Proposed North Side Charter Schools 'Not Remotely' Needed, Principals Say
CHICAGO — Principals from the North Side's biggest high schools have united to oppose any charter school from opening its doors near their schools.
The leaders of Lake View, Amundsen, Senn, Sullivan and Mather high schools, located from Lakeview to West Ridge, say the North Side doesn't need more charters because the neighborhood schools are excelling.
"We have all been working so hard with our community to bring our schools up, to serve the community, to offer the programs our families want and to really engage in this resurgence where the community has a true community school that is an asset and a partner," Senn Principal Susan Lofton said Wednesday.
Lofton and the other principals said new charter schools would detract students — and funding — from their schools.
"These are very tight budgetary times," Lofton said.
The group, which plans to hold a news conference 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the Board of Education chambers, formed after news bubbled up that three charter schools are planning to open on the North Side.
Noble charter school has proposed to move The Noble Academy, located Downtown, to the former Lycée Français de Chicago campus in Uptown, at Irving Park Road and Lake Shore Drive. A public hearing for that move, which will be heard by the Board of Education next week, is set for 3 p.m. Thursday at the board's chambers.
CPS also says Noble Academy's student body is one of the most geographically diverse in the district with only three of the 194 enrolled students living in the boundary areas of Amundsen and Lake View.
Noble also has proposed to open a charter school in either Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Lincoln Square or several other North and Northwest Side neighborhoods. There had been some preliminary interest in St. Jerome Catholic Church, at 1709 W. Lunt Ave.
Chad Adams, principal of Rogers Park's Sullivan High School, is part of the anti-charter coalition.
Another charter group, Intrinsic Schools, is seeking a new location for a school and has expressed interest in opening a school in Bowmanville, according to the principals. A CPS spokeswoman said the charter had yet to enter a former proposal. Intrinsic CEO Melissa Zaikos didn't respond to a request for comment.
But Amundsen High School Principal Anna Pavichevich said she would oppose any charter school proposal in the neighborhood.
"The criteria for establishing a charter school has not remotely been met," Pavichevich said. "We're not overcrowded. We're not underperforming."
CPS spokeswoman Lauren Huffman said in a written statement that the district Proposed North Side Charter Schools 'Not Remotely' Needed, Principals Say - Edgewater - DNAinfo.com Chicago:
