Chicago selective enrollment high schools face huge demand for few spots -- chicagotribune.com:
"'It's so crazy competitive that you basically have to send your kid to school sick just to make sure she doesn't ruin her chances of getting into a good high school,' said Celia's mother, Lisa Hensey. 'My daughter did everything she had to do academically, but she gets punished because she got sick. What kind of message does that send to kids?'
As a federal investigation swirls around admissions practices at Walter Payton and the city's eight other vaunted selective enrollment high schools, it has spotlighted a troubling problem in the city's education system: There are so few good high schools that high-achieving teenagers like Celia must fight over scarce slots."
"'It's so crazy competitive that you basically have to send your kid to school sick just to make sure she doesn't ruin her chances of getting into a good high school,' said Celia's mother, Lisa Hensey. 'My daughter did everything she had to do academically, but she gets punished because she got sick. What kind of message does that send to kids?'
As a federal investigation swirls around admissions practices at Walter Payton and the city's eight other vaunted selective enrollment high schools, it has spotlighted a troubling problem in the city's education system: There are so few good high schools that high-achieving teenagers like Celia must fight over scarce slots."