What About Senn? [img=/assets/blog/200711/roadrunner.jpg F:R]I don't know where to start with this story about the [url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-sennnov23,0,6768557.story?coll=]possible revamp[/url] of Senn High School. First off, how come I didn't know about this? You guys are usually so good at scouting out things that are coming down the pike before the dailies know anything (especially the dastardly Stephanie Banchero). Second, is it necessarily such a bad idea, given that Senn already has that much-loathed military academy going on as well as a handful of other programs? Last but not least, just how much does the school design team's plan mesh with Alderman Smith's plan? From reading between the lines, not so much. Which means it won't just be the students who are against it. Not that it won't happen anyway.
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Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 2:00 AM
What About Senn?
Alexander, Catalyst's job is to help elaborate the official narrative of corporate "school reform" Chicago-style. Of course the truth about Senn (gong back now almost four years) is off the official radar.
Lurking behind all of this this year is "High School Transformation" -- and the privatization agenda of the Daley administration.
"High School Transformation" is the latest CPS bullying of the general high schools. Daley and Duncan sabotage the general high schools (the cuts in teaching positions that were protested dramatically by students, teachers and staff at Julian High School, but which hit a dozen schools hardest). Then the "community" is organized to form a kind of lynch mob to attack what's left of the school. The talking point is that the local general high school is not a "school of choice" and other (unexamined) market based babble.
Usually, the alderman and a couple of local politicians are involved. The agenda is privatization (charters or some other boutique). Smith is not the only alderperson who's been attacking the general high schools -- and the unions -- in her area. Howard Brookins Jr. in the 21st Ward was part of the lynch mob that destroyed Calumet Daley's orders. Walter Burnett Jr. has lined up for every charter school love-in years. Michael Chandler lost his City Council seat because of his passion for charter, but the virus spreads. Why? The general high schools are messed up. They've been sabotaged for years, with no opportunity for a "counter narrative" in most places (and certainly not in Catalyst‚.
Everybody else cherry picks the "best" students, so the general high schools get the "leftovers."
Smith has been trying to privatize, charterize, or "small schoolize" Senn since three years ago. In early 2005, she and Duncan convened the "Senn Tomorrow" committee secretly. It was supposed to be the Senn TAC. They called an invitation only meeting at the Broadway Armory. The thing was supposed to come up with RFP materials in time for the Summer 2005 "New Schools" deadlines.
"Senn Tomorrow" was chiefed by John Horan (North Lawndale College Prep's "Dean"), who for his many services was given Collins High School's building -- after Daley and Duncan murdered the public Collins general high school.
The only reason "Senn Tomorrow" didn't get away with the dismemberment of Senn three years ago was that we all went to Smith and Duncan's secret meeting, demanded that "Senn Tomorrow" be opened up to everyone, and then had the committee actually try to repair the existing Senn.
The first thing "Senn Tomorrow" did was demand that Duncan postpone the plan to put Rickover inside Senn. Hah!
By summer, after a dozen Senn Tomorrow meetings, Horan walked in and announced that "Senn Tomorrow" was disbanded. He had talked with Arne Duncan, blah, blah, blah.
None of those of us who served on "Senn Tomorrow" were asked whether we wanted to disband "Senn Tomorrow." Horan and Duncan (with Smith, lurking simply did it). Stop cheerleading privatization and "high school reform" long enough to pay attention to the screwing of the general high schools and maybe someone will share some tips. But not as long as Catalyst's the voice of the enemy of democratic public schools in Chicago -- especially the general high schools.
Lurking behind all of this this year is "High School Transformation" -- and the privatization agenda of the Daley administration.
"High School Transformation" is the latest CPS bullying of the general high schools. Daley and Duncan sabotage the general high schools (the cuts in teaching positions that were protested dramatically by students, teachers and staff at Julian High School, but which hit a dozen schools hardest). Then the "community" is organized to form a kind of lynch mob to attack what's left of the school. The talking point is that the local general high school is not a "school of choice" and other (unexamined) market based babble.
Usually, the alderman and a couple of local politicians are involved. The agenda is privatization (charters or some other boutique). Smith is not the only alderperson who's been attacking the general high schools -- and the unions -- in her area. Howard Brookins Jr. in the 21st Ward was part of the lynch mob that destroyed Calumet Daley's orders. Walter Burnett Jr. has lined up for every charter school love-in years. Michael Chandler lost his City Council seat because of his passion for charter, but the virus spreads. Why? The general high schools are messed up. They've been sabotaged for years, with no opportunity for a "counter narrative" in most places (and certainly not in Catalyst‚.
Everybody else cherry picks the "best" students, so the general high schools get the "leftovers."
Smith has been trying to privatize, charterize, or "small schoolize" Senn since three years ago. In early 2005, she and Duncan convened the "Senn Tomorrow" committee secretly. It was supposed to be the Senn TAC. They called an invitation only meeting at the Broadway Armory. The thing was supposed to come up with RFP materials in time for the Summer 2005 "New Schools" deadlines.
"Senn Tomorrow" was chiefed by John Horan (North Lawndale College Prep's "Dean"), who for his many services was given Collins High School's building -- after Daley and Duncan murdered the public Collins general high school.
The only reason "Senn Tomorrow" didn't get away with the dismemberment of Senn three years ago was that we all went to Smith and Duncan's secret meeting, demanded that "Senn Tomorrow" be opened up to everyone, and then had the committee actually try to repair the existing Senn.
The first thing "Senn Tomorrow" did was demand that Duncan postpone the plan to put Rickover inside Senn. Hah!
By summer, after a dozen Senn Tomorrow meetings, Horan walked in and announced that "Senn Tomorrow" was disbanded. He had talked with Arne Duncan, blah, blah, blah.
None of those of us who served on "Senn Tomorrow" were asked whether we wanted to disband "Senn Tomorrow." Horan and Duncan (with Smith, lurking simply did it). Stop cheerleading privatization and "high school reform" long enough to pay attention to the screwing of the general high schools and maybe someone will share some tips. But not as long as Catalyst's the voice of the enemy of democratic public schools in Chicago -- especially the general high schools.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 8:34 AM
What About Senn?
it's driving me a little crazy that i can't find out more about the latest senn flareup online -- but there's nothing via google and only this video of a mariachi band performing in the auditorium on technnorati.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAmLEuspG3M&rel=1&border=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAmLEuspG3M&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
anyone know how to get more info, online or otherwise? there's gotta be someone who's worked up about this, or trying to make it work.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAmLEuspG3M&rel=1&border=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAmLEuspG3M&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
anyone know how to get more info, online or otherwise? there's gotta be someone who's worked up about this, or trying to make it work.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 10:51 AM
What About Senn?
PURE Thoughts ran this last week: http://pureparents.org/index.php?blog/show/Save_Senn_Again
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 11:39 AM
What About Senn?
aha -- thanks. i missed it all, obviously -- PURE's post and the TSJ stuff (http://www.teachersforjustice.org). thanks!
if any one has the school's design plan, or the alderman's, i'm sure we'd all like to read it.
if any one has the school's design plan, or the alderman's, i'm sure we'd all like to read it.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 2:10 PM
What About Senn?
The text below comes from a 48th Ward email bulletin (sent sometime early this month):
Dear Neighbors,
Over the last year, a committee created by the Senn Local School Council has been developing a Strategic Plan for the future of our community High School.
This is essential. Senn is facing both declining test scores and declining enrollment. Last year, only 13.6% of juniors met or exceeded state standards on the PrairieState exams. In addition, fewer than 35% of high school age children who live in the community and attended public elementary schools chose to go to Senn.
In October of this year, the committee brought their ideas forward. They called for, among other things, additional emphasis on the arts and international studies. In response, we revisited a plan for Senn that was developed three years ago by teachers who live in the community that seemed to complement this strategic vision.
Their proposal calls for having Chicago Public High Schools within the Senn building: Senn Language Academy, a general enrollment college prep high school that would emphasize international studies; a selective enrollment college prep high school modeled on Northside College Prep; a technical/education-to-careers school based on theater arts, and RickoverNavalAcademy. While each school would be separate, the four would collaborate and share resources. Students in one school would be able to take specialized courses in another school.
Senn High School would not close; no current students would be displaced, and significant improvements would be made to the physical plant.
I presented a draft this plan, with a theoretical timeline, to the Chicago Public Schools. I also presented a concept overview to the Principal of the school and the President of the LSC in order to begin discussion and get their feedback before taking this to the full LSC and the community.
Over the next few months there is likely to be a spirited debate over the future direction of the school. Senn must emerge as a school that serves everyone. It must provide each student with the skills they need to succeed whether they are going to college, to a technical school or directly into the workforce.
This is my goal, and it is our community's goal. To reach it, we must all stay focused on what is most important: the education of the students.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann Smith
Alderman, 48th Ward
Dear Neighbors,
Over the last year, a committee created by the Senn Local School Council has been developing a Strategic Plan for the future of our community High School.
This is essential. Senn is facing both declining test scores and declining enrollment. Last year, only 13.6% of juniors met or exceeded state standards on the PrairieState exams. In addition, fewer than 35% of high school age children who live in the community and attended public elementary schools chose to go to Senn.
In October of this year, the committee brought their ideas forward. They called for, among other things, additional emphasis on the arts and international studies. In response, we revisited a plan for Senn that was developed three years ago by teachers who live in the community that seemed to complement this strategic vision.
Their proposal calls for having Chicago Public High Schools within the Senn building: Senn Language Academy, a general enrollment college prep high school that would emphasize international studies; a selective enrollment college prep high school modeled on Northside College Prep; a technical/education-to-careers school based on theater arts, and RickoverNavalAcademy. While each school would be separate, the four would collaborate and share resources. Students in one school would be able to take specialized courses in another school.
Senn High School would not close; no current students would be displaced, and significant improvements would be made to the physical plant.
I presented a draft this plan, with a theoretical timeline, to the Chicago Public Schools. I also presented a concept overview to the Principal of the school and the President of the LSC in order to begin discussion and get their feedback before taking this to the full LSC and the community.
Over the next few months there is likely to be a spirited debate over the future direction of the school. Senn must emerge as a school that serves everyone. It must provide each student with the skills they need to succeed whether they are going to college, to a technical school or directly into the workforce.
This is my goal, and it is our community's goal. To reach it, we must all stay focused on what is most important: the education of the students.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann Smith
Alderman, 48th Ward
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 5:04 PM
What About Senn?
This comment is not related to special education, but I live in the Senn intake area. Neither of my two children attended Senn, one went to Mather and one is a senior at Payton, and there were no children living on my block that went to Senn or the Naval Academy that were my childrens ages in the last six years. I live just outside of alderman Smith's ward in Helen's ward.
We have lived in the same home for 25 years and like all the homes around us its value has increased by about 10 times. There is no question that younger families living around us that have paid six and seven hundred thousand dollars for their homes would like for their children to attend a prep school, but to be honest very few want their children to attend a new version of Lincoln Park High School unless it is their last option.
My reading of the proposal is that recreates Lincoln Park in that it will have high academic students and general ed students attending the same school. We have all seen that the limited academic achievements of minority non-IB non-honors students at Lincoln Park have not greatly improved based on the 2007 PSAE scores. My child who attends Payton has several IB/honors Lincoln Park friends and they have very limited social contact with the general ed students at Lincoln Park. Many of the Lincoln Park students have in discussions indicated that the general ed kids are real problems and there are arrests of general ed students regularly in the school. Most of these academically strong students did not attend Lincoln Park as their first choice, but rather because they did not make the prep school cut at Payton, or Northside which keeps getting harder and harder each year. One child's parent wanted her to go IB to save money on college because she believed her child would be able to avoid many freshman classes due to the IB and AP classes.
The new more wealthy families in my community, mostly white but not exclusively so, are not interested in having their children go to school with lower achieving students even if they are not in the same classes together. The families in my community want their children in full scale prep schools like Payton and Northside. So I do not see much support for the proposal where I live. I believe that if Smith's proposal was to completely take over Senn and turn it full scale into a prep school there would be massive support for it where I live.
Maybe some the community members in Smith's ward who support this proposal honestly believe it is a good idea, but I believe that some must think that they can push out the general ed kids in time, many of whom now live outside the Senn boundaries. I do think that there would be more support in my community right now for Latin School to open a private high school in our community than for the Senn proposal that I just read. I honestly believe Smith does not understand the educational expectations of the new wealthy families that have moved into our community in the last 10 years. Many of my neighbors grew up on the north shore or similar communities in other metro areas and their vision of good public schools are very different than what she is proposing for Senn.
We have lived in the same home for 25 years and like all the homes around us its value has increased by about 10 times. There is no question that younger families living around us that have paid six and seven hundred thousand dollars for their homes would like for their children to attend a prep school, but to be honest very few want their children to attend a new version of Lincoln Park High School unless it is their last option.
My reading of the proposal is that recreates Lincoln Park in that it will have high academic students and general ed students attending the same school. We have all seen that the limited academic achievements of minority non-IB non-honors students at Lincoln Park have not greatly improved based on the 2007 PSAE scores. My child who attends Payton has several IB/honors Lincoln Park friends and they have very limited social contact with the general ed students at Lincoln Park. Many of the Lincoln Park students have in discussions indicated that the general ed kids are real problems and there are arrests of general ed students regularly in the school. Most of these academically strong students did not attend Lincoln Park as their first choice, but rather because they did not make the prep school cut at Payton, or Northside which keeps getting harder and harder each year. One child's parent wanted her to go IB to save money on college because she believed her child would be able to avoid many freshman classes due to the IB and AP classes.
The new more wealthy families in my community, mostly white but not exclusively so, are not interested in having their children go to school with lower achieving students even if they are not in the same classes together. The families in my community want their children in full scale prep schools like Payton and Northside. So I do not see much support for the proposal where I live. I believe that if Smith's proposal was to completely take over Senn and turn it full scale into a prep school there would be massive support for it where I live.
Maybe some the community members in Smith's ward who support this proposal honestly believe it is a good idea, but I believe that some must think that they can push out the general ed kids in time, many of whom now live outside the Senn boundaries. I do think that there would be more support in my community right now for Latin School to open a private high school in our community than for the Senn proposal that I just read. I honestly believe Smith does not understand the educational expectations of the new wealthy families that have moved into our community in the last 10 years. Many of my neighbors grew up on the north shore or similar communities in other metro areas and their vision of good public schools are very different than what she is proposing for Senn.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 6:28 PM
What About Senn?
I don't know what's going on at Senn, but by the looks of the video, people seem to be oblivious to the dangers of bad public education. Somebody better warn them . . . they seem to be having way too much of a good time for such a bad school. Somebody stop them! Has anyone tried explaining this in Spanish to them?
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 8:29 AM
What About Senn?
The "schools within a school" plan that seems to be spreading within our system brings with it the problem of rivalries that develop inside the larger school between those smaller schools. Anyone who doubts this should ask a teacher working at one of those schools what it's like there.
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 9:51 AM
What About Senn?
Thanks for your honesty. Lincoln Park sounds a lot like the excellent, highly ranked suburban high school that I attended. All of the classes were tracked, and as an honors student I didn't have much contact with the slackers in shop class. But nobody ever seemed to begrudge the slacker/stoner/funformentals students for being in our school even when one occasionally got arrested. Maybe because they were white.
Why doesn't anybody ever attempt to give the "general ed" students a college prep education? With such a segregated/racist school system, surely a great many minority students are mislabeled.
Why doesn't anybody ever attempt to give the "general ed" students a college prep education? With such a segregated/racist school system, surely a great many minority students are mislabeled.
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 11:53 AM
What About Senn?
Rod - mislabeled? So any kid interested in shop class is a slacker? or only if he's white? Shame on you.
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 12:12 PM
What About Senn?
That last post was not by me and I do not think the poster was attempting to be me. I did not take her or his comment to be racist, but a fair representation of how schools with very serious tracking deal with non-high performing students.
On the issue of who takes shop classes and who does not in suburban schools, it is not normally high achieving students that take these classes which are usually optional. Lane Tech in Chicago used to be an exception to that rule, all students were required to take shop regardless of how strong they were academically. I know that some Lane Tech parents begining in the early 1990s began objecting to the number of shop classes required because it limited the number of additional academic classes some students could take that migh help them make the cut at more demanding colleges.
But I do think that students with disabilities, who very often are academically struggling need serious vocational programs in general high schools. Some general education students at a school like Lincoln Park who simply have little or no interest in college should be able to take a wide variety of vocational classes in high school, because of the standards required for graduation there is really limited time for these classes. I know when Lincoln Park was called Waller High it had a wood shop at least, I do not know if it is still functioning. By the way I went to Waller for 3 years and graduated from Lake View.
Rod Estvan
On the issue of who takes shop classes and who does not in suburban schools, it is not normally high achieving students that take these classes which are usually optional. Lane Tech in Chicago used to be an exception to that rule, all students were required to take shop regardless of how strong they were academically. I know that some Lane Tech parents begining in the early 1990s began objecting to the number of shop classes required because it limited the number of additional academic classes some students could take that migh help them make the cut at more demanding colleges.
But I do think that students with disabilities, who very often are academically struggling need serious vocational programs in general high schools. Some general education students at a school like Lincoln Park who simply have little or no interest in college should be able to take a wide variety of vocational classes in high school, because of the standards required for graduation there is really limited time for these classes. I know when Lincoln Park was called Waller High it had a wood shop at least, I do not know if it is still functioning. By the way I went to Waller for 3 years and graduated from Lake View.
Rod Estvan
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 1:59 PM
What About Senn?
What are some useful vocational classes that could be offered? Obviously automotive, HVAC, and carpentry, but what else? Does any CPS school offer a LPN program to get students off to a start in the healthcare industry? LPNs don't make much compared to RNs or MDs, but they can make a living and there always seem to be jobs available. JROTC, I guess, is a form of vocational training. Are there any others? I think this is one place where American schooling as a whole falters a bit. Not every child has the talent/interest to go to college, and some children are cognitively disabled but maybe these students could be given the tools to enable them to have a decent life.
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 7:19 PM
What About Senn?
Vocational
There is a nursing program for the kids. It is taught off campus at different hospitals.
The program has been around forever. My buddy is a retired wood shop teacher, he
Tells me less than five wood shops remain in the high schools
There is a nursing program for the kids. It is taught off campus at different hospitals.
The program has been around forever. My buddy is a retired wood shop teacher, he
Tells me less than five wood shops remain in the high schools
Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 7:32 PM
What About Senn?
What seems odd to me about the alderman's letter is that it doesn't show any signs that she is aware of problems that have afflicted all the other multi-school campuses in Chicago. Shared campuses have led in every case to major discipline, space, security and resource control problems.
In this case, there are even more potential difficulties due to the fact that the schools on the campus will be in different Areas. The Naval Academy is in Area 26, the military area, which has (incidentally) been quite successful and which is aware of the importance of steering clear of the problems in other High School Areas. The other schools would probably be in Area 25, the Small Schools Area--which has had a dismal track record of over 30 disorganized, impoverished, low-performing, and high faculty turnover schools.
Three years ago, when (according to the alderman's letter) this multi-school vision was formulated for Senn, conditions and our knowledge about these things were very different. The schools-within-a school idea was still more or less highly regarded, at least by people who didn't know better. Area 25 had not been created to supervise the Small Schools, so they were based on professional learning communities rather than administered by a rigid central bureaucracy. They weren't very good back then either, mind you, but there was a spirit of independence and cooperation and teachers were committed in most cases. The Gates Foundation was still offering some very enlightened ongoing support for these schools through CHSRI (Chicago High School Redesign Initiative), and there was a sense of optimism, at least among the teachers signing on to such schools.
Now, however, three years later, knee-jerk support for Small Schools is not a luxury we can permit ourselves. The Gates Foundation has all but withdrawn its support for the Small Schools movement (that in itself should be a big red flag). And in place of CHSRI's support for professional learning communities, the local talent at Area 25 now enforces an ineffective and inexpensive home-brewed version of test-prep gimmicks on most of the schools. The units are under-clerked and underfunded, teachers leave by the dozens from each school each year, and the space-sharing problems of the multi-school campus are no longer a secret.
Whatever the current problems faced by the school, the idea that Senn would benefit by being divided into four schools is at best debatable. Most so-called failing schools that have been divided into small schools have fared even worse by almost all measures. There isn't any evidence that this approach to school improvement is addressing any actual problems. In the best cases, it seems to be more of a sexy idea that people who are averse to reality are drawn to.
At worst this simply reflects a leadership out of touch with reality. There are of course some pros to such a proposal, but the cons are decisive. The idea is good; the reality is a nightmare. That happens. We go back to the drawing board. Certainly, Small School history has taught us this if nothing else: the glow of the names of the new academies somehow always fades when it gets doused by the cold water of the actual challenges that lie in the way. At this point no new Small Schools proposal should be entertained without a serious plan for dealing with the well-known practical, real-world problems that have proved insurmountable to all previous attempts at multi-school campuses in Chicago. As someone with some experience in these things, I do not believe there is a plan that would work. At any rate, the alderman should be doing a little homework before presenting a Small Schools campus as something that is, by definition, going to improve Senn.
In this case, there are even more potential difficulties due to the fact that the schools on the campus will be in different Areas. The Naval Academy is in Area 26, the military area, which has (incidentally) been quite successful and which is aware of the importance of steering clear of the problems in other High School Areas. The other schools would probably be in Area 25, the Small Schools Area--which has had a dismal track record of over 30 disorganized, impoverished, low-performing, and high faculty turnover schools.
Three years ago, when (according to the alderman's letter) this multi-school vision was formulated for Senn, conditions and our knowledge about these things were very different. The schools-within-a school idea was still more or less highly regarded, at least by people who didn't know better. Area 25 had not been created to supervise the Small Schools, so they were based on professional learning communities rather than administered by a rigid central bureaucracy. They weren't very good back then either, mind you, but there was a spirit of independence and cooperation and teachers were committed in most cases. The Gates Foundation was still offering some very enlightened ongoing support for these schools through CHSRI (Chicago High School Redesign Initiative), and there was a sense of optimism, at least among the teachers signing on to such schools.
Now, however, three years later, knee-jerk support for Small Schools is not a luxury we can permit ourselves. The Gates Foundation has all but withdrawn its support for the Small Schools movement (that in itself should be a big red flag). And in place of CHSRI's support for professional learning communities, the local talent at Area 25 now enforces an ineffective and inexpensive home-brewed version of test-prep gimmicks on most of the schools. The units are under-clerked and underfunded, teachers leave by the dozens from each school each year, and the space-sharing problems of the multi-school campus are no longer a secret.
Whatever the current problems faced by the school, the idea that Senn would benefit by being divided into four schools is at best debatable. Most so-called failing schools that have been divided into small schools have fared even worse by almost all measures. There isn't any evidence that this approach to school improvement is addressing any actual problems. In the best cases, it seems to be more of a sexy idea that people who are averse to reality are drawn to.
At worst this simply reflects a leadership out of touch with reality. There are of course some pros to such a proposal, but the cons are decisive. The idea is good; the reality is a nightmare. That happens. We go back to the drawing board. Certainly, Small School history has taught us this if nothing else: the glow of the names of the new academies somehow always fades when it gets doused by the cold water of the actual challenges that lie in the way. At this point no new Small Schools proposal should be entertained without a serious plan for dealing with the well-known practical, real-world problems that have proved insurmountable to all previous attempts at multi-school campuses in Chicago. As someone with some experience in these things, I do not believe there is a plan that would work. At any rate, the alderman should be doing a little homework before presenting a Small Schools campus as something that is, by definition, going to improve Senn.
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 3:17 AM
What About Senn?
To: Why another multi school conversion...
OK: "...Certainly, Small School history has taught us this if nothing else: the glow of the names of the new academies somehow always fades when it gets doused by the cold water of the actual challenges that lie in the way. At this point no new Small Schools proposal should be entertained without a serious plan for dealing with the well-known practical, real-world problems that have proved insurmountable to all previous attempts at multi-school campuses in Chicago..."
Until these experiences become part of the official literature (and "research") we're stuck with the lies and propaganda touting "small schools" and "schools within schools." For every truth like you're asserting, there are a dozen (usually not peer reviewed) proclamations of the virtues of small, and even smaller.
Please please please either publish something or provide more information to those who will. Chicago should have taken a second look at the Orrs (the smalls schools are Orr High School at Chicago and Pulaski) five years out and beyond, especially given two facts:
One, Mayor Daley plays "Principal for a Day" at the "Orr Campus" once a year (and is accompanied by so much security backup that interruptions are quickly crushed, as I witnessed in 2006; the mayor's press people made sure I wasn't allowed to cover that version of the miracle in 2007, aided and abetted by CPS "Communications").
Two, CPS quietly slipped "Phoenix" out of Orr and into the shuttered Grant Elementary building (now "Grant Campus" housing both the Phoenix Army small military academy and the Marine Military one) three miles away before anyone noticed that Phoenix was becoming an example of the failure of both "small schools" and military academies.
C'est la Chicago. Bring on the Olympics. That'll do it.
OK: "...Certainly, Small School history has taught us this if nothing else: the glow of the names of the new academies somehow always fades when it gets doused by the cold water of the actual challenges that lie in the way. At this point no new Small Schools proposal should be entertained without a serious plan for dealing with the well-known practical, real-world problems that have proved insurmountable to all previous attempts at multi-school campuses in Chicago..."
Until these experiences become part of the official literature (and "research") we're stuck with the lies and propaganda touting "small schools" and "schools within schools." For every truth like you're asserting, there are a dozen (usually not peer reviewed) proclamations of the virtues of small, and even smaller.
Please please please either publish something or provide more information to those who will. Chicago should have taken a second look at the Orrs (the smalls schools are Orr High School at Chicago and Pulaski) five years out and beyond, especially given two facts:
One, Mayor Daley plays "Principal for a Day" at the "Orr Campus" once a year (and is accompanied by so much security backup that interruptions are quickly crushed, as I witnessed in 2006; the mayor's press people made sure I wasn't allowed to cover that version of the miracle in 2007, aided and abetted by CPS "Communications").
Two, CPS quietly slipped "Phoenix" out of Orr and into the shuttered Grant Elementary building (now "Grant Campus" housing both the Phoenix Army small military academy and the Marine Military one) three miles away before anyone noticed that Phoenix was becoming an example of the failure of both "small schools" and military academies.
C'est la Chicago. Bring on the Olympics. That'll do it.
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 4:58 AM
What About Senn?
'Small' schools are a way to disorient the community and destroy solidarity so they can bust up the whole before anyone can react. Then they can sell off the pieces to the highest bidder.
As Arne's role model from Wall Street said "Greed is good"....
As Arne's role model from Wall Street said "Greed is good"....
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 2:18 PM
What About Senn?
Rod, so exactly how many years WERE you in high school? You went to a suburban high school and Waller (Lincoln Park) for 3 years and then graduated from Lake View. hmmmm. Are the slackers (kids who take shop) just in the suburbs?
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 3:35 PM
What About Senn?
Is anybody here going to be at the Senn meeting Saturday morning (9 a.m. I hear) or planning to be at the December 12 Senn LSC meeting? Is it true that even some of Mary Ann Smith's own buddies were angry when she pulled this "small schools" thing after being at all the transformation meetings for months?
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 4:42 PM
What About Senn?
John,
While I attended Robert A. Waller High School I was in a DOE funded demonstration program that bused city students to several different suburban high schools every day. It was called Wingspread. I took two classes in the morning at Waller and the rest of the classes out in the suburbs three days a week. Two days a week as I recall I took all my classes at Waller in some type of block format. The suburban students actually came to Waller for classes in the afternoon those two days.
I attended classes along with 20 or 25 other Waller students at both Deerfield High School and at Highland Park High School one year. If I recall correctly that would have been in 1970 I think, my junior year. As I recall there were students from several other CPS high schools involved in the program also, but I can not recall which ones. The next year I transfered to Lake View. I still am friends with a few of the former Highland Park students 37 years later. I would say for a city kid, it was a rather amazing experience. I had never seen a school like Deerfield which had a full indoor track.
Where did you go to high school John?
Rod Estvan
While I attended Robert A. Waller High School I was in a DOE funded demonstration program that bused city students to several different suburban high schools every day. It was called Wingspread. I took two classes in the morning at Waller and the rest of the classes out in the suburbs three days a week. Two days a week as I recall I took all my classes at Waller in some type of block format. The suburban students actually came to Waller for classes in the afternoon those two days.
I attended classes along with 20 or 25 other Waller students at both Deerfield High School and at Highland Park High School one year. If I recall correctly that would have been in 1970 I think, my junior year. As I recall there were students from several other CPS high schools involved in the program also, but I can not recall which ones. The next year I transfered to Lake View. I still am friends with a few of the former Highland Park students 37 years later. I would say for a city kid, it was a rather amazing experience. I had never seen a school like Deerfield which had a full indoor track.
Where did you go to high school John?
Rod Estvan
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 4:53 PM
What About Senn?
What a cool idea! Let's talk about where Rod Estvan and John went to high school! I was tired of talking about Senn anyhow because that's like, bo-ring ejicashun stuff. I don't know either Rod or John, but I'm going to throw out a conversation starter here in the middle of this thread about Senn (which, like, who cares about anyhow?): John never really graduated from high school and Rod is really John's twin sister. And hey, where did the Curie LSC nutcase get to. He or she was good for a distraction on any thread on this blog.
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 4:59 PM
What About Senn?
4:53 when you use your real name and people take shots sometimes one does have to respond. Are you John by the way, I notice a similar tone.
Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 5:21 PM
What About Senn?
I heard it might happen at my school, but I don't know what it is. Is it a good thing? If lessons are provided and the teachers don't like them, can they skip some?
Mon Dec 3, 2007 at 12:31 AM
What About Senn?
Let's see.
I call what the Daley and Duncan administrations are doing to the general high schools of Chicago (many with an incredibly proud tradition) sabotage.
That's spelled SABOTAGE.
It's part of a general attack on democracy and public education, and it's most dramatically seen in the general high schools, which used to proudly anchor Chicago communities, some going back (like Senn) more than 100 years.
In order to get away with this for more than ten years, they have to throw a lot of dust and connive with a lot of media fools to slant the official narrative. But this is Chicago, where you can buy anything and where people crave miracles, especially when they are endorsed by TV and their stories are repeated over and over and over...
A closer look at the general high schools shows the attack began ten years ago and continues to this day. It has had different names, it's been enormously expensive, by its own measures it's a complete failure, and in any other town it would be rated as a scandal as great as "Hired Truck" ... but this is Chicago and...
First some chronology. I'll try without cue cards to list the titles and dates of all the mumbo jumbo programs CPS has come up with the "save" the general high schools since the Daley administration began sabotaging them in 1996.
1997. Reconstitution. Failed to change things at seven high schools but cost more than two million dollars. Lots of hype.
1998. Reengineering. Failed to change things at the general high schools but didn't cost as much as Reconstitution.
2000. Intervention. The most ridiculous of the 1990s saviors, this was documented in all of its silliness in the pages of Catalyst.
2002 and following. Renaissance. So far, this has destroyed Lucy Flower, Calumet, Collins, Austin, and Englewood completely, privatizing four of them (Austin, Calumet, Collins, and Englewood) and leaving one (Flower) with a smidgen of kids (for a very large building) where generations used to get vocational education.
Oh, King High School and Jones Commercial were converted into "College Prep" high schools (you have to apply by December 21, 2007, to maybe get into them in September 2008).
Bowen, DuSable, Orr, and South Shore were "small schoolized".
Every one of these plans and projects was predicated on the notion that the "problem" (singular, that) in those high schools was adequately described and identified by test scores. (The test changed from the TAP to the Prairie State, but both showed "failure" over more than 12 years).
The "failure" (according to the Chicago gospel) was caused by the teachers and principals and could be solved (singular again) with a MAJOR PROGRAM ORGANIZED BY EXPERTS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL AND COSTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and by getting rid of hundreds of the teachers and principals in those schools at the time they were declared FAILURES by people like Arne Duncan and the denizens of "New Schools" -- all of whom had the advantage of never having taught in any real hard core inner city general high schools.
This year, Duncan and his crowd continued their sabotage of the general high schools with IMPACT (kids didn't get their programs until October, if then), position closings (Julian, Wells and Schurz protested, but Arne went through with the cuts while expanding "New Schools" and other bureaucratic hives of patronage and Power Point), and security cuts.
Oh, and adding more special education kids while cutting and gutting special education services for the kids who need them most.
I'm sorry I missed a few odds and ends, but the only word for what's being done at Senn is sabotage, and the people who are doing it are running the school system and the city.
And they don't give a damn aboout the leftover kids they are screwing in the general high schools as long as they can keep the TV version of reality focused on their propaganda, narratives and talking points. What's twelve years of historical facts and thousands of screwed kids and teachers if you can get away with another twelve years of lies?
I call what the Daley and Duncan administrations are doing to the general high schools of Chicago (many with an incredibly proud tradition) sabotage.
That's spelled SABOTAGE.
It's part of a general attack on democracy and public education, and it's most dramatically seen in the general high schools, which used to proudly anchor Chicago communities, some going back (like Senn) more than 100 years.
In order to get away with this for more than ten years, they have to throw a lot of dust and connive with a lot of media fools to slant the official narrative. But this is Chicago, where you can buy anything and where people crave miracles, especially when they are endorsed by TV and their stories are repeated over and over and over...
A closer look at the general high schools shows the attack began ten years ago and continues to this day. It has had different names, it's been enormously expensive, by its own measures it's a complete failure, and in any other town it would be rated as a scandal as great as "Hired Truck" ... but this is Chicago and...
First some chronology. I'll try without cue cards to list the titles and dates of all the mumbo jumbo programs CPS has come up with the "save" the general high schools since the Daley administration began sabotaging them in 1996.
1997. Reconstitution. Failed to change things at seven high schools but cost more than two million dollars. Lots of hype.
1998. Reengineering. Failed to change things at the general high schools but didn't cost as much as Reconstitution.
2000. Intervention. The most ridiculous of the 1990s saviors, this was documented in all of its silliness in the pages of Catalyst.
2002 and following. Renaissance. So far, this has destroyed Lucy Flower, Calumet, Collins, Austin, and Englewood completely, privatizing four of them (Austin, Calumet, Collins, and Englewood) and leaving one (Flower) with a smidgen of kids (for a very large building) where generations used to get vocational education.
Oh, King High School and Jones Commercial were converted into "College Prep" high schools (you have to apply by December 21, 2007, to maybe get into them in September 2008).
Bowen, DuSable, Orr, and South Shore were "small schoolized".
Every one of these plans and projects was predicated on the notion that the "problem" (singular, that) in those high schools was adequately described and identified by test scores. (The test changed from the TAP to the Prairie State, but both showed "failure" over more than 12 years).
The "failure" (according to the Chicago gospel) was caused by the teachers and principals and could be solved (singular again) with a MAJOR PROGRAM ORGANIZED BY EXPERTS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL AND COSTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and by getting rid of hundreds of the teachers and principals in those schools at the time they were declared FAILURES by people like Arne Duncan and the denizens of "New Schools" -- all of whom had the advantage of never having taught in any real hard core inner city general high schools.
This year, Duncan and his crowd continued their sabotage of the general high schools with IMPACT (kids didn't get their programs until October, if then), position closings (Julian, Wells and Schurz protested, but Arne went through with the cuts while expanding "New Schools" and other bureaucratic hives of patronage and Power Point), and security cuts.
Oh, and adding more special education kids while cutting and gutting special education services for the kids who need them most.
I'm sorry I missed a few odds and ends, but the only word for what's being done at Senn is sabotage, and the people who are doing it are running the school system and the city.
And they don't give a damn aboout the leftover kids they are screwing in the general high schools as long as they can keep the TV version of reality focused on their propaganda, narratives and talking points. What's twelve years of historical facts and thousands of screwed kids and teachers if you can get away with another twelve years of lies?
