By Rebeca Nieves Huffman
(From Chicago Tribune, April 1st, 2013)
If you listen to the tumultuous debate surrounding education reform now going on in Chicago’s public square, it is easy to miss what parents want. That is why the new public education survey by the Chicago Tribune and the Joyce Foundation is so important. The data show parents want options. The poll surveyed 1,010 Chicagoans, and found that 63.7 percent favor making it easier for public charters to expand in neighborhoods where there are currently waiting lists for admission to these schools. In addition, more than 67 percent of participants agree that it should be easier for public charters to open in neighborhoods with underperforming schools. These findings prove that public charter schools are important to the people of our city.
As Chicago Public Schools faces a $1 billion budget deficit and our communities absorb plans for closure, it’s easy to forget what we have achieved in our school system over the past several years — and what our achievements tell us about the way forward. We’ve led the country in key reforms by extending learning time, turning around struggling elementary schools and providing excellent public charter high-school models for our students. The not-for-profit Academy for Urban School Leadership has thoughtfully hit the reset button on severely underperforming schools and put students on a new path of aggressive learning and achievement.
Elected officials from across the country want to implement many of these reforms in their states. Countless educators from other districts visit AUSL and the highest performing Noble Network public charter high schools to take lessons learned back to their school systems.
Chicagoans should take a moment to acknowledge and consider this fact, that what we’ve done so far is making a real difference in our schools, and others are taking notice. Granted the list of things that still need to be done to improve our schools can seem overwhelming, especially in light of the budget picture and school closures.
But the Tribune and the Joyce Foundation survey makes clear that the silent majority of Chicagoans support a better life for our children and school options for our students. It is important that our voices are heard in the midst of the challenging times ahead.