As it continues to search for ways to improve public education the Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday unveiled propsed changes to 14 schools that include closures, consolidation, turnaround, and phase out.
As it continues to search for ways to improve public education the Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday unveiled propsed changes to 14 schools that include closures, consolidation, turnaround, and phase out.
Among those schools, CPS officials identified George W. Curtis Elementary School, 32 E. 115th St. and John Marshall High School on the West Side as the two worst academically performing schools in the entire district.
“To just sit by idle while these schools continue to under perform would be irresponsible on our part,” said Ron Huberman, chief executive officer for CPS. “The state was threatening to close Marshall if we did not do it first. But rather than close the school we our proposing to turn it around with a new principal and staff.”
Marshall has been on academic probation for the last 14 years and in 2009 less than 5 percent of its 998 students met state, academic standards.
Huberman added that Hall of Fame girls basketball coach Dorothy Gators has agreed to remain coaching at Marshall. Typically when a school is turned around the principal, teachers and staff are all replaced.
But Marshall was not the only high school cranking out low test scores among its students on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test which measures reading and math skills.
Wendell Phillips, 244 E. Pershing Road, is also being proposed for turnaround for academic reasons. Less than 10 percent of its 746 students have met state standards over the last decade.
“We recognize that Marshall and Phillips have a rich history and hold a special place for their respected communities and alumni and we do not want to destroy that image,” Huberman said. “But at the same time we have an obligation to educate and to ensure that we are providing the educational opportunities for our students that give them the best chance at success.”
This is not the first time CPS has attempted to rebuild schools from the inside out. But this time around Huberman said there would be changes to its approach.
For example, the four elementary schools CPS proposes to consolidate, all of the receiving schools are higher performing schools academically. Receiving schools will also receive more funding to help with the intake of more students. And parents will have more than one receiving school to choose from and with some schools, parents will be allowed to send their children to nearby magnet schools.
One elementary school, Charles S. Deneen, 7257 S. State St., would have been consolidated but CPS was unable to identify a receiving school in the community with higher test scores. So Deneen will instead become one of four schools turned around and managed by the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a Chicago non-profit organization that already manages several schools turned around by CPS.
Mayor Richard M. Daley supports the proposal that must be approved by the Chicago School Board.
“We’re trying to rebuild every community school in the city of Chicago,” he said. “That’s what you have to do. If you don’t build community schools that people firmly believe that their child can get a quality education there, then we’re going to fail.”
There will also be 15 public hearings held beginning Jan. 26 and ending Feb. 11 for parents, students and the community to voice their opinion about the proposed changes before the school board votes on the measure. And if approved, the proposed changes would take effect this fall.
McCorkle Elementary School, 4421 S. State St., is being consolidated due to the poor condition of its facility.
Ludwig Beethoven Elementary School, 25 W. 47th St., which has been designated as the receiving school for McCorkle students, will receive $8.5 million in capital improvements during the summer.
Ignance Paderewski Elementary School, 2221 S. Lawndale Ave., is being consolidated due to low student enrollment. Roswell B. Mason Elementary School, 4217 West 18th St., is the designated receiving school.
Guglielmo Marconi Elementary School, 230 N. Kolmar Ave., is being consolidated due to under enrollment will be consolidated with George W. Tilton Elementary School, 223 North Keeler Ave., to form Tilton-Marconi School.
Other school options for Marconi students will include Ericson, Gregory and Calhoun North Elementary Schools.
Irvin C. Mollison Elementary School, 4415 S. King Drive, is being consolidated due to underperformance and will be consolidated with Ida B. Wells Prep Elementary School, 244 East Pershing Road, in the Mollison building, as the Wells- Mollison School.
Bradwell Elementary School, 7736 S. Burnham; and Frank L. Gillespie Elementary School, 9301 S. State St. will also be turned around and managed by AUSL.
Curtis Elementary School is closing because of poor academic performance.
The designated receiving schools are Charles Haley, 11411 S. Eggleston and George Pullman Elementary, 11311 S. Forrestville.
Simon Guggenheim Elementary School, 7141 S. Morgan Ave., is closing because of poor academic performance.
The designated receiving schools are William A. Hinton Elementary, 644 W. 71 st St. and John P. Altgeld Elementary, 1340 W. 71st St.
William H. Prescott Elementary School, 1632 West Wrightwood Ave., is closing because its student enrollment is far below operational efficiency. The designated receiving schools are Louis A. Agassiz, 2851 N. Seminary Ave., and Augustus H. Burley, 1630 W. Barry.
Bartholome De Las Casas Occupational High School, 8401 S. Saginaw Ave, is closing because of facilities-related and programmatic issues, along with low attendance.
Huberman said students from this special needs school would be placed in either private schools that can meet their needs or Moses Montefiore School, 1310 S. Ashland Ave.
George Schneider Elementary School, 2957 N. Hoyne Ave., is the only school proposed for phase out.
For students at a phase-out school, they may stay at the school but the school will not enroll any new students and decrease by one grade level per year.
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