UNO Charter School Helped Destroy De La Cruz Public Elementary School
The following remarks were delivered during public participation at the June 24, 2009, meeting of the Chicago Board of Education.
Comments to the Board of Education
June 24, 2009
My name is Kristine Mayle and I was a teacher at De La Cruz Elementary School up until we closed our doors on June 12, 2009, a couple of weeks ago.
Teacher Kristine Mayle (above, at microphone) told the Board that the proliferation of the UNO charter schools, encouraged by the Chicago Board of Education, had helped sabotage the public school at which she had taught. De La Cruz Elementary School was closed on June 12, 2009. Most of the teachers and other staff from the schools, which was a successful small school -- although not officially a "Small School" -- still do not have jobs. The school was closed by a vote of the Chicago Board of Education because of what CPS termed "underutilization," a designation that is applied to regular public schools but never applied to charter schools in Chicago. De La Cruz was an award winning school which has ceased to exist because of the Chicago policy of expanding charter schools at the expense of regular public schools. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.My school was deemed “underutilized” due to a drop in our enrollment which I believe was a direct result of an UNO charter opening in our neighborhood.
UNO led an aggressive door-to-door campaign to attract students and parents. They siphoned students out and sabotaged our successful, award-winning school.
I am concerned that the expansion of the charter cap, along with the $98 million grant just awarded to UNO will have a negative impact on students in Chicago. In addition to the UIC report that was published a few months ago, the CREDO National Charter School Study was just published by Stanford University. The CREDO researchers looked at the performance of charter schools in 16 states, including Illinois, over four years.
They found that “charter school students as a whole incur a loss of learning in reading from charter school attendance.” In Illinois, “blacks enrolled in charter schools do significantly worse in reading compared to their counterparts in traditional public schools.” Hispanics do significantly worse in reading and math when compared to their counterparts in traditional schools.
Chicago Board of Education member Peggy Davis, a corporate lawyer (rear, with eyes closed) was inattentive during Kristine Mayle's presentation about the fate of De La Cruz, but had voted in favor of the closing of De La Cruz for "underutilization" a year earlier. In the foreground of the above photo are Board Attorney Patrick Rocks, Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason Watkins, and Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.The report also found that “charters serve fewer special education students and in smaller proportions to their enrollment base than traditional public schools.” About 10 percent of students were in special education at charters, while there were 15% on average in traditional schools. Special education students receive no significant benefit from charter schools in reading or math. English language learners also showed no benefit from attending charters.
CPS is moving toward a more data driven approach. When will the data on charters produced by renowned universities such as Stanford be taken into account? Many of the studies cited by Renaissance 2010 and charter proponents have been conducted by groups that have a monetary interest in making charters seem successful. Education should be about improving the lives of children, not making corporations and politicians posing as non-profits richer. Why isn’t CPS fighting for $98 million payouts for traditional public schools, especially given that the research 
De La Cruz Elementary School (above) at 2317 W. 23rd Place in Chicago was closed because of what the Chicago Board of Education calls "underutilization." But the term "underutilization" is never applied to the charter schools which are often moved into vacated CPS buildings, such as the one above, within a few months after CPS forces out the public school. Chicago charter schools are allowed to lease public school buildings for $1 per year, giving them an additional subsidy to compete unfairly with the local public schools. Community residents and former De La Cruz teachers suspect that the building above will be leased to the politically powerful UNO organization within a few months, now that UNO has received $98 million from Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn to expand its charter school empire in Chicago. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. shows charters do not benefit students?
http://credo.stanford.edu/
Comments:
By: Kristine Mayle
Former De La Cruz teacher
It is (almost)official. For the upcoming school year, UNO will be taking over the building that formerly housed De La Cruz at 2317 W. 23rd Pl.
An undated letter signed by Michael Scott says:
“Dear Community Members:
At the August Chicago Board of Education meeting, the Board will be asked to consider an emergency request to temporarily relocate the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) Charter School-Octavio Paz Campus to a Chicago Public School (CPS) facility for one year due to unsafe conditions at the school’s current facility. This emergency request came to CPS staff in late July and they have been working to identify a one-year solution that would resolve the schools’ [sic] short term safety concerns.”
“The UNO Charter School-Octavio Paz campus is currently located at 2641 W. 23rd St, at the St. Roman’s facility leased from the Archdiocese of Chicago…”
HUH? Wait. I’m confused---according to CPS’s calendar, website, and 2009-2010 Elementary and Preschool Directory, Octavio Paz is located at 2401 W. Congress. But I digress…back to the letter:
“In late June, an engineering report commissioned by the Archdiocese uncovered structural issues related to the masonry on the school, church and bell tower leading to potentially hazardous conditions. Repairs are estimated at over $1 million and could not be completed by the start of the school year.”
Later in the letter it says, “De La Cruz was phased out partly due to the extensive capital improvements needed for the building to continue to be used by the Chicago Public Schools.”
Funny, they told us we were “under-enrolled.”
“…The De La Cruz facility is about 4 blocks away from the Octavio Paz Campus, making it convenient to parents and families. If approved, some minor construction work would need to be done on the building in order to accommodate the number of students enrolled in Octavio Paz campus…”
2401 W. Congress is definitely more than 4 blocks from 2317 W. 23rd Place! Maybe they are confusing Paz with another UNO location. The way those charters keep springing up, it must be hard to keep track of where they all are located!
There will be a public hearing on Friday, August 21st from 6-8 pm at St. Augustine College, located at 2610 W. 25th Place where “the Board will carefully consider all community input into this decision.” You know I’ll be there. Come out and join me, I’m sure it’ll be a good time.
By: Juan Sanchez
UNO Shouldn't Operate Schools
To quote Juan Rangel, CEO of UNO from a 2000 online interview:
[Rangel] even concedes that the hurdles may now be too high for UNO, given the start-up and facilities problems and the ground left to cover on test scores.
“If we’re coming in behind those standards, maybe that’s not the business we should be in,” he says.
Ten years later the scores are still behind as the children of UNO are left behind. UNO has consistently not met AYP for several years straight, and they are planning the opening of still more schools. The state should look very closely at what they are investing in.
By: Jim Vail
UNO Speech
Wonderful speech by Kristine! Outrageous to have Gov. Pat Quinn demand more money from taxpayers to finance a bankrupt state that just gave almost $100 million to a politically connected UNO Charter company that according to Stanford does no better than public schools. Shame on the Governor, and other corrupt political operators who grease this stuff - the more the public knows, the more outrage we need to stop this!