Desegregation of Chicago Public Schools - New Admissions Policies

My son is 4 years old and I have decided to put him in kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year. As I began searching the CPS website www.cps.edu I learned that the desegregation order of the Chicago Public Schools has been lifted as the courts felt that CPS had acted in good faith while under the order and no longer needs it.


Magnet schools, Consent Decree
In 1980, the Chicago Board of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice entered into a desegregation consent decree which, among other things, required CPS to implement a voluntary desegregation plan designed to create and maintain as many racially integrated schools as possible. CPS utilized a variety of methods, including magnet schools, as a means to achieve this goal.

On September 24, 2009, the Court determined that CPS achieved “unitary status.” This essentially means that the District demonstrated substantial, good-faith compliance with the desegregation mandates of the Consent Decree, to the extent practicable, so that the remnants of past discrimination have been eliminated and judicial oversight is no longer warranted. This returns control of all school admissions processes to CPS. Given the current legal landscape, it also means that CPS may not continue to use race as an admission criteria in a formulaic manner.

“The court has held that Chicago Public Schools are in compliance with the Constitution and the laws of the United States in the District’s efforts to achieve unitary status, " said CPS CEO Ron Huberman. Read the complete statement from CEO Huberman about the SACD termination. (http://www.cps.edu/Pages/MagnetSchoolsConsentDecree.aspx )


This is only in effect for the most competitive schools. Instead of using race as the key criterion socioeconomic status will be used. In the hopes that CPS will maintain racial integration while enhancing economic integration. The district is only putting this into effect for 1 year after which time the results will be assessed. (RedEye)

With the gentrification that has happened on the West Side of Chicago near the Madison/Western area now called the West Loop and with more housing developments ranging in the upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars within the city. It seems the city is saying that they most wealthy or well-off will have first picks at some of Chicago's most competitive schools.


I attended Mark T. Skinner Classical School formerly located at 111 S. Throop. As the neighborhood began to change over the past 10 years and people began purchasing condos they were outraged that their children could not simply attend the school. As a Classical School all students must be tested for entry. Those homeowners felt that their tax dollars earned their children the right to go to whatever school they pleased. It seems as if the dollars, I mean requests, have been answered.


Your thoughts?


Be a blessing and be blessed,
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