Chicago faculties: Hooray for neighborhood faculties — let’s help them in our metropolis

I used to be so thrilled to see Stacy Davis Gates’ letter championing neighborhood public faculties. Over the past 20 to 30 years, the Chicago Public Colleges has tried quite a few options to good neighborhood faculties, together with selective enrollment faculties and privately-run constitution faculties.

Whereas these initiatives have been well-intentioned, we now know that any features made have been on the expense of the native neighborhood faculties, as they misplaced college students and the monetary assets which might be ascribed to them. The general public faculty system in Chicago is a mish-mosh of underfunded, under-enrolled and under-performing neighborhood faculties and selective enrollment and constitution faculties.

The academic panorama is a nightmare for folks and college students to navigate. Many neighborhood faculties, typically in communities of coloration, function at a fraction of their enrollment capability. With student-based budgeting, these faculties are starved for assets and function in a downward spiral.

Davis Gates is completely proper that good neighborhood faculties function anchors in neighborhoods, offering a possibility for folks to work together with the youth and their friends to assist construct a robust sense of group.

Chicago is at a crossroads, dealing with many critical challenges. It’ll take the collaboration of all of us, and companies just like the CPS, Chicago Police Division and the Chicago Park District to nurture and develop the sense of group in all of our backyards to make town a spot all of us need it to be.

Gary Kuzmanic, Edgebrook

Humboldt Park boathouse is a large number

Why did town hassle to landmark the Humboldt Park boathouse if the Chicago Park District was going to show right into a slumlord?

The inspiration is displaying indicators of stress, and rusting rebar reveals by a broken step. 4 globes are lacking within the Prairie lighting fixtures, exposing the fixtures to climate injury. The restaurant concession on the west finish has been closed for over a 12 months, with no signal of a alternative. The only goal of the restrooms on the east finish seems to be one thing to maintain locked. Earlier than too lengthy, the boathouse will go the way in which of one other discarded park district treasure: the century-old concession stand in Jackson Park, fenced on and off the breaking point.

Why is Humboldt Park on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations, if the park district can’t be bothered to deal with the tens if not a whole lot of 1000’s of weeds, to say nothing of fallen branches and useless bushes?

I used to be simply questioning.

Douglas Bukowski, Berwyn

Increase the bar at Waukegan Excessive Faculty

I’m a scholar from Waukegan Excessive Faculty and the highschool credit to graduate are beneath common in comparison with the opposite faculties in Lake County.

That is regarding as a result of this highschool isn’t getting their college students to do something extra than simply to graduate from right here, however there are different college students who need to go to varsity and need to do massive issues.

The opposite faculties within the space, together with the highschool in Zion, want 24 credit to graduate in comparison with our 17 credit score necessities. The scholars at our Brookside campus don’t must retake PE/Well being programs in the event that they fail, however in Zion, college students should take the category and move the category or else they should retake it.

A passing grade is essential — not simply participation — as a result of this may assist college students to work onerous and obtain their objectives. We aren’t being ready correctly for faculty or for the workforce by reducing the necessities for commencement.

Alexander Munoz, Waukegan Excessive Faculty scholar