Proviso Township High Schools District 209 President Rodney Alexander invoked race when asking students to think twice about supporting striking teachers.
"Everybody in here is black people. We can’t do that. We don’t get the opportunity that other people get. The majority of these teachers are white. They do not live in this district," Alexander told a group of students who were preparing to walk out on behalf of striking teachers.
"Imma’ keep real with y’all. Where they live is where none of us will be able to live and they want us to pay back? Of those other district they are comparing ours to, most of them are in DuPage County. Those districts have far more money than us. You want to teach there, go there. We don’t owe you nothing."
Alexander’s marks came as 300 teachers picketed outside Proviso West, Proviso East and Proviso Math and Science Academy seeking a 13.25 percent increase in salary. Those schools serve around 5,000 students in the west Cook County area.
He told students to know what they are fighting for and invoked the very public death of George Floyd when describing what could happen if they were to be beaten and possibly murdered by police.
"All I am going to ask you to do is to do your homework and when you risk your safety walking outside of this building because you parents and caregivers expect you to be here. Once you leave we can’t protect you like that. So if you decide to put your life in jeopardy know what you’re doing. You guys know, you’ve seen how many times police have gotten out of hand and all of the sudden somebody out there kneels on some kids neck," Alexander, who was elected to the board in 2017, said.
Alexander actually works in law enforcement himself as a senior parole agent with the Illinois Department of Corrections. In that position, his annual salary is $94,800 per year.
Alexander was behind the decision to abruptly stop taping school board meetings on Oct. 12 last year. The change, after four years of recording the meetings, came after an increasingly agitated group of parents and teachers criticized him and others' school leadership.
Community members complained of open fighting in the schools that is so common that the school’s 12 security guards are reportedly struggling to maintain order.
"I feel like our school is not safe at all," Proviso East student Terry Bowers told Forest Park Review. "There’s about five fights every day. People throw water bottles in the lunchroom. People get hurt every day. There’s this stupid [TikTok] challenge with kids stealing teachers’ stuff."
The school district’s ethnic makeup is largely Hispanic and Black, with only 3% of its students identifying as white, according to Pro Publica.
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