Presentation for the Board of Ed, Oct 22

My name is Neal Resnikoff. I’m representing the Save Senn Coalition.

We are very concerned that your recent failures to take two actions are hurting the quality of education at Senn High School, and other schools as well.

First, Senn High School is a quality general community high school, open to all. Through long range planning, strong programs such as IB and AVID along with new AP classes continue to expand, while new initiatives such as the development of a Green Curriculum are in the works with tremendous community support. In order to continue this positive growth, Senn needs to spread the word through the recruitment of new students from the feeder schools and other schools. But you will not confirm that Senn High School will be open as a general, open enrollment high school in September ‘09. Why are you creating insecurity and instability in this way, as you are doing with other schools as well? Senn needs the support of CPS and the Board of Education, not the lack of commitment and obstacles You installed a military academy over the objections of students, teachers, parents and the community. Then you allowed two years of work by the Senn Strategic Plan Committee to be threatened because the Alderman decided to secretly drop out of the Committee and devise her own plan to present to you behind closed doors, a plan to break up Senn High School. Despite all these unjust obstacles , the students, staff, and community have done well to sustain, improve, and push ahead with the Senn Strategic Plan. Why are you creating unnecessary stress by not confirming the school continuance for the ’09 school year so proper recruiting can take place?

Second, Senn High School is so well regarded these days, that more than 200 new students have enrolled beyond what the Board had predicted would be the case. Yet the Board has not seen fit to send additional teachers to promptly deal with this increased enrollment. The result has been overcrowded classes, and classes meeting in places that are not classrooms. How can this be good for education at Senn High School? Won’t the school still be held accountable even if the students fall behind as a result of this Board foolishness? We know the Board has a reserve fund. Why hasn’t it been tapped to bring on the needed teachers? Is the Board of Education interested in the quality of education of the students or not?

And, to add to the irony, the military academy that was forced into the Senn High School building is under quota and has a lot of empty classroom space, only 8 students to every classroom, while Senn is twice as crowded. Isn’t this inequality in favor of military recruiting? Isn’t this typical of the contrast between Mayor Daley’s Rennaissance 2010 schools and schools left to warehouse students?

What do you say Mr. Williams[President of the Board] and Mr. Duncan[ CEO of Chicago Public Schools]?

Mr. Williams and Mr. Duncan said they did the best they could to provide teachers for the extra enrollment. The lack of promptness was challenged as a problem that could have been solved, using reserve funds if necessary.

Mr. Duncan stated that the school would remain open in the fall of ’09, and said that what he said was enough, that it did not need to be put into writing. He said that the head of Elementary Areas and Schools would see to it that feeder schools were informed. Ms. Flavia Hernandez later confirmed that she would do this.

This entry was posted on October 22nd, 2008 and is filed under News and Updates.