The Little Village High School is all the buzz in the neighborhood right now. Everyone is so damn proud. The new neighborhood high school is made up of four small schools, including the school of social justice and the school of math and science. The people who worked so hard to make the school a reality obviously have high expectations for its students--the school does not appear to be pushing vocational jobs or trades or the military on its students in the way that many public high schools in the city do with minority or poor students. Its obvious that this school will be paving the way for its students to attend college.
I'm not a teacher or an expert on this but I know that the worst thing you can do to any student or child is have low-expectations for them. Encouraging students to take a trade because of the assumption that they cannot afford (intellectually or financially) to attend college is unfair. Allowing a military recruiter to come in and paint a grim picture that the only way to pay for college is to enlist (while ommitting information about financial aid) is also a disservice. But that stuff seems to ooze out of too many places when it comes to Latino/Black or low income students and education in this country.
On a slightly different note, but still somewhat relevant, I thought I would post to this very old blog entry on a bad idea. Someone commented on it today, just as I was thinking about blogging about the new school. If only for everyone's sake, there was a way to test the expectations teachers bring with them things might be looking brighter for el profe Rojo --I'm sure he would pass with flying colors.
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15 comments:
i was ecstatic to see the new school on TV! Yay!
So when were the hunger strikes held? And is the school just opening?
cindylu, the hungerstrikes took place about two or three years ago--(shame on me i can't remember exact dates anymore). it began on mother's day and lasted 19 days. one of the cool features of the new school's architecture is a sun dial that allows light into a center hall of the school. its designed to cast a shadow on that hall every mother's day annually as a reminder of what took place to finally make that school happen. this past tuesday was the grand opening of the school.
yeah i was soooo excited about the new school opening as well!!!
I'm happy for the kids who will benefit from these schools, but I'm still sad that the one person who worked hardest on this school gets very little recognition. Jesus G. Garcia, former alderman and then State Senator for this community was the one who designated the original money from the state to get the HS built back in 1998. But becasue he was an "independent", not a "machine" democrat, the powers that be diverted the money to avoid giving him any good press. The funds were funneled to the Chicago Public Schools general fund and spent. Chuy lost his seat and no on ewas left to fight for the money back, until the hunger strikers. But revenge is sweet. The hunger strikers were organized by the Little Village Community Development Corporation, of which Jesus garcia is now Director. The strikers basically embarassed the Mayor, and all those hacks that stole the money, into building the school. It ended up costing much more money becasue of the delays, but it was finally done. So please, always rememer Jesus Garcia. To many have forgotten all that he has done for us in Little Village, Chicago, and the midwest!
Was anyone held accountable for screwing an entire neighbrhood out of a school they were promised for all that time? Was the money originally allocated to the construction ever tracked down?
hector, thanks sharing that info. i didn't know chuy was responsible for earmarking the first round of money. he's a great man and has done so much. and it was unbelievable--the way he was displaced from his senate seat by some unknown--someone should have called for a recount. i think chuy's protest of the uic expansion in the mid-90's also hurt him. but i was thrilled when i found out about the lvcdc. i know that they played a big role in the new high school and the library expansion.
dcn, i'm glad you asked. as far as i know, no one was ever held officially accountable. but when that money dissappeared it was such a coincidence that suddenly there was a new state of the art high school in a more affluent part of the city and the daughter of the president to the board of education was beginning her freshman year when it was inaugurated. the board of education officials tried to say that the school was not built in a more timely manner b/c of bickering among community leaders over where to place the school, which was just a lame excuse on their part since that money was already allocated.
one more thing, i do want to vent on is the way the administration to the public schools handled this situation. although, paul vallas, then ceo to cps and gary chico, president to the board of ed. 'turned' things around in chicago public schools. i do have to say that their arrogance was unbelievable. i sat in a few of the monthly meetings for cps. when complaints about this school were in process it was appauling to see vallas get up and walk out of the room or hold a conversation with someone else while a parent, teacher or principal was presenting a grievance or complaint. the 'official' interpreter at those meetings was incompetent and while parents would compose eloquent letters in spanish to present to the board the interpreter always managed to butcher it all with broken and improper english. when someone complained about this it was either chico/vallas who coldly stated that the woman had held that post for fourteen years so she must know what she was doing. she didn't. they didn't see the hunger strike coming and when it started they underestimated the people involved. it was the first time in all of my life see little village come together like that. i like to think that the noise the hunger strike made was the beginning of the end for those two b/c soon after that both resigned. so as hector says, revenge is sweet.
The school is very exciting. They have an arts division there. I'm glad to see that this school got built. It's so important that Latinos get as much education as possible. Yesterday, I met one of the moms on the hunger strike. Very inspirational. She did have a concern about the quality of education that will be provided because like she said, 'You can have a great looking building but if the quality of education isn't there than it is worthless..." It sound like this would be a rewarding opportunity to work at this school and give back to the community.
That's one of the things that pisses me off about some of the people I work with. They'll say things like, "Well, not all these kids are going to college."
That's b.s. man. I tell all of my kids that I want them to go to college. Anyway, this school sounds awesome. I bet they could use someone like Tavo there.
Great news on the school!!! And, God bless Jesus G. Garcia, from what you say, the guy is someone every community needs. I dream of the day where a school can be opened with as much ease as any other private entity. If I want to give to my community by opening up a pizza store, why is that easier to do than if I wanted to give back to my community by opening up a school with better teachers, better teacher/ratios, and better amenities? The millionare could open up the pizza place but not the school, doesn't make sense to me!!!
Anyway congrats!!
almost completly off topic...we could use someone like Tavo everywhere in life...man I'd have loved a teacher like him.
Ahh, thanks for the love. Unfortunately I think that I am on the verge of leaving education altogether. Maybe I'll come back at some point later in life but right now I just can't afford to wait around for an opportunity :( It really sucks because being a teacher is all I wanted to do. Oh well I guess sometimes things don't happen for a reason.
bureaucratic red tape makes me sick
wow, must get my rezbaby down there to see the school with my own two eyes.
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