|
Posted by
Olog-hai
on Fri Apr 25 00:49:50 2014
fiogf49gjkf0d Chicago Tribune
New Chicago high school to be named for ObamaBy Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah and John Byrne
7:28 p.m. CDT, April 24, 2014Chicago students vying for hard-to-get spots in the city's most competitive public high schools will get a new selective enrollment high school named after President Barack Obama.
For parents frustrated with a gut-wrenching process that some have compared to getting their child into an Ivy League school, 300 additional freshmen seats come as welcome news.
“A lot of parents in the city will be happy to know there's more school seats in a central location,” said Rebecca Labowitz, who runs the “cpsobsessed” blog, frequently filled with comments from parents about the district's selective enrollment admissions process.
Her son, a 5th grader, will be a freshman the year Barack Obama College Preparatory High School is scheduled to open in the fall of 2017. Located just north of Skinner North Classical School, near the former Cabrini-Green public housing complex, the school will pick about 70 percent of its students from throughout the city through the competitive selective enrollment process, and the remaining from the neighborhood.
For Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the announcement, coupled with an earlier University of Chicago study released Thursday showing more freshmen are on track to graduate high school, was an opportunity to celebrate a new course for Chicago Public Schools.
“For the first time in the city of Chicago, I get to say that (U.S. Education) Secretary (William) Bennett, who in 1987 said the city of Chicago is the worst public school system in America, you're wrong. Dead wrong,” Emanuel said.
The freshmen-on-track graduation rate has gone up from 57 percent in 2007 to 82 percent, according to the University of Chicago study, which was touted by Emanuel's office today.
Mayoral critics noted the $60 million high school was announced a day after CPS voted to turn over management of three failing schools in impoverished neighborhoods on the city's West and South Sides to a private organization. They contend that instead of investing more resources in top-tier schools that serve a small number of students, the money should be used to help neighborhood schools across the city, many of which saw severe budget cuts this school year.
Some also wondered why Obama College Prep was not being built on the South Side in the president's Kenwood neighborhood or in the community where First Lady Michelle Obama grew up, rather than among well-to-do North Siders. The mayor last fall announced a $17 million addition for another top tier school, Walter Payton College Prep, located nearby.
“He's clearly trying to satisfy a certain demographic by putting in another selective enrollment school right near another one,” said Wendy Katten with parent group Raise Your Hand. “This is only going to impact a small percentage of students. It's not going to address a citywide need for strong neighborhood high schools.”
Selective enrollment schools are highly competitive. This school year, the district received applications from 16,440 students for 3,200 seats. More than 2,400 students were denied.
CPS' top schools — which rank among the best in the state — admit students based on test scores, grades and results of an entrance exam. CPS also factors in the socio-economic demographics of applicants' communities, or “tiers,” to increase diversity, which results in students from wealthier neighborhoods needing near perfect scores to get in.
Labowitz said there's a need for high selective enrollment schools on the South and West Sides as well, but North Siders feel more anxiety because of the nearly impossible scores required.
“There's a great sense of need on the North Side because it tends be a tier of parents who have high scoring kids whose kids don't get a North Side seat,” Labowitz said. “For many tier 3 or tier 4 parents, the only acceptable option is a selective enrollment high school. For many, neighborhood high schools still haven't earned the reputation of being academically challenging or safe.”
While most fight for seats at North Side College Preparatory School, Walter Payton and Whitney Young, the addition of more seats at Jones College Prep last year — a project begun under former Mayor Richard Daley — added 125 more spots for freshmen. The Payton addition to be ready in December 2015 will add about 100 more.
At Obama Prep, which is slated to open in the fall of 2017, the school will ultimately grow to 1,200 students. The school will be funded through approximately $60 million in TIF funds and will be built on Chicago Park District property.
Because the school would be paid for with tax-increment financing funds, it would not add to CPS' burdensome debt load. However, some view the tax-increment financing mechanism itself as a drain on school coffers, since the funding for TIF projects comes from property tax dollars, a portion of which would typically go to the school district.
Emanuel refused to get into specifics about any discussions he has had with Obama about the naming of the school, but said the president is aware of the project.
“I'm not going to put words in his mouth, but he knows about it and he's excited about it,” Emanuel said.
Tribune reporter Heather Gillers contributed to this story.
|
