Economic Tier Scheme for CPS Selective Enrollment Schools: Go Back to the Drawing Board

Looking back on it, I just don't know how I made it in.

Growing up at Addison and Lincoln there was no question where I wanted to go to high school: the gorgeous, ivy-covered walls of Albert G. Lane Technical High School up the street at Addison and Western.

The place where, every time I mentioned it, older folks would say "that place, yeah, my brother went there ... before they let girls in."

I remember the first time I ever graced Lane's halls as a knock-kneed 8th grader back around February of 1988. There, on that stunning campus, I took something called an "entrance exam." When the bell rung, out flooded big girls and boys of every color, style, and age imaginable and I remember I just could not wait to join them and be totally cool with a new-wave hair-do and black and white tights in thick black clod-hopping combat boots.

Also I remember being told to not hold my breath. "I hope you noticed all the other boys and girls in that auditorium taking the same test you did, Esther," Mr. Nutley, the St. Andrew's school principal warned me and the three other kids who had braved the elements to take the test. "They're all really bright, too, I hope your family applied to other schools just in case."

Fast forward to November 2009.

I absolutely cannot begin to imagine what sort of Dickensian horror city parents today go through to get their kids into decent schools. Even the schools in the "good" neighborhoods have spotty teaching quality and the rest -- well, their achievement and standardized test scores speak for themselves. That leaves selective-enrollment schools like Lane Tech and Payton College Preps, and magnets like Whitney Young and Chicago Metropolitan High schools.

Now, in the wake of the "clout scandal" and the recent tossing of the 1980 desegregation consent decree that had given schools leeway in admissions based on race, the Chief Mathemagician at CPS, Ron Huberman, has come up with a plan to select enrollment to these schools based on family income.

As ace education reporter Rosalind Rossi outlined in Wednesday's Sun-Times story "College Preps to admit by income" there will be four economic tiers ranging from $22,959 to $61,862, which is estimated to cover about 600,000 students -- the neediest in the city. But it leaves the "middle class" kids whose family's household income is above that top number. The kids of Frank the fireman and Darla the nurse who are doing alright, but probably not alright enough to send their kids to private schools if they can't get them into the "good" CPS schools.

I have consistently clanged the bell of educational equality based on socio-economic status over race for years, and I'm really glad Huberman has taken his statistical analysis skills out of the same tired old race box, but I worry that there will still be kids unfairly left behind.

Depending on whether the plan gets voted in by the CPS School Board Dec. 16 and then on a "principal pick" situation, the admission status of a sibling, scores on entrance tests, and/or proximity to schools, there's still ample opportunity for families to be left out in the cold.

What, exactly, is so wrong with putting all eligible kids -- ignoring race and income -- in a locally televised lottery for all to see?

Why are we contriving to ensure the proper mix of students by segregating them whether it is by race or income? In either case you exclude city residents because they aren't the right color or because they've been fortunate enough to make a decent living for themselves. It just doesn't feel fair.

My parents, thank goodness, were professionals who came to this country with some serious skills. They lived out an American Dream that included a private elementary school that enabled me to make the cut and live my life-long desire to attend Lane Technical High School.

If I were trying to get in today -- under this new plan, if it is passed -- I would have lost a leg-up on the ethnicity aspect (which would have been perfectly fine by me), might have still shined based on my academic prowess, but might have gotten passed over because my parents made too much money. I don't like those odds.

All parents want to believe that if they work hard, they can get a decent education for their kids. City parents know it's a gamble between a bad or so-so school; short of leaving town, all Chicago parents just want an equal chance at some of the better schools regardless of their income or race.

The CPS School Board -- which was appointed to represent all parents, not just the financially neediest ones -- must ensure they get their fair shot.

Esther J. Cepeda writes about education, fairness, and much, much more on www.600words.com

 

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Comments

[robcha97]

Why does a parents income matters in admissions to school? It matter since income is a measure of success and education of an individual. And parents are the strongest indicator and influence over a child's own success, which is why CPS is opting to include this information in their admissions standards. A poor white child is equal to a poor black kid in many aspects in the same way that a wealthy white child is equal to a wealthy black child. Their wealth of whoever they depend on matters more since that indicates what type of advantages that their providers can give them. These advantages can be things such as being able to send their child to private schools, providing tutors, extracurricular and co-curricular activities, or simply being able to live in a better neighborhood. I do agree with you, Esther, that this is all strange idea that we need to fill quotas and admit individuals based on factors they have no control over. However, CPS is trying to make up for those disadvantages that some students have no control over in hopes that they can increase the socioeconomic mobility of its pupils. Unfortunately, to an outsider such as myself, I feel that CPS and many school districts are catering only to the top students in hopes of keeping them in their districts. More needs to be done to close the education gap through out our nation to provide more equal opportunities to every individual.

[Valeriefleonard]

Until the schools in low income African American neighborhoods are on par with national standards, African American students will always be at a disadvantage in getting into your "better schools". If there were equal opportunity in education, there would be no need for magnets, selective enrollment schools or whatever the flavor of the day. This decree, combined with the fact that schools across the City (the system is majority minority) are inadequate and other policies that favor charters over traditional schools and make them less accountabble, puts us on a slippery slope back to "Separate but Equal". I honestly thank God that I was able to get a quality education from Chicago Public Schools when I was growing up. More than that, you didn't need to go to a magnet school or selective enrollment school to get an education that would prepare you for the workforce or college.

[Bleumeanie]

Esther your opinion is appreciated but your article has a serious error you should fix. In Chicago, our Board of Education members are NOT elected--they are all appointed by the mayor. Mostly real estate moguls and the like.. They get expenses reimbursed and get paid for going to meetings but don't get a salary. All are basically puppets. The Board will simply approve ANYTHING that CPS staff sends to them. Extremely rare for any exceptions to that. See Substance News to get up to speed. Thanks.

[Esther J. Cepeda - Huffpost Blogger]

You are absolutely, 100% totally correct, someone else also brought this to my attention. In stark contrast with how the majority of School Boards across this state are goverened, CPS' board is appointed, not elected. I did change it above and regret my error. Thanks again for the great catch!

[K Kasper]

What do you mean Chicago Metropolitan High School? Do you mean Curie Metropolitan High School?

[trueice]

Either I am failing to comprehend or every person that continues to cover this story is failing to comprehend...or maybe there is a middle ground somewhere, but, what difference does it make what you or your parents make? We live in Woodlawn, our annual income is 101K, the only portion of that information that is RELEVANT is Woodlawn. Since the new plan ties to the census tract NOT my personal income, if going by the 2000 census tract data, my neighborhoods medians range between ~11K-30k all of which would place my son in the top two tiers of this proposed plan. I pulled my information from: http://data.cmap.illinois.gov/chicagoareahousing.org/List_Tract.asp

Now I fully realize that if we were to pack and move to some place like Beverly (where I attended grammar school) that this would absolutely change the outcome but Beverly never seemed to lack too many options for schooling.

[Esther J. Cepeda - Huffpost Blogger]

Trueice - no, no that was my point: it should make NO difference how much money the parents make, we are in agreement. ~Esther

[trueice]

Esther, I guess where the disconnect lies is in the paragraph containing, "...there will be four economic tiers ranging from $22,959 to $61,862, which is estimated to cover about 600,000 students -- the neediest in the city. But it leaves the "middle class" kids whose family's household income is above that top number." To which I say, that the statement is slightly to grossly misleading because our income is definitely over the 61K but for the CPS plan it won't matter because our neighborhood census tract falls directly into the "neediest in the city" so our son would have a leg up on someone from Beverly even if their family made less than ours.

I just want those people reporting on the story to note that, just because "Frank" and "Darla" are in the neighborhood does not mean that the census data from 10 years ago sees the neighborhood as such. Each report I read on this subject has one or two people who make more than the four-tiers yet every last report completely fails to mention the census data for the areas in which those people live. What is worse is that even the "ace education reporter" CLOSES THE ARTICLE on that misinformation instead of telling the READERS, something akin to "Depending on where you live in Chatham the census median income ranges from 20k-50k so your daughter could be anywhere from first in line to third in line but certainly NOT last."

[OutOfTheBlue]

We need more selective-level enrollment schools and/or programs within schools, staffed with top professional teachers in Chicago. The idea of a lottery is looking in the wrong place. A person's life chances shouldn't be decided by a city lottery.

[Esther J. Cepeda - Huffpost Blogger]

IutoftheBlue: True, but it's better than having a person's life chances be dictated by any sort of quotas. ~Esther