Monday, March 26, 2012

Rahm Emanuel to middle class: Don’t leave for better schools

 
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Updated: March 25, 2012 2:34AM


Mayor Rahm Emanuel has a message to the middle class: Don’t leave my city in pursuit of a high quality, high school education for your kids.
The message accompanied a promise, issued during an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday — the same day the mayor announced he was doubling the size of an International Baccalaureate diploma program in the Chicago Public Schools. A recent study deemed the program extremely successful in preparing neighborhood high school students for college.
“Don’t head for the doors when your kid’s in fifth grade or sixth grade — for the suburbs — because the city of Chicago is going to give you a high-quality life with a high-quality education for your children,” said Emanuel, speaking in his office and flanked by Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard.

“That’s our commitment to the families of the city of Chicago. And we’re well on our way to starting to put that down payment down,” he said.
Emanuel, who inherited a school system on which his predecessor Mayor Richard M. Daley left his own mark, outlined his vision for public education: a focus on expanding access to quality high school options beyond the hard-fought for but limited selective enrollment seats.

Those nine elite public high schools — created by Daley in part to keep the middle class from bailing out of the system after eighth grade — this year alone drew 14,284 applicants for 3,200 seats.
And CPS data recently obtained by the Sun-Times indicated that at the most elite of the system’s selective-enrollment high schools, it took near perfect scores and perfect grades for eighth-graders to win admission.

Key initiatives in the last few months have been part of his larger vision, Emanuel said. Those initiatives include the 10 new International Baccalaureate programs announced Friday; the five new Early College STEM schools emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math announced in February, and the announcement in December of the planned opening of two new charter schools by the ballyhooed Noble Schools Network each year over the next three years.
Under Emanuel’s plan, five neighborhood high schools devoted exclusively to the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum — touted by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research for producing “dramatic” results — will come online in the fall of 2013, one in each of the city’s high school regions, and will accept all comers. An additional five schools — also in each zone — will offer the program alongside traditional curriculums, but unlike the neighborhood IBschools, they will have IB admission requirements.

In the new Early College STEM schools, five technology giants have joined forces with CPS and City Colleges to open six-year public high schools allowing students to graduate with an associate’s degree and the expertise to qualify for high-tech jobs. The schools will open to roughly 1,090 freshmen this fall, with no selective admissions criteria.
Finally, Noble, the only charter franchise last year to produce higher test scores than the Chicago average at each of its campuses and trumpeted by Emanuel, has been granted two new charters each year through 2014. Noble picks its students by lottery.

“To all those parents who are standing in line at the selective enrollment or other choices, there’s going to be more choices for you,” Emanuel said. “And when I say choices, I mean across the spectrum. We’re going to have good, high-quality high schools that are going to prepare your kids, whether they’re going to junior college, the armed forces or four-year institutions. Your child’s education and your child’s opportunity at a good-quality high school education just improved.”
The Chicago Teachers Union did not respond to a request for comment on the mayor’s plans.

9 comments:

  1. Too late. The Democratic machine has failed the whites disproportionately. The 4 tier system punishes the northwest side of the city.

    The Democratic loves Bonds, Gov't pensions, gov't contracts, and real estate laws.

    Democrats have failed us.

    Where is Mary O'Connor?

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    1. Mary O'Connor is a joke. I would love to see her just once get out in front of the cameras and fight for us. The tier system for the Select Enrollment schools is a joke and it punishes children up here. I know for a fact I will never knock on another door for her.

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    2. Exactly. What about increased police numbers in 16? She had no problem getting the bro-in-law of one of her competitors during the aldermanic race moved, but nothing about more of a police presence.

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    3. Can't send our kids to schools just blocks away, as it makes more sense to bus kids from all over the city, keeping kids on the bus over an hour (at least).

      We pay the price of behaving like humans, and expecting the teachers to perform at a certain level. Maybe we should just demand from the sytem, wait for our checks, and then we'll get our way.

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  2. HA HA HA Really What a joke. Where does he plan on getting the money for this?

    The Chicago Teachers Union did not respond to a request for comment on the mayor’s plans. Of course not because he is trying to break the unions.

    To all those parents who are standing in line at the selective enrollment or other choices, there’s going to be more choices for you,” Emanuel said. “And when I say choices, I mean across the spectrum. We’re going to have good, high-quality high schools that are going to prepare your kids, whether they’re going to junior college, the armed forces or four-year institutions. Your child’s education and your child’s opportunity at a good-quality high school education just improved.”

    RUN RUN If you have a child in high school and you are able to move out of Chicago DO IT

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  3. alderman alderman alderman, nice pay, cush job, nice to see once you are in its show me the money and ill do nothing and you cant say a thing about it. same old stuff. why is there so many of them again ? they are supposed to be the voice of the people in their ward ! Its nice to see this mayor saying stay while his kids and in a private school tucked away

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  4. Why doesn't Rahm send his kids to CPS schools? Not good enough for him, just like Stroger Sr made sure not to have his ambo sent to Stroger hospital when he fell ill. Good enough for us, but not for them.

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    1. Exactly! It's good enough for you, but not good enough for them.

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  5. As a parent of a child who graduated with the International Baccalaureate diploma, I would honestly say think twice about this program, especially if your child is an athlete. There were nights that she only had two hours sleep due to the homework load and forget about any family time, even during vacations. They are assigned special projects then too. Sure, she graduated in the top 1% of her class,taking all AP and IB advanced classes, earning the IB diploma (if one doesn't pass the special IB tests only an IB certificate is issued),lettered in three sports, but the one thing that she cannot get around is the stigma of having graduated from CPS!! THAT is what has hurt her!

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