Further militarization of CPS approved at October 24, 2007, school board meeting
Air Force high school to open in 2008
Speaking at the October 24 Board meeting, Air Force Lt. Col. Kim Harrell, (above holding papers) explained the proposal for the Air Force high school. Chicago Board of Education President Rufus Williams, who has claimed that the expansion of military high schools in Chicago is ensuring that students have “college preparatory” offerings, joked with Harrell that it was the first time he had seen her out of uniform. CPS officials have tried to downplay the militarization of Chicago’s high schools under the Daley administration’s Renaissance 2010 program. They have refused to discuss why military high schools and the nation’s largest JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) program is “college preparatory” for Chicago children — but not for children from Chicago’s wealthier suburbs. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.
On October 24, 2007. Nine days after Mayor Daley dedicated the Marine Military Academy at the former Grant Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side, the Chicago Board of Education, without discussion or debate, approved a Board Report that will create the nation’s first “Air Force Academy” high school in Chicago.
