Now if everyone could just get over the idea that a neighborhood that is predominently not the same color as whatever your color is could be “safe”. It’d be a huge step forward.

I do find it odd though that northsiders (on the geographically smaller and more congested side of town) are far more likely to complain about something being too far away. Southsiders, seem a little more willing to do what it takes. For instance, my son is at Taft AC and has at least one or two classmates who make it to school at 7:30 every morning commuting up from Hyde Park or thereabouts. I doubt Kenwood has even two 7th grader from Norwood Park or some equivalent northside neighborhood. Ironic since as far as I can tell, the northside is much better serviced by the trains.

This is the whole point of the Tier system mumbo jumbo; socio-economic voodoo is simply a proxy for race, since the Supreme Court has decided (correctly) that skin color can no longer be used as a criteria for school admissions.

Do I agree with it? Actually yes but with caveats, specifically on the shoddy implementation and reliance on imprecise census tract generalizations.

No child chooses to be born into a poor family and live in a dangerous neighborhood, and children should not have to pay for the foolish life choices of their parents. It benefits society in the long run if these kids from less-than-stellar circumstances get a shot at a first-rate education.

I don’t agree with hypocrisy and reverse discrimination and when race-based politics get tangled up in public education. That really bugs me (obviously).

As a longtime CPS employee, certainly you must know how to access accurate information on the internet. Here are the facts:

2010 Enrollment Statistics

Northside College Prep (1,074 students)
38.5% white
5.35% black – 60 students
23.2% hispanic – 250 students
32% asian/pacific island – 344 students
Total non-white students: 654

King College Prep (926 students)
1.1% white – 10 students
95% black
2.5% hispanic – 23 students
1.4% asian/pacific – 13 students
Total non-black students: 46

From before the doors opened at Northside College Prep, great care was devoted to attracting and maintaining a diverse student population. Caucasian enrollment was capacity controlled and artificially suppressed – either through affirmative action quotas or a complicated socio-economic tier formula – to achieve this goal. Some have speculated that a siren went off at CPS headquarters every time Caucasian enrollment inched past 30%.

Meanwhile on the south side of town, King College Prep was allowed to become a racially segregated school. Perhaps if school administrators had employed the same capacity control strategies to suppress African American enrollment, King would have a diverse student population, and white families would have a viable SE high school option closer to their homes in Beverly.

But that didn’t happen. Why?

@Mom2, I do believe that race plays part in the decision along with distance. Whether people want to admit it or not. I have worked for CPS for many years and have seen and heard it ALL! Additionally, it dosen’t matter how old this post is bc many of the same issues still occur. Things just never changes in this City of ours…

My comments then and now were not a blanket diss on the southside. I have many close friends I met during college who grew up in Beverly, Mt. Greenwood and Oak Lawn. White families from those neighborhoods had given up on CPS in favor of Catholic schools and this was the long-standing tradition. So I don’t know if families from the northside have a moral obligation to integrate the SE high schools on the southside, but maybe white families on the southside should give CPS another chance.

And not to end my message on a snarky note, but can you imagine the day when Northside College Prep was allowed to become 90% white because it is located in a white neighborhood? Never never never gonna happen in a million years. So yes, there is a double standard.

P.S. to # 13: Go Cubs!

First of all, I wish people would stop putting race into everything. The tiers are supposed to be about socio-economic factors, not color. But, since you did, I believe you are making a huge assumption that “white” parents don’t send their kids to South side SE schools because they are “black”. While neighborhood safety is a concern, the distance is the biggest issue for a vast majority of North side parents. They don’t want their children spending 2 hours to travel back and forth to school each day. That is why you see most north side parents selecting those you listed that are north or centrally located. Location, Location, Location. And while WY is further East than Lane, and still North of the Eisenhower (so not sure I would qualify that as West), I know north side parents that wouldn’t put WY down as a choice for high school because even that is “too far”.

And as for everyone’s comments about why certain schools are all black/latino on the southside, is because many whites make false generalizations about these schools and the kids that attend. So let’s just be honest with ourselves. Even if the State or CPS gave these schools extra money to diversify, it still would not happen bc a lot of whites are afraid or don’t want their kid at these schools. Additionally, Lindblom, Westinghouse and KCP all tried to diversify their schools but still many non Black & Latino parents chose not to apply or did not send their kids to the SE schools. Don’t blame these schools, when you clearly have other options besides WP/NS. Will there be another SE school in the near future? No! We already have nine SE’s, that are equally distributed throughout the Chicago area (3 on the south KCP/LIN/BRKS, 3 on the north PY/LT/NS, two on the west WY/WCP and one centrally located-JCP). If you only chose to apply to two schools (PY/NS), which many of you don’t even stand a chance at getting in bc thousands of other kids have also applied, then that is your problem and loss. Each school is public and anyone can apply to any of the SE’s schools, regardless of the location.

Now, there will be some neighborhood HS schools that will get new Magnet programs (STEM/Performing Arts/IB etc.) and some schools will improve their Magnet programs (Von Steuben/MP/LakeView/Kenwood, and others), Lane/lakeView/MPHS/Taft/Mather will gain the STEM program, but no more SE’s. (Lane will be an SE, STEM and AC school in the upcoming years). Additionally, more Charter high schools and elem schools will open such as Quest Academy (2 more campuses will open). There will be no more Military Academies.

Many parents don’t realize how much power they possess. If you start sending your children to these schools and demanding certain programs or implementing new ideas to raise test scores, then any school can change or get even better! You have the power to get rid of principals, change a school into anything you want it to be, rid the “bad students, create new programs, etc. However, the longer you stay away from the certain schools, the longer they will stay the same.

It’s not a surprise that affluent, mostly white families have moved into historically poor areas. Real estate boom, anyone?

Little wonder that the outcome of lotterying kids based on decade old data that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the actual applicant is not yielding the “desired” results.

Told you so.