Charter School Controversy Roils A Predominantly Black Suburb
Posted By The Editors | August 19th, 2011 | Category: Education | No Comments »
Print This PostBy Kenneth J. Cooper
Charter schools are moving into the suburbs, and one of the first in Illinois outside of a big city is near Chicago in a predominately black suburb, where the school’s presence has heightened class tensions and raised questions about educational equities.
The creation of the black-led Southland College Prep Charter High School a year ago has spawned a lawsuit and public dispute with a heavily black school system, which stands to lose millions in state aid as the school expands grade by grade to a total enrollment of 500 beginning in 2013.
The Rich Township High School District 227 says it is facing teacher layoffs and cutbacks in courses offered to its 4,000 students. Eighty-nine percent are black, and nearly all are from low-income families, according to the state.
The creation of Southland High was pushed by black parents dissatisfied with the three high schools in District 227, where test scores slipped in the 2009-2010 academic year, leaving the district further away from reaching federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act.
The small suburb of Olympia Fields, one of the most affluent black communities in the country, took a leading role in creating Southland and helped finance its first year of operation. The charter school has anothe