"As you may already know, the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education is in the process of selecting which schools will be closed or consolidated beginning in March of 2013. We are a group of concerned Uptown community members who want to make sure that our community is not a part of this destabilizing school-closure process."
If you would like to see Stockton School stay open, please sign the petition on the site. It reads:
"Stockton teachers and staff have supported our students and the Uptown community for many decades. While serving a population that is 70.9% low income, 17.5% English learners, and in which 27.6% have special needs, they have shown "Above Average Student Growth and an "Organized Culture and Climate" according to CPS's own data. Stockton students are also 9.4% above the national average in the Reading Growth category and 12.2% above the national average in the Math Growth category.
They have maintained a positive influence on our students and families as evidenced by the testimony of those in the community and their ranking as "Organized" by CPS, despite only having one Counselor/Caseworker and only one half-time Social Worker (shared with another school). Closing this school would uproot many of our neediest children and force them to walk through an already crime-riddled neighborhood, often while crossing gang lines.
While being listed as "underutilized" by the CPS Board of Education, those numbers are based on a target average class size of 36 students and fails to account for the 9 special education classrooms, including the specialized autism unit at Stockton. For these reasons, we the undersigned show our support for Stockton School and pledge to take any necessary steps to preserve its stabilizing presence in our Uptown neighborhood."
While the website is still in progress (although much progress has been made), the petition is now available.
If this school is really up for closure then WHY has there been a large construction and infrastructure project going on there for the last few years? That seems like a colossal waste of money.
ReplyDeleteThey just spent 3 million dollars fixing it up?
ReplyDeleteThat's a question that needs to be answered. Some are speculating that the addition of a cooling unit makes it more attractive for an investment company to lease to someone else (potentially a charter) and increases the value of the property.
ReplyDeleteA Charter school there would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteWhile the city is looking to close schools that are "under-utilized", they are at the same time approving charter schools to come in and take over those spaces. If it's under-utilized as a public school, how would making it a charter school that can pick and choose it's students somehow solve that problem? The truth is that it wouldn't. But it would move Chicago one step closer to privatizing it's public school system. As a teacher at another "under-utilized" CPS school, that's a very troubling prospect.
ReplyDelete