Marshall High and other turnaround high schools, in Chicago and nationally, face a thorny dilemma. Higher-performing students are being siphoned off through competition, driving down enrollment and raising tough policy questions about the future of these schools.
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Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
By: Alexander Russo / July 17, 2009
I've been ignoring the UofI clout story for weeks now, feeling like it was more of a higher ed thing than something about local high schools, but this latest story from the Tribune really caught my eye:
Half of the 616 Illinois students who received preferential treatment
from 2005 to 2009 graduated from just 22 high schools, all but one in
the metro area. Highland Park High had the most kids on the list, with Loyola Academy coming in second. There were only 25 kids on the clout list from CPS schools.
What do you think of the clout list scandal, and the implications for kids who attend elite high schools but may not have connected parents?
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
here's what mclendon has to say, FWIW
Chief Illiniwek's halftime dances may have been derogatory and racist, but clout lists are the undertone of something much more sinister.
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/garrard-mcclendon-live/2009/07/better-hi...
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Out loud
Dear OT
I was just following a train of thought. It has been reveled that
Clout was used to get students into Law School. So did that
Clout follow them to that professions logical conclusion?
In a state where Drivers Licenses, Hospital construction permits
And Senate seats have been put up for sale Who Knows?
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
clout got many of my classmates into preferrred universities/colleges back in the early 80's when I applied for college. None of this surprises me, not sure how anyone can be surprised. Not saying it is right, just isn't this surprise and secret that so many bloggers are mentioning.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
do IL charterHneed to have accreditation? Without it, I thought students cannot go on to an institution of higher ed after they graduate from an non=accredited HS.????
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
what about the grading of the bar exam? Please do not tell me that this is for sale too in Illinois....
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Shoot the hoop
We are all shocked by the revelation that clout can
Get you into Illinois. Has anyone done a follow up yet and
Determined if clout can keep you there? Why was a list kept
after acceptance?
To me the real disgusting part of all this is the fact that
Deserving kids have been rejected, while the connected
Students have gotten a pass. I have personally known
gifted athletes who find a way to get in to the university.
The NCAA finds ways to police the worst cases of this abuse
But who polices academia?
I hope this is only the tip of the iceberg and some of the
Other practices of our state are investigated, for example, the
grading of Illinois Bar Exam. I guess everything is for sale
in Illinois.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Does U of I still have the EOP program. I was accepted with a 19 on the ACT. I took the test three times and received a 19 on all three but my subtest scores fluctuated. They used the higher subtest score, which most were 21 and 22. The EOP admits minority students who show promise. I was in the top 10% of my graduating class, had honors classes and participated in extra curricular activities. I graduated in 4 years about 19 years ago. EOP students are closely monitored the first year and have to see a counselor weely. After Freshman year if your GPA is at least a C average then you don't have the see the counselor anymore. It was a great program and I hope they still have it.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
kinda of what the mayor and alderman are doing with chater schools. Look how much UNO donates to their politicos....
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Universities, like people, look after their own interests, they know kids of prominent families and those prominent families mean big donations. The universities need big donations therefore letting these kids in clearly serves their interest...unless they are dumb enough to let word of it get out into the press...
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
My son's friend scored a 33 on his ACT and more than met the criteria for admission to U of I. He was wait listed-too many qualified applicants from his zip code. A former student of mine was accepted a year later with an ACT of 19. It is called building a class. U of I caters to/recruits foreign students or those from out of state-the tuition is higher.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
The U of I college of agriculture has historically been easier to get into than the liberal arts or sciences. The ag college for decades has been used as a "back door" for many who later change their major.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
lottery school. What about who you know to get into a CPS selective enrollment or a lottery school. It is out there too, another dirty little secret in CPS. And worse now that academic enhancement got too lazy and stopped sending the acceptance letters out from 125 instead of from the individual schools. Why Roz Rossi does not actually get the list only to see which students then enrolled vs invited vs. picked--sh accepts the BS about student privacy. Well, she isn't going to publish or release the student names. Like Alexander mantioned earlier--WTF.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
I just posted a lengthy discussion of this topic and the Robot guarding this computer ate it. I'll be back when I see that put up here in full.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
This entire story rests against two beliefs, both of which are false.
The first is that there is a meritocracy that should govern all access to the major four-year universities.
The second is that the meritocracy can best be measured by standardized test scores, in this case, the ACT.
American university education has always been first and foremost a privilege of the wealthy. Those few exceptions, for the briefest time in history (roughly, the end of World War II into the Reagan Revolution days) merely proved how constant the weight of wealth and privilege is, was, and probably will continue to be.
Having enjoyed the privilege of an academic scholarship to the University of Chicago in the mid-1960s, I can remember the slow dawning of the realization about those facts as I worked (two jobs; plus classes) to complete my BA.
Every American university has its "legacy" admissions. The most dramatic example since the beginning of the 21st Century was George W. Bush. Yale BA. Harvard MBA.
I don't recall the Chicago Tribune bemoaning the fact that one of our best-educated presidents (and our first "Business" president; remember that one?) was undercompetent and underqualified. Family wealth guaranteed those two slots to that drunken dolt. An family wealth assured him of "passing" in the classes he had to take.
But, then, there were other American presidents whose family wealth brought them into the best universities, and who paraded degrees from those universities. One whose name comes immediately to mind today is John F. Kennedy.
As one comment earlier noted: This is hardly a "Man bites dog story." Wealth buys political power. Political power buys admissions to public universities. Greater wealth and you can keep even the dimmest bulb on your family tree in the elite prep schools, and then make sure that they get their degrees, one way or the other, from Yale and Harvard.
Given all the things that the Chicago Tribune can spend its remaining investigative dollars on, this is interesting, but far from central to the problems of most Chicagoans. Some might even argue it's a diversion from the huge impact of huge wealth and even greater clout on every aspect of civic life today in Chicago. After all, more Chicago school children will be faced with disruption from Olympics 2016 than will ever face the issue of whether they did or didn't get into University of Illinois based on the quality of their high school work.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Cloutitis - a contagious disease. HA HA HA! Outstanding!
infuriating
The wealthy and privileged can and should pay for private school. Leave U of I to the kids who need it - and actually qualify! What's infuriating here is the abuse of the idea of the level playing field.The state flagship university,where kids from any background who work hard and study hard and play it straight, should be the place where those worthy students who have EARNED ADMISSION can get a very very good education and degree at a fraction of the cost of private colleges- as long as some idiot son of a trustee doesn't take their spot. It is cheating, cheating, cheating, greedy, and ugly. This is shameful and sets a horrible example for the students. The U of I people should be ashamed. The clout requesters should be really ashamed- oh I forgot they have none.
Does anyone think the selective enrollment high schools and the trendy elementary magnets are affected by this stuff? I guess I'd assume so since it looks like every other Chicago institution is infected with clout-itis, a contagious disease. Where, what is the vaccine?
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Does this really surprise anyone? Kids from privileged circumstances get preferential treatment. This has been going on since the beginning of mankind.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
I'm not sure there's a story here, unless it's "People with clout in Illinois tend to live in the suburbs and/or send their kids to private schools," which is kinda "Dog bites man," if you know what I mean.
I don't think it reflects on the schools at all, except to the extent that the clout class considers some schools worthy of its kids and others not -- and you can't blame the schools either way.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
[i]is LPHS the only clout-heavy place (or the only place where there are so many UI-desiring kids that kids need clout?[/i]
You're right - that's the real question, Alexander. Why would kids in selective enrollment high schools need clout to get into U of I. We're not talking Harvard or Stanford here. What do you need, a 28 or 29 ACT to get in [i]without [/i]clout? Maybe the new rules allowing the selective enrollment schools to admit not-so-smart athletes will increase the number of CPS kids who need to get in with clout.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
thanks gh--she did start a business in DC, but never moved from Chicago, to my knowledge. She's a good investigator, even if a bit wreckless at times. She's the right person to be on this panel as she is fearless and has integrity, imo.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
good question -- what other schools besides lincoln park had kids on the clout list -- or is LPHS the only clout-heavy place (or the only place where there are so many UI-desiring kids that kids need clout)? seems unlikely, but i would love to know either way.
-- alexander
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
How many from the ag school were accepted?
I understand quite a few black students get in through the agriculture department. Black students needed and all that.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
Lincoln Park High School
5 students placed on clout lists from 2005 to 2009.
All of them were accepted to the U. of I.
From this high school during 2005 to 2009...
Applicants 625 Admitted 399 Attending 188
See a year by year breakdown
Year Clout List Total
Applicants Admitted Applicants Admitted Attending
2005 0 0 112 69 42
2006 1 1 121 71 38
2007 2 2 131 95 47
2008 1 1 118 83 35
2009 1 1 143 81 26
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
I appreciate the correction. However, last I heard she was in Washington DC starting her own security business after she was hurried/hussled out of CPS. Just wondered how she got this UIUC gig. Never thought we would see her again. Anyone know how she got this 'job'?
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
I have heard but can not confirm that of the 22 CPS kids on the list a good number were from Lincoln Park H.S. I have also heard that the school used Jesse White who graduated from what is not Lincoln Park to get some of these kids admitted. Does anyone know if this is true?
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
UIUS Alum--you sure she's a trustee? I think she's a member of the team investigating the scandal.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
when they sold Chief Illiniwick’s image on rolls toilet paper--yes, his image was on each sheet/square in color too.
Connected Kids At Elite High Schools
I got a call earlier this week asking me to donate to UIUC, I told them that since I had to struggle for my acceptance to the school and did not get a free ride, that I would not be donating this year or any future year.
Oh and a blast from the past: Marybeth Vander Weele is one of the UIUC trustees. What a hoot. How did THAT happen?