On Northwest Side's Taft High School and Overcrowding
Chicago's Taft High School (which I wrote about last fall) was in the news recently. The school is currently looking for a new principal, and DNAinfo Chicago did a story on the challenges the person who gets the job would have to face. The story included a recording of an interview with the reporter to get some more insight, which I've embedded below. If you don't have a whole lot of time (like hettie_lz, hint hint), I'd suggest you listen to the interview - it's less than five minutes long.
I did want to add a couple of comments. While I did see some signs of wear during my visit to Taft, it didn't seem quite as bad as the above interview makes it sound. The interview also doesn't mention that the current school building is made up of two parts - the original 1920s building, which follows the classical CPS designs, and larger, more modern-looking extension built back in the 50s. So, when considering repairs, we are really talking about two buildings built during very different eras.
I also wanted to touch on the overcrowding issue discussed in the interview. Pretty much everything reporter Heather Cherone says its true. But as I listened to it, I couldn't help but think of all the Chicago schools that were closed and are currently sitting vacant. I have, in the past, half-jokingly suggested that CPS could resolve the overcrowding issue by sending some kids to vacant schools on South and West sides (half-jokingly because, if CPS ever did anything like that, there would be riots on the streets). But after I listened to the interview, it occurred to me that Thumpbull Elementary School in the Andersonville was one of the schools closed last year, and it's currently sitting vacant. Andersonville is a thriving middle-class neighborhood those days, and while it would be a bit of a commute, it would be shorter than any West Side or South Side options, and there's no "sending our kids to the ghetto" issues to worry about.
Think about it, CPS.
(On, and so long as we're talking about Taft - Chicago Northwest Side Press did an interesting article about the school potentially getting donations from alumni for its 75h anniversary. As I mentioned in my last post on Taft, it may be a good school, but they are as underfunded as the rest of CPS schools)
I did want to add a couple of comments. While I did see some signs of wear during my visit to Taft, it didn't seem quite as bad as the above interview makes it sound. The interview also doesn't mention that the current school building is made up of two parts - the original 1920s building, which follows the classical CPS designs, and larger, more modern-looking extension built back in the 50s. So, when considering repairs, we are really talking about two buildings built during very different eras.
I also wanted to touch on the overcrowding issue discussed in the interview. Pretty much everything reporter Heather Cherone says its true. But as I listened to it, I couldn't help but think of all the Chicago schools that were closed and are currently sitting vacant. I have, in the past, half-jokingly suggested that CPS could resolve the overcrowding issue by sending some kids to vacant schools on South and West sides (half-jokingly because, if CPS ever did anything like that, there would be riots on the streets). But after I listened to the interview, it occurred to me that Thumpbull Elementary School in the Andersonville was one of the schools closed last year, and it's currently sitting vacant. Andersonville is a thriving middle-class neighborhood those days, and while it would be a bit of a commute, it would be shorter than any West Side or South Side options, and there's no "sending our kids to the ghetto" issues to worry about.
Think about it, CPS.
(On, and so long as we're talking about Taft - Chicago Northwest Side Press did an interesting article about the school potentially getting donations from alumni for its 75h anniversary. As I mentioned in my last post on Taft, it may be a good school, but they are as underfunded as the rest of CPS schools)