.

We do?

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Moreno also said he sided with the teachers, but not union leadership, on the strike.

But nearly 90% of the city's teachers authorized the strike.

So what Moreno really should have said is that he supports one in 10 teachers.

*

And that's why this happened Monday night . . .

. . . "despite his attempt at winning the crowd over by opportunistically declaring his support for keeping Brentano Academy open, 'even though it's not in [his] ward,'" video uploader sarahdashji notes.

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"It seems parents think Moreno is being disingenuous in his support for public schools in Chicago, given his prior statements on public education in Chicago," Kevin Robinson writes for Chicagoist.

*

Moreno's response to critics chiding the ostensibly hip alderman by telling him to "go get your skateboard":

Yawn. RT @bro_pair: . @alderman_moreno GO GET YOUR SKATEBOARD

— Alderman Joe Moreno (@Alderman_Moreno) February 13, 2013

And:

Don't have one. Have a nice scooter though. RT @bhlaab: .@alderman_moreno go get your skateboard

— Alderman Joe Moreno (@Alderman_Moreno) February 13, 2013

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Meanwhile . . . Most of the schools on the list are on the West and South Sides - because it makes eminent sense to shutter what in some cases are the only civic institutions left in neighborhoods already under the most duress.

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CPS school closings just latest phase in closing "underutilized" neighborhoods.

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) February 14, 2013

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CPS school closings represent further disinvestment in our most disinvested neighborhoods. Now start snitching!

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) February 14, 2013

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Wall Street devastated South and West Sides; Rahm's CPS just doing clean-up work now.

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) February 14, 2013

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Dismantle public housing, dismantle public health, dismantle public schools, dismantle the public. The public = the not-rich = most of us.

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) February 14, 2013

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The University of Chicago Lab School, where Rahm sends his kids, is not on the list, despite reports of trust fund underutilization.

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I Can See Fear In Your Eyes, Bon Jovi
The best thing you will read today, this week and maybe ever.

Illinois Kids Getting Screwed
Not about the children after all.

Pat Quinn's Valentine's Day Candy Heart
Will you be my running mate?

Hideout Harmonica Hoedown!
Chicago blows.

Heavenly Bodies Then And Now
Rumi, Jay-Z and the SIU Press.

Gophers Prepare For Soldier Field
Pond hockey writ large.

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The Beachwood Tip Line: Writ large.

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