catalyst-chicago.org

At 6, Maria Martinez’ son barely spoke a sentence, and when he did, it came out garbled. His reading and writing skills also were below grade level.

He was enrolled in a small Catholic school, and his teacher knew he needed specialized help. But she doubted the school could offer it and gently explained to Martinez that she would need to transfer him to her neighborhood public school.

“I noticed it too,” says Martinez, whose name was changed to protect the privacy of her son. “I noticed that he was disconnected. I noticed him lost.”

When Mayor Rahm Emanuel heard that a Consortium on Chicago School Research study found that students in small programs nestled in neighborhood high schools tended to beat the expected odds by winning admission to good colleges--and staying in them—he was determined not to let the research gather dust on a shelf.”

 On Friday, Emanuel appeared at Curie High School to announce that CPS would open five wall-to-wall International Baccalaureate high schools in 2013, as well as five additional programs within neighborhood schools.

When Chicago Public Schools officials talked about closing Price Elementary School in Bronzeville and Guggenheim in Englewood, they stressed that students would transfer to better schools.

What they didn’t talk much about publicly was where future students living in the Price and Guggenheim attendance boundaries would go. In fact, most will be assigned to schools that are currently no better than Price and Guggenheim, but are slated to be turned around next year. In turnarounds, the district fires the current staff, including the principal, hires a new staff, and provides them with more resources.