What Causes A school to become overcrowded?: The demographic effect
by: Carolina Vallin
"Koreans, Assyrians, Russian Jews, and Haitians among them--as well as professional and working-class blacks, whites, and Hispanics [had] been migrating to the north side. With them [came] their school-age children, " (Ben Joravsky).
- Fast Fact: The average student to teacher ratio in CPS is 15:1.
BECOMING A WIDER PROBLEM
In the far northwest side of Chicago, an overpopulation in schools was noticed in the early nineties. These crowded conditions are due to years of demographic changes and ignorance. Until the late 1900's, overcrowding was not considered a "Caucasian" issue, but rather a problem Mexican American communities dealt with on the south and west sides. It was those communities that first organized the United Neighborhood Organization to deal with the issue of overcrowded schools; a group that branched into Pilsen, Little Village, and South Chicago. By labeling overcrowding as a "Hispanic" issue, school officials were caught by surprise at the sudden change in population in north-side schools. A schools activist and resident of West Rogers Park, Tee Galley, commented on the community's usual stability, and describes the "new families with children on the block" as a "demographic phenomenon," (Joravsky).
Chicago's northwest side suffers from an excess of students "because of an influx of families looking for affordable homes in a relatively safe area of the city," (Cherone). Hitch Elementary School in Gladstone Park, a school predominately white and Hispanic, now has a utilization rate (amount of the school being used) of one-hundred and thirty percent after being at risk of closing for being under enrolled. They currently use hallway cubicles as classrooms, and have even resorted to using a men's bathroom in order to fit their students, but their "pleas to build an annex or simply set up extra classrooms in mobile buildings have fallen on deaf ears at Chicago Public
Schools headquarters, parents, school officials, and Ald. John Arena," (Cherone). Instead, CPS officials have suggested that they convert their
library and cafeteria into classrooms for their extra students. An idea they have
refused thus far, unlike Peck Elementary School who has had to turn "the old library
[into] a food preparation center. The old cafeteria [was] converted into two classrooms, each
now filled with about 35 fifth grade students," (Vevea).
Schools headquarters, parents, school officials, and Ald. John Arena," (Cherone). Instead, CPS officials have suggested that they convert their
library and cafeteria into classrooms for their extra students. An idea they have
refused thus far, unlike Peck Elementary School who has had to turn "the old library
[into] a food preparation center. The old cafeteria [was] converted into two classrooms, each
now filled with about 35 fifth grade students," (Vevea).
"Wealthier communities that ask for more resources
to expand their schools, they are listened to," said Edilia
Correa, who has a prekindergartner and a fifth-grader
at Prieto. "We feel happy for their parents, but we are
angry at CPS for denying those same resources to our
low-income communities."
According to Prieto's CPS page, over 96% of the school's population come from a low income home. Unsurprisingly, the Prieto Math and Science Academy has a "one fourth-grade class [overflowing] with 60 students while eight-graders are taking lessons in a hallway," (Ahmed-Ullah) making it a school with a larger overpopulation problem than an elementary school in the well-to-do Lincoln Park neighborhood. Yet, it is the Lincoln school that is in line for a twenty million dollar annex. When Payton was slated for a seventeen million dollar addition, the mayor said it was because "(Schools like Payton) are a city treasure and a city resource," (Ahmed-Ullah). The lower income schools are glad that institutions like Lincoln and Walter Payton are reaching their maximum potential and receive their necessary resources, but they only have a few students more than capacity compared to schools like Edwards Elementary from Archer Heights who "have a capacity of 870 student, but [they] have more than 1,500 kids in the school," (Ahmed-Ullah). While affluent schools like Lincoln and Payton receive the resources necessary to make produce a better learning environment, low income schools like Prieto and Peck are ignored when they ask for more space; which puts to question the integrity of the school system in which better-off schools are given a higher priority then the neglected underachieving schools.
"We thought it was a crazy idea putting all this money into an
entitled school when there's so many needier schools,"
Schmidt told board members.
Works Cited
Ahmed-Ullah, Noreen S. "Chicago parents press for solution to overcrowded schools." Chicago Tribune 21 Nov. 2013: 1. Print.
Ahmed-Ullah, Noreen S. "Payton is slated for $17 million addition." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-19/news/ct-met-payton-prep-expansion-20130919_1_southeast-side-school-school-system-budgets>.
Cherone, Heather. "Students at Overcrowded N.W. Side Elementary Study in Bathrooms, Hallways." DNAinfo Chicago. N.p., 27 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20131027/gladstone-park/kids-at-overcrowded-nw-side-hitch-elementary-study-bathrooms-hallways>.
"Fast Facts." Fast Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372>.
Joravsky, Ben. "Overcrowding update: north-side schools report little change." Chicago Reader. N.p., 7 June 1990. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/overcrowding-update-north-side-schools-report-little-change/Content?oid=875807>.
Vevea, Becky. "WBEZ 91.5 Chicago." Chicago Public Schools faces overcrowding at same time it closes schools for underenrollment. N.p., 12 June 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.wbez.org/news/no-simple-answers-chicagos-severely-overcrowded-schools-107651>.
Ahmed-Ullah, Noreen S. "Payton is slated for $17 million addition." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-19/news/ct-met-payton-prep-expansion-20130919_1_southeast-side-school-school-system-budgets>.
Cherone, Heather. "Students at Overcrowded N.W. Side Elementary Study in Bathrooms, Hallways." DNAinfo Chicago. N.p., 27 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20131027/gladstone-park/kids-at-overcrowded-nw-side-hitch-elementary-study-bathrooms-hallways>.
"Fast Facts." Fast Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372>.
Joravsky, Ben. "Overcrowding update: north-side schools report little change." Chicago Reader. N.p., 7 June 1990. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/overcrowding-update-north-side-schools-report-little-change/Content?oid=875807>.
Vevea, Becky. "WBEZ 91.5 Chicago." Chicago Public Schools faces overcrowding at same time it closes schools for underenrollment. N.p., 12 June 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.wbez.org/news/no-simple-answers-chicagos-severely-overcrowded-schools-107651>.