Parents want a voice on school issues

With whistles blowing and clackers clacking, a group of parents marched in noisy protest outside Chicago Public Schools headquarters in the rain Wednesday morning, hoping to get the attention of policymakers preparing to meet five floors above.

The signs they carried, and the chants they sang, were in both English and Spanish, though Spanish was clearly the language of first choice.

As irritating as I found the noise-making devices, the thought came to me only later that the Spanish-speaking residents of this city have an especially difficult time getting their voices heard, and sometimes a little amplification is probably necessary.

The parents were on hand to …