Monday, February 11, 2008
News / Clout City Talk will get you nowhere
Posted by Kate Schmidt on Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 7:34 PM
Last week in the Works, Ben Joravsky wrote about the CPS's plan to move Edison Regional Gifted Center, on the city's northwest side, into the underused Albany Park Multicultural Academy. The "proposal"--which despite CPS's protests to the contrary is looking more and more like a done deal--has a lot of parents, students, and ordinary folks who care about public education up in arms. Last Friday, more than 300 people attended a CPS hearing on the subject. Among the speakers were parent Matt Farmer, one of the people interviewed for the column:
Alderman Brian Doherty also addressed the meeting (that's 39th Ward alderman Margaret Laurino behind him):
Finally, parent Rachel Wallach did some digging into past such experiments on the part of CPS. The results weren't very encouraging for Edison, which up to now has been one of the city's strongest schools:
Showing 1-3 of 3
How about a transcript of the audio, for us 'hearing impaired' folks, (and slow readers)? Please.
The video is only available because one of the parents brought their camera. There was an appointed recorder but there was no information on whether the transcript would be available to the public.
I say this to CPS & Ald. Doherty:"Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" A wonderful school, which is a model of excellence, will be profoundly altered by this ill-conceived relocation proposal. Here's the facts about the only two local schools that will actually be impacted/"helped" by this travesty: 1)Ebinger School is the LEAST crowded of all of the NW-side schools, if you include the many large, new modular units that were installed this summer (07). 2)Oriole Park school is only at 78% capacity if you include their spacious modulars, some of which were also installed summer 07. Garvy, Bridge and a host of other NW-side schools are much more overcrowded, and they don't get an inch of help from this proposal! I know because I've listened to Jim Dispensa of CPS, and because my kid attends an overcrowded NW-side school (over 80% capacity with modular units)that lost it's lunchroom, computer lab, etc. due to overcrowding. CPS tells the media this proposal to relocate Edison is to relieve overcrowding on NW side. It's not even going to make a dent! Edison the bandaid. Why are the Ebinger & Oriole Park schools being given priority over much more severely overcrowded NW side schools? Lastly, talk about a developmentally innapropriate idea! How can CPS propose to combine a K-8 school in a facility with 300 (soon to be approx. 450)teenagers? Edison has one class per grade of about 30-31 kids, so there are 300 teenagers at APMA to Edison's K, 1st, 2nd, etc. CPS will say it is two schools within a facility, and they aren't being combined. Let's be real, Edison and APMA students will have to use many of the same facilities (gym, lunchroom, bathrooms, etc.), so that argument seems dishonest at best. With a straight face, 41st ward alderman Doherty tells the Feb. 8 crowd (in so many words)that Edison neighbors dont want a school built on the huge field behind Edison (where one used to exist long ago). No one's been asked this question, but I know plenty of 41st ward residents and he doesn't speak for them! Wonder what's going to happen to all of that valuable land just sitting there, over the next few years.... This relocation proposal smells.
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