CPS gives two new charters the green light, puts 10 on warning
By Becky VeveaCPS gives two new charters the green light, puts 10 on warning
By Becky VeveaChicago Public Schools is giving two charter schools the green light to open next fall.
Officials are recommending that the Chicago Board of Education give the Noble Street Network of Charter Schools approval to open a 17th high school in Brighton Park and give KIPP Chicago the ability to open a fifth charter grammar school in West Garfield Park.
Noble’s proposal in Brighton Park has been criticized by neighborhood activists, the Chicago Teachers Union, and students of existing high schools in the neighborhood.
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Monday morning that there is demand on the Southwest Side and argued that both Noble and KIPP “operate high-quality schools and have consistently done so for their children.”
Claypool says the district is denying the other nine schools that applied to open and putting 10 existing charter schools on a warning list. That warning list could lead to closure by the end of this school year, he said.
Of the 10 schools on the charter warning list, six are high schools and four are grammar schools.
The high schools are:
- Amandla
- ASPIRA - Early College
- CICS - ChicagoQuest
- CICS - Larry Hawkins
- Instituto - Justice Lozano
- Prologue - Joshua Johnston
The grammar schools are:
- Betty Shabazz - Sizemore
- Bronzeville Lighthouse
- Galapagos
- Kwame Nkrumah Academy
Three were on the warning list last year — Amandla, Shabazz - Sizemore, and CICS - Hawkins.
The new schools and the warning list will be voted on by the Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday.
Becky Vevea is a WBEZ education reporter. Follo