NY Times Chicago's Segregation?

["George N. Schmidt" <Csubstance@AOL.COM>]

June 2, 2000

Hello Colleagues:

The article that follows my brief note here appears in today's New York Times.

The Times is inaccurate on a few things, but that's what comes when you get
your information from Paul Vallas.

According to official school board data here (the annual "Student Racial
Ethnic Survey" conducted at the beginning of each school year), this year
Northside Preparatory School in Chicago had 28 Black students (5.5 percent of
the total), not the higher number fed by Mr. Vallas to the New York Times.

As I pointed out earlier here, this school year Chicago has 110 all-Black
schools (i.e., 100 percent Black) and another 168 overwhelmingly Black
schools (i.e., 90 percent to 99.9 percent Black). Chicago also now has nearly
50 segregated Latino schools.

The claims that Northside is getting Chicago's "best" students is true only
if you consider "best" to mean whitest, wealthiest, and highest scoring on
standardized test.

The claim that Northside is getting Chicago's "best" teachers should also be
viewed in the same context and with some reserve. One of the teachers who
"qualified" to teach at North Side Prep this year was a young man whom I
mentored three years ago when he began his teaching career at Bowen High
School. Tim Devine is an energetic and talented young man, and a decent
social studies teacher, but I have a hunch that his qualifications for
selection to the faculty of Northside Prep included the fact that his father,
Richard Devine, is State's Attorney (i.e., for you New Yorkers, District
Attorney) of Cook County -- and one of the leaders of the Democratic Party
here.

One last note that is irresistible. If you search Chicago's real estate data
bases, the nearest "community" you will find to Northside College Prep is a
place called "Forest Glen". That "community will let you purchase a house, if
you can afford the $300,000 plus it costs to buy one there this year. And the
home prices there are going up, now that Chicago has added Northside Prep to
the amenities of home ownership in that area. By contrast, a home in South
Chicago, where Bowen High School is located, could be purchased for $50,000
last year. Bowen, where I taught, is more typical of Chicago's public high
schools, located in the (metaphorical) shadow of the ruins of the old U.S.
Steel South Works and Wisconsin Steel steel mills.

Below is the article from today's New York Times.

George N. Schmidt
Editor, Substance
5132 W. Berteau
Chicago, IL 60641

CHICAGO, June 1 -- The struggles of Chicago public schools seem a world
removed from North Side College Preparatory, a gleaming new high school with
six computers in every classroom, a 525-seat theater and a student body
loaded with academic stars.

In the hallways between classes one recent morning, a stereo system serenaded
the students with a jazz recording by Chuck Mangione, "Land of Make Believe."

"We're like a suburban school inside the city, pretty preppy," said
Damien Croteau-Chonka, a 15-year-old freshman who has already
built a thriving business as a Web-site designer. "We're elite academically.
But if you can get in here, you belong here."

North Side College Prep, a $44 million school nearing the end of its
first year, is Chicago's answer to parents who say they must look to
the suburbs or private institutions for a top-notch education for their
children.

In truth, few suburban schools could compete with the academic
bona fides of the students at North Side College Prep. The median test
score for students entering the freshman class this fall was in the
96th percentile nationally.

But while virtually no one disputes the scholastic prowess of
North Side College Prep, some education experts and parents question the
fairness of lavishing such resources on the academically gifted, especially
when so many children in Chicago are desperately lagging behind in other
classrooms.

 The Chicago system, like many, has long struggled with low test
scores, attendance problems and  teacher shortages.

"Not all kids are born with the ability to test well," said Darlene
Pearlstine, an elected representative to a Chicago public school governing
council. "The system is telling those kids that the other schools are for
losers and rejects."

Such a notion is vehemently debated by Paul Vallas, the head of  the Chicago
public schools, who has been widely praised for raising test
scores and restoring discipline in classrooms all over the city.

In more than a dozen schools around Chicago, including several
in poor neighborhoods, Mr. Vallas has instituted special curriculums
for high-achieving students, known as international baccalaureate programs.

"North Side College Prep is only one small part of the picture," he said.
"This is about giving more options to all the families in the city."

But Mr. Vallas is not backing away from the goals creating elite schools.
This fall, another new top-shelf campus, the Walter Payton College
Preparatory School, will open on the affluent Near North Side of Chicago.

By 2001, Chicago will offer six such magnet schools for high-achieving student
s, including South Side College Prep, which has been in operation for two
years.

Kati Hancock, the director of The Education Trust, a research group
in Washington that studies school issues, said there was "no secret about
what's going on here."

"As the upper-middle class has more disposable income, there is a  greater
pull by the private schools, and Paul Vallas is not the only school leader
looking for ways to compete and keep those kids," Ms. Hancock  said. "There
is a legitimate argument to be made that you need to keep the tax base, and
you need to attract the children of influential citizens, or you lose support
for public education in cities. At the same time, there is a danger that
we're sending a very devastating message to the other students that we just
don't care about
them."

Moreover, some concerns have been raised about elite schools siphoning off
the best students and the best teachers.

Other big cities, including Chicago, have operated selective-admission public
schools before. In New York, the Bronx High School of Science  and Stuyvesant
High School are geared toward the academic elite. San Francisco has the
prestigious Lowell High School. Boston Latin in Boston takes only the top
students.

"It's not new to have these schools," Ms. Hancock said.
"What's new in Chicago is that they're building more of them."

Besides the money spent on North Side College Prep, and the admission
standards, some critics have also argued that the racial makeup of the school
is absurdly out of proportion.

In a city where white students account for just 10 percent of public
school enrollment, 57 percent of the students at North Side College Prep
are white. The largest minority group at the school is Asian-American, 17
percent, compared with 3 percent Asian-American citywide.

Black and Hispanic students, meanwhile, are sharply underrepresented at North
Side. It has  11 percent Hispanic students, compared with 37 percent
citywide, and 14 percent black students, compared with  53 percent  citywide.

Students at North Side College Prep are admitted solely on the basis of test
scores. And the competition has been fierce. For the next school year, North
Side  accepted about 400 students, out of  some 3,000 applicants.

The school has also been a powerhouse at recruiting teachers and staff
members. About  400 teachers applied for 37 slots. The principal, James
Lalley, spent several years as the principal at St. Ignatius College
Preparatory High School, considered the most prestigious Roman Catholic
school in Chicago.

In the view of Mr. Lalley, the criticism about elitism at a Chicago public
school underscores the progress being made in the city's educational system
in recent years. He recalled the statement by William Bennett, the former
education secretary under President Ronald Reagan, that Chicago schools were
the "worst in the nation."

"Chicago schools have had such a bad reputation for so long," he said, "that
any success for anyone is good for everyone."

Thus far, North Side Preparatory has demonstrated that it can compete with
private schools. About one-third of its freshman class attended private
schools last year.

Aaron Kletzing, 16, had planned to attend Luther North High School,
a private school, just as an older brother had done. His parents had
never considered sending their children to a public school in Chicago. But
when North Side College Prep opened, they changed their minds.

"This place is top-notch and it's free," said Aaron, who is a star pitcher on
the school baseball team. "It's pretty simple. You can get a better education
here than at Luther North, and you don't have to pay $5,000 in tuition."

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