From: Cayata Dixon -------------------- 1 charter school too many in city -------------------- Chicago exceeds quota, state says By Maria Kantzavelos Tribune staff reporter August 8, 2001 With kids enrolled, teachers hired and just four weeks to go before school begins, Chicago's new charter schools do not have approval from the Illinois State Board of Education to open. In effect, the board said Chicago officials were trying to put something past them--to open three separate charters when only two were permitted by law. The Chicago system has 13 charter schools and is allowed 15 at most. Hoping state legislators would expand that number, officials approved three charter proposals when it had just two slots available. One of them was the Chicago Children's Choir Charter School, which planned to offer education with a deep emphasis on music in a former Catholic school at 3737 S. Paulina St. on the Southwest Side. The other was Passages Charter School, 1447 W. Montrose Ave., in the Uptown neighborhood on the Far North Side, where Asian Human Services designed a charter to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee learners. When the bid to obtain more charters failed, those schools tried to help the system solve the problem by merging into one school with two campuses, under the name Global Village. So far, the state isn't buying it. Last month, the board sent back the city's charter proposals without reviewing them, saying the submission for the combined school was, "in fact, a proposal for two separate charter schools." Now school officials are trying again to convince the board that these two campuses--separated by miles and by missions that seem to have little in common--should be approved as a single charter. "It's a little bit nerve-wracking because it's August, but we're very confident that this will all be resolved and approved shortly," said Greg Richmond, who oversees charters for the Chicago Public Schools. "It's a challenge, but anything worth doing is a challenge." Charter resubmitted Among the criteria needed for the state to consider the merger was evidence that the campuses share one mission statement, one set of goals and performance standards, one budget and one curriculum. Last week, the system submitted a new proposal that Richmond believes will succeed. Also caught in red tape is the third charter, the Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School, whose mission is to enhance learning through small class sizes. Its board is headed by former state comptroller Loleta Didrickson. Meanwhile, the sponsors of the merged schools are waiting anxiously. They cannot open without the state's permission. The academy planned by the 45-year-old Chicago Children's Choir is part of a national project that seeks to duplicate the success of the Boys Choir of Harlem Academy in New York. "There are some kids where music is their thing and it turns them on to learning," said Nancy Carstedt, executive director of the Chicago Children's Choir. "It sort of becomes the hook to inspire kids." Pupils will be educated in music, but teachers also will use it as a tool in other subjects. "We are really trying to thread music into every aspect of the day," said Principal Jan Yourist. While studying history, students will learn about the music of different cultures. When students are learning about fractions in math class, they will also learn about rhythm. In science class, the physics of sound will come into play. School for immigrants Passages Charter School was designed as a full-service English immersion school for immigrant pupils, offering Latin as its foreign language and highlighting the refugee experience through social science and literature classes, said interim director Ralph Hardy. The school would offer pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade classes its first year, with plans to add another grade each year until 6th grade. Administrators are aiming to work closely with families without good English who might struggle at traditional public schools. A full-time staff member will help people connect with the social services available through Asian Human Services, whose staff members speak 22 languages, Hardy said. "The idea was that this school would be an anchor for these children," he said. "We could provide a wide range of comprehensive services for students and parents." The groups behind the two schools did not know each other when the Chicago Board of Education approved their charters separately. Now they have joined to form the Global Vision Charter School Foundation. "Initially it may have looked as if it were a merger based on convenience," Hardy said. "But there's some synergy there; it's kind of organic." Ronald Giles, managing director for the choir academy, said the same. "Global Village is much more than a marriage of convenience to skirt the law," he said. "The similarities come in the philosophy of teaching and learning. We've agreed there is a commonness in the basic core curriculum." The combined school's mission is "to provide opportunities for high quality education through the development of campuses dedicated to providing specialized curricula based on Chicago's rich multicultural heritage and world-renowned cultural, artistic and scientific traditions." Charter school advocates said the scramble for state certification reflects the need to lift the state limit on charters, which are public schools with some freedom from district and state regulations. "The demand is there," said Michael Milkie, principal of Chicago's Noble Street Charter School. "The most important group [parents] wants these schools and the only thing keeping them from getting it is purely technical, legal things." Unlike other states, Illinois has jumped into the charter-school movement with caution. State law allows for 45 charter schools, 15 of them in Chicago. Only 2 slots open Thirteen charters now operate in the city, leaving two slots for new schools this fall. But the Chicago system approved three. "There were just too many good proposals out there to ignore them," said Paul Vallas, the system's former CEO. "The board and the charter school advocates were pretty confident that the cap would be lifted." Bringing several schools under a single charter is not unprecedented in Chicago, officials contend. "Having a multiple campus is legal and is happening," Richmond said. "The state board has approved them in the past." Meanwhile, organizers of the schools have been moving forward with plans to open. The choir academy has accepted 110 applicants thus far and is seeking a total of 150; the campus run by Asian Human Services expects about 140 children. Both schools have already hired their teaching staff. "It's very worrisome for us," said Abha Pandya, executive director of Asian Human Services. "We're a community agency that's been in existence since 1978; our parents really depend on us. At this late state if they have to scramble to find a place elsewhere it would be hard." Copyright (c) 2001, Chicago Tribune -------------------- Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune Today! Good Eating, Your Place, and TV Week -- just a few reasons to get the Chicago Tribune at home every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Subscribe by calling 1-800-TRIBUNE (1-800-874-2863) or online at chicagotribune.com/subscribe -- This is the CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. 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