For One Day, Let’s Celebrate Bipartisanship.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-uno-schools-22-jun22,0,4336990.story
For One Day, Let’s Celebrate Bipartisanship.
The Tribune has highlighted how Republicans and Democrats pushed through $98 million for the United Neighborhood Organization, making them the largest charter school organization in the region.
Instead of celebrating, a number of liberals are angry that their organization didn’t get a piece of the action, while a number of conservatives are outraged at the price tag. They are both wrong, the bottom line is that this is one of the few stories that Illinois voters can be proud of.
First, schools are needed. In Chicago, Hispanic communities are faced with severe overcrowding. Simply put, new schools need to be built to match the demand. UNO asked for the money because there was a need. http://uno-online.org/SRO-Study-4-21.pdf
Second, UNO has proven to build schools faster and more economically than standard Chicago Public Schools, (“CPS”). With the money, UNO is poised to create eight new schools. How many schools would CPS open with that money? Four? Five? There is a need, and the Charter Schools can fill the need in less time with less money, pretty simple decision.
Third, the Illinois Policy Institute touts Charter Schools as a way to BALANCE the budget. The Institute argues that EVERY high school dropout costs taxpayers $221k a year in welfare and incarceration costs. http://www.illinoispolicyinstitute.org/uploads/files/budgetsolutions2010.pdf The study further states that charter schools lower dropout rates at no additional expense. This doesn’t even add the extra future tax revenue that graduates will provide Illinois. Charter Schools not only cost less to build and run, but by graduating more students, they actually save Illinois money.
Finally, UNO schools work. They have longer school days and longer schools years. They have students who perform better on standardized tests and more of them graduate. They are able to hire and fire teachers based on performance unlike traditional CPS schools. The article also mentions that the students in these predominantly Hispanic as areas are treated as the “next successful immigrant group”, not as a victimized minority group. As a result, students that can’t speak English are immersed in English classes, as opposed to the bilingual education that CPS prefers. Assimilation and high expectations are the norm. It is no wonder that UNO schools outperform CPS schools (vs. city district average). Today UNO schools have a waiting list. It seems the customer, the students and parents, want more of the UNO style charter schools and less of the Union run CPS schools. More schools at a lower price, more school days, longer school days, better grades, more graduates and a way to help balance the budget? Sounds like we should all be celebrating.
Angel Garcia
Angel Garcia is on the CYR board and learned about UNO Charter schools through UNO’s Metropolitan Leadership Institute.