We, the parents of the students involved in the anti-war protest on November 1st, are relieved that the issue has finally come to a peaceful conclusion with no students suffering even the possibility of expulsion. Although the lengthy suspensions were harsh in themselves, the Morton West teachers have been very supportive and we are confident that our children will be able to make up their work and not be academically penalized for their absences. We are also very happy that due to the incident, military recruiters have been barred from the school for two weeks pending a review of their access to the students.

This incident has caused many of us to search our own consciences. Although we are all opposed to the war in Iraq, we wonder if we would have had the moral courage our children showed to risk our careers in order to draw attention to the war. This was not simply a free speech issue as the district states. It is impossible to separate the reason for the demonstration from the demonstration itself. The world would not have cared if the students had staged a sit-in against the uniform policy. The outpouring of interest, support and activism was directly related to students' reason for the sit-in. It was and always will be another referendum on this disastrous war and could not have been handled fairly without considering the context in which it was held, including the massive anti-war demonstration that took place in Chicago the weekend before and the near constant presence of military recruiters in the school. These young peacemakers see their fellow students coerced into joining the ranks to fight and they could not stand by silently. We admire their courage and convictions.

We believe that it was media exposure and the voices of all the groups who came to our aid that finally pressured the district to do the right thing--drop all threats of expulsion. Therefore, we would like to list the many we remember from this last whirlwind week. We apologize if we forgot anyone and to all, we are truly greatful. We hope to return the favor someday.

We shout out thanks to:

ACLU
Alan Mass--Socialist Worker Publications
American Friends Service Committee
Berwyn Police--for refusing to arrest the students
Butch Rath, Bifsnow (Better Internal Functioning Systems Now)
Chicago Indymedia
Chicago Freeze
Chris Geovanis--Hammerhard Mediaworks
Clair Brown, World Reports INN
Columbia College Students who started the online petition
and the over 8,000 People Who Signed It!
Committee Against the Militarization of Youth
Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights
Dr. Charles Flowers, regional superintendent
George Schmidt, Substance Magazine
Jay Field, WBEZ
Kate Grossman, Chicago Sun-Times
Local and vocal concerned citizens
Mercedes Hernandez--Hoy Newspaper
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund
Michael Moore
National Lawyers Guild
Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice
New York Times
Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice
Rainbow Push Coalition
Rep. LaShawn Ford
Sergio Barreto, Chicago Free Speech Zone
Students for a Democratic Society
Teachers for Social Justice
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
West Side Greens
World Can't Wait Campaign

Signed:

Pam Winstead
Mark Serpico
Rita Maniotis
Andrew Maniotis
Sylvia Cisneros
Lori Ann Yracheta
Cheryl Zurawski
Adam Szwarek
Ramona Aldaco
Kim Sauer
Alma Moran
Mary Rose Heffernan
Danny and Esperanza Rodriguez
Janice Russell