82 City Schools To Get ‘Tesla-Era’ Science Labs

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. AP Photo/Matt Marton
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. AP Photo/Matt Marton

82 City Schools To Get ‘Tesla-Era’ Science Labs

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The city plans to replace the school system’s “Sputnik-era” science labs with “Tesla-era” ones, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Monday.

The 82 renovated or new high school science labs will cost taxpayers $75 million, city officials told WBEZ ahead of a Tuesday public announcement.

LIST: Which schools are a part of the CPS high school science lab initiative?

“You can go into one school … and you see the standard you want, and you go into other schools and the laboratory looks like it was there when Russia launched Sputnik,” Emanuel said. “The fact is, we’ve got to change that.”

The science labs are not included in the limited capital plan released by the school district earlier this month. More school construction projects financed by a new $45 million city property tax levy are expected to be announced in the coming months.

In all, 45 percent of the district’s 184 high schools will get new state-of-the-art science labs. Schools that aren’t getting labs include charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, most privately run alternative schools, and other district schools with recent renovations.

The new labs come one year after Chicago Public Schools changed the science graduation requirements. Now, all students must pass three lab science courses biology, chemistry, and physics in order to graduate.

The mayor’s Schools Chief Janice Jackson said teachers and principals at some schools have been asking for new science labs ever since.

“When we improved the graduation requirements, that was one of the things that came up from a lot of our staff members … that they needed new labs,” Jackson said.

Jackson said installing state-of-the-art science labs is about “equity across the district.”

Becky Vevea covers city politics for WBEZ. You can follow her @beckyvevea.

This story was updated to reflect new numbers released by the city late Monday evening.

CPS High School Science Lab Initiative

AIR FORCE HS
ALCOTT HS
AMUNDSEN HS
AUSTIN CCA HS
BACK OF THE YARDS HS
BOGAN HS
BOWEN HS
BRONZEVILLE HS
BROOKS HS
CARVER MILITARY HS
CHICAGO ACADEMY HS
CHICAGO AGRICULTURE HS
CHICAGO MILITARY HS
CLARK HS
CLEMENTE HS
COLLINS HS
CORLISS HS
CRANE MEDICAL HS
CURIE HS
DISNEY II HS
DOUGLASS HS
DUNBAR HS
DYETT ARTS HS
FARRAGUT HS
FENGER HS
FOREMAN HS
GAGE PARK HS
GOODE HS
HANCOCK HS
HARLAN HS
HIRSCH HS
HUBBARD HS
HYDE PARK HS
INFINITY HS
JONES HS
JUAREZ HS
JULIAN HS
KELLY HS
KELVYN PARK HS
KENNEDY HS
KENWOOD HS
KING HS
LINCOLN PARK HS
LINDBLOM HS
MANLEY HS
MARINE LEADERSHIP AT AMES HS
MARSHALL HS
MATHER HS
MULTICULTURAL HS
NORTH-GRAND HS
NORTHSIDE PREP HS
OGDEN HS
ORR HS
PEACE AND EDUCATION HS
PHILLIPS HS
PHOENIX MILITARY HS
PROSSER HS
RABY HS
RICHARDS HS
RICKOVER MILITARY HS
ROOSEVELT HS
SCHURZ HS
SENN HS
SIMEON HS
SIMPSON HS
SOCIAL JUSTICE HS
SOLORIO HS
SOUTH SHORE INTL HS
SOUTHSIDE HS
SPRY HS
STEINMETZ HS
SULLIVAN HS
TAFT HS
TILDEN HS
UPLIFT HS
VON STEUBEN HS
WASHINGTON HS
WELLS HS
WESTINGHOUSE HS
WILLIAMS HS
WORLD LANGUAGE HS
YOUNG HS