Chicago schooling is in an incredible mess! For quite some time school administrators have been campaigning to get the students to class on the first day of school. What kind of household send their kids to school when they feel like it, rather than on the first day of class?
This indifference to schooling is a serious problem, but now the City of Chicago has given students even more reason to be indifferent. Students who attend schools which have an over all failing grade have been given permission to seek a spot in another school, where the student might get a better education. Unfortunately, the Chicago school district was totally unprepared to deal with the volume of students who wished to change schools.
For instance, Gage Park High School has room for 1,500 students. Today, 1,900 students showed up for class, and four hundred of them were turned away. The school district told them to wait a week, and check back with them. Those students who DO get placed at Gage Park will be responsible for catching up on their own for that lost week of school. Those who do NOT get placed at Gage Park will have to contact other schools to see if one will take them
Who in their right mind allowed this to happen? Every single student in Chicago should have known in JULY which school they would be attending! Each school should have known their class size and the teacher needs. It's inconceivable that they could allow such confusion at the start of the school year.
I realize that this is the first trial of this new system, but it's been very poorly thought out and implemented. I'd be scrambling for a way to put my child into private education rather than letting them be at the mercy of an inept school district. If ever a city needed school reform, Chicago does!
Comments (6)
...errrr..assuming that this thread hasn't been hijacked :^)...in britain all schools have 'catchment areas' - if you live in the catchment area you can go to the school, if there are places left over after all the local children are placed then 'outsiders' may apply...this had led to house prices in some areas rocketing beyond belief...and in other situations house prices crashing when the school starts 'failing'...never have the words location, location, location been more important, than when you have young children in england :^(..
Posted by billy | September 3, 2003 8:43 AM
Posted on September 3, 2003 08:43
Billy, it works just about the same here, but Chicago has so much variety in the quality and success of their schools that they said they were willing to allow students to transfer. They obviously didn't realize how many families are dissatisfied with the school system. There's no acceptable excuse for any school to fail here, but they blame it on poverty, single parent families, and truancy.
Posted by Buffy | September 3, 2003 4:31 PM
Posted on September 3, 2003 16:31
..and don't forget malnutrition, fox tv and michael moore :^)...or maybe we could blame poor government strategies, poorly paid teachers (you pay peanuts you get monkeys), rubbish recruitment policies, teachers promoted to 'running the finances of schools' for which they have no training, parents dictating school objectives and the desire to straight-jacket good teachers...aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!! - that was me falling off my high horse :^)...
Posted by billy | September 4, 2003 7:18 AM
Posted on September 4, 2003 07:18
So true! What a mess!
Posted by Allison | September 5, 2003 4:22 PM
Posted on September 5, 2003 16:22
quiero saber de my brother jose hernandez in fresh. year
Posted by martha | December 9, 2003 12:24 PM
Posted on December 9, 2003 12:24
quiero saber de my brother jose hernandez in fresh. year
Posted by martha | December 9, 2003 12:24 PM
Posted on December 9, 2003 12:24