Made In Rogers Park said...> "I still do not know where Heather stands on the dismantling of Senn High School.
Doesnt it make sense to let the people who work inside Senn High School day in and day out to have a say instead of the changes all being top down?
While there is much info floating around about the Rickover Naval Academy. That Jan Sahnkowsky regularly shows up supporting the program, there is little to be said about the Senn Achievement Acdemy.
Throughout the city of Chicago there lies a unique group of students that for a multitude of reasons have had to fight their school program from day 1.
These students eventually wind up in an Achieventment Academy ( formerly know as Transtions, Academic Preparatory Centers)!
These students, not unlike their IB PREP peers are in need of an education.
No they aren't the group every selected school enrollment seeks during the competitive 'come to my school' fiaso created by the Chicago Board of Education.
Students attending the Achievement Academy score below the 24th quartile in Reading and or Math!
Research shows we need to continue to focus on the top quartile and the 2nd quartile. No one cares about the rest!
There happens to be an Achievement Academy located within Senn High School. It has a proven track record of success, but I never saw Jan Shakowsky visit the Achievement Academy. I never saw Alderman Smith visit the Achievement Academy!
These students are needy! They don't follow the rules. They march to a different drum. They need to remain at Senn High School.
They have played in the band, entered the National Honor Society, played sports, earned many Service Learning Hours, excelled in sports, gotten into fights, cut classes, and succeeded!
Don't dismantle Senn High School, and please for the love of life, leave the Achievement Academy alone!
7 comments:
Well, it's been two day's and the only e-mail I got from Heather asked me to vote for Dean Maragos. Nothing about Senn High School.
So, here's the best I can do. This was the malarky she printed on her website.
Heather's Website said---> Illinois requires significant education funding reform. Our state is among the bottom in the country in terms of education funding. While the State has primary responsibility for funding education, currently it contributes just 34% of educational spending in Illinois. Worse still, while the State created the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) to set a reasonable “foundation level” of funding to meet school district needs, in 2006 the State provided $1,240 less per pupil than the recommended foundation level. As a result, local school districts – where there are wide disparities in the local property tax base – are left to fund the bulk of their educational needs. This leads to the very wide range of per pupil spending that exists in Illinois – from a low of $4,600/pupil to a high of $17,000/pupil. Not surprisingly, this also contributes to a significant achievement gap between white and minority students.
Illinois must fundamentally reform its funding system. I believe that a modest increase in the State income tax or expansion of the sales tax base is most likely required. While we should obviously control expenses (such as consolidating some school districts), the structural budget deficit requires us to find equitable ways to raise revenues, and I will make this issue a top priority.
Dismantle Senn HS and Sullivan and Mather....they are all becoming extensions of Cook County jail..Cook Co. North.
If these idiot kids and their even more idiotic parents don't care about learning that's fine. There are plenty of openings in the Peace Corp and Military. Take your pick....just don't keep your hand out.
blue -
Yes by the by when was the last time you were inside any of these high schools much less working one.
Did you ever go to Senn's Parade of Nations' Celebration?
What is unfortunate about people like you is that you judge without experience.
Remember that Rogers Park and Edgewater have always been sake havens and ports of immagration!
Many of the students within these schools are the first in their family to attend much less graduate from high schhol with the opportunity too attend college.
Call up the Principals at any of these schools and you will find amazing things about your neighbors. They are intelligent, industrious, persaverant and loveable.
Try it! You actually might like it!Maybe better, you might become involved instead of sideline criticizing!
Made in RP. If I'm correct in judging who/what Blue is/does - he/she would not be sitting on the sidelines, as you claim.
Unless, of course, Blue sits at one of those meaningless 'merit hire' desks at 35th and Michigan.
I dont have a clue who BLUE is or what he or she does however I would encourage BLUE to come in to any of these schools and spend some time with the students and actually see what is possible!
If BLUE is a CP OFFICER There are many of them inside our schools and they are found to be very supportive with moving those who don't want to learn to a different place but those are not the majority and the majority that wants to learn should be given the same opportunities as the students at NORTHSIDE COLLEGE PREP, WHITNEY YOUNG, or WALTER PEYTON!!!
Did you know that there are empty rooms at Northside that are used for teacher inservices?
At Senn it might be difficult for a teacher to find a computer to use to do daily mandatory records that is not in a room where a class is being taught.
When I was growing up in Rogers Park there was no difference at what was being taught at Field School or Gale or Boone.
Every school seemed to get what the students needed.
Now that the faces have changed and are from all around the world the money only goes to special places.
Remember Alderman Smith wants to take over Senn High School and make it a "Specialty School" with
special entrance criteria. What ever happened to a school just being a school with doors open for everybody?
Think about it! One student with stanines between 5-7 gets accepted at 5 high schools, because of his/her race. Another student with almost identical scores gets rejected at 5 schools because of race!
It happens every day and it is a disaster!
GO BULLS!!!!!
Dear Made in Rogers Park:
You obviously are a teacher or some sort of administrative type.
Hooray for you.
Craig is very astute in his assumptions, and I can assure you I DO NOT travel to 35th street much. Unless it is to see the Sox.
I'm inside these schools all the time. I also deal with students from these lovely institutions ALL the time. How about a little experiment?
Sit outside Sullivan H.S. right around dismissal time. Count how many bookbags you see on the so-called students leaving....that will tell you exactly how much your students CARE about their education. I was just talking to one this evening. I asked him what he was going to do with his life. He said get his degree and get money. I complimented him and then commented that there was a huge gap between "degree" and "get money" and I further asked him what he wanted to BE. He absolutely could not wrap his head around my question. He had no idea. He had no vision for himself. He had no concept of becoming something. Especially something that would have a positive or profound affect on the community. The one that is providing him with such a diverse and fantastic place to live and such a great opportunity: EDUCATION.
So, MADE IN RP don't point fingers and say "people like me" you are making huge assumptions. I am simply saying if you don't want to go to school, behave or contribute to your community (whether that is a classroom or a block) then fine, GET OUT. Do something else with your life, but don't drag down the people around you (like the students you are raving about).
You see, I am involved, very very much involved and am not sideline criticizing. Don't point fingers, get a little perspective.
Since when is Senn High School a part of Rogers Park?
Can't you read the zoning map Craig, or is the map beyond your reading level?
Post a Comment