LaSalle II Magnet School phasing out Andersen Elementary… May 30 - May 31 Camp Out Protests Chicago Board of Education attacks on viable neighborhood school
The Andersen Elementary School community hosted a protest and sleep-out on Saturday, May 30, to raise awareness about the school, which many believe is being unfairly phased out. The camp out planned a press conference for the morning of May 31 at 10:00 a.m. at the camp out site. 
Chicago Public Schools teachers Norine Gutekanst (left) and Kristine Mayle (right) greet the early morning just before dawn on May 31, 2009, as part of the camp out protesting the "phase out" of Chicago's Hans Christian Andersen Elementary School and its transformation into the so-called "LaSalle II" school. Two signs in the background tell part of the story. The sign on the left announces "LaSalle II", while the black sign on the right notes Andersen's continued protest against the Board of Education's decision to wipe the school out. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Located at the corner of Honore and Division streets in the heart of what was once Chicago's Puerto Rican community, the 100-year-old Andersen school is fighting for its future as a result of changes ordered by the Chicago Board of Education under former Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan. Despite massive protests and testimony refuting every claim made by Board officials, the Chicago Board of Education voted on February 27, 2008, to "phase out" Andersen and replace it with an entity called "LaSalle II".
According to Mildred Rodriguez, organizer of the sleep-out, "Andersen is a viable school. Andersen teaches kids to their fullest potential. Even though our school was succeeding they are phasing us out. They say we don't fit the location. But we think that all kids should get an equal education. Our school is for all kids, not just certain kids."
Zoraida Lopez with her family at the protest at Andersen Elementary School. Despite assurances from Chicago Board of Education officials that the so-called "phase out" of Andersen on behalf of the new "LaSalle II Magnet School" would not disrupt families, the Lopez family has been disrupted. Elijah Lopez (front) has to attend elementary school in a different neighborhood, while his sister Jocelyn is still at Andersen. The baby (Natalie) will not be able to attend school at the Andersen unless she is accepted into the exclusive "LaSalle II Magnet School." The Lopez family joined the protests against the continuing "phase out" of Andersen on May 30, 2009. Substance photo by Garth Liebhaber.Andersen parents and staff want the Board to strengthen Andersen as a diverse neighborhood school so that it can continue to provide quality education to all the students of the neighborhood. The "LaSalle II" school that is replacing Andersen will be exclusive, a magnet school.
Until a year ago, the Hans Christian Andersen school was a neighborhood school with a hard-working, dedicated staff and a "family feeling" between teachers, students and parents, according to Mildred Rodriguez and others. But then the Chicago Board of Education decided that the Andersen building, located at 1148 N. Honore St., was in a perfect location for a "replication" model of LaSalle Language Academy, a magnet school.
Tents along the sidewalk on the Honore Street side of Andersen Elementary School in Chicago on the night of May 30 - My 31, 2009. The tents are becoming a symbol of the resistance of Chicago's teachers, parents, and students to "Renaissance 2010" and the privatization of Chicago's public schools under corporate "school reform." The sign on the left advertises the "LaSalle II" magnet elementary school, which former CEO Arne Duncan proposed to replace the community based public school which had served the community around Andersen for more than 100 years. Now Secretary of Education, Duncan is now trying to force the kinds of programs he developed in Chicago on every on public school districts across the USA, using the Obama administration's stimulus money as the wedge. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. So according to the policies developed by then CEO Arne Duncan and routinely approved by the seven-member Chicago Board of Education, the working-class, minority population of Andersen had to go, to make way for the magnet program and to provide a school for the middle class students and parents that have been increasingly moving into the Wicker Park neighborhood west of Ashland Avenue and between Grand and North Avenues.
The Andersen community was notified in January of 2008 that they were "underutilized" and that they were going to be phased out. LaSalle Language Academy II would be "phased in". The Andersen community rallied parents, teachers, students, Alderman Manny Flores, and other community allies and showed up 300-strong at the phase-out hearing on February 15, 2008.
The traditional sign for Andersen Elementary School shows the school's defiance of the decision by the Chicago Board of Education (February 2008) to wipe out a 100-year-old public school in the community and replace it with a magnet school to serve those in the local population who have been trying to gentrify the West Town and Wicker Park communities. In many Chicago communities, "Renaissance 2010" and corporate "school reform" have been used to replace traditional public schools with boutique schools that do not serve the general public. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. The Andersen community presented testimony on the great academic environment at the school, the large gains on the state tests (Reading scores up from 39.7% in 2005 to 64.9% in 2008; Math scores from 39.7% in 2005 to 74% in 2008), as well as the dedication, collaboration and initiatives that the school was undertaking. Andersen’s staff and parents were proud of their school, whose students were 75% Hispanic, 14% African-American, 5% multiracial, and 5% white. Their low-income rate was 93% and 24% of their students were English Language Learners.
Alderman Manuel Flores (First Ward) was the only City Council member who came to any of the school closing hearings in 2008 to speak up for a school. He has continued to support Andersen in its attempts to stay alive.
Andersen challenged the Board on the "underutilization" classification. They presented testimony that 19% of their students were in Special Ed, and that lower class sizes were required for classes such as an ECSE-Autism class, an ECSE Instructional Program, a Primary Autism class and 3 classes of Cross-Categorical Instructional Programs. Every classroom was utilized for educational purposes. When Andersen calculated its actual utilization, factoring in the needs of their special education population, their utilization rate was significantly higher than CPS alleged (see Data and Democracy Project: Investing in Neighborhoods, Paper #1: Examining CPS' plan to close, consolidate, turnaround 18 schools, February 2008).
The officers of the Chicago Teachers Union ignored the Andersen protest, but during the protest on May 30, Marc Wigler (above, center), who is an official of the CTU Quest Center in charge of the "Fresh Start Schools," came by while walking through the community. Wigler talked briefly with CORE members Norine Gutekanst (left) and Jackson Potter (right). Substance photo by Garth Liebhaber.Moreover, the Andersen community couldn’t understand why their school was considered "underutilized" at 540 students, and a new school was going to replace it with a target enrollment of 650 (Board Report 08-0723-EX3). Obviously a double standard was at work.
Not one member of the Board of Education attended the February 15, 2008 phase-out hearing. And despite the strong community testimony, the support of the Alderman, and the unity of the school, the Board of Education voted at its February 27, 2008, meeting, to phase out Andersen School. At the same meeting the board voted to "turnaround" five schools, to close eight schools, to relocate or consolidate five schools, and to "phase-out" one other school.
Aftermath to the Board Vote to Phase Out
Originally LaSalle II didn't want to have to admit any of the Andersen students into its PreK-2 program which opened in September 2008. All of the students who were phased out were supposed to go to Pritzker School, at 2009 W. Schiller St, or to their home schools. Pritzker is one half mile from Andersen.
However, the Andersen parents pushed and pushed, and with the help of Ald. Manny Flores, finally LaSalle II agreed to admit Andersen's current Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students. However, they drew the line at 3rd grade.
David Pickens, who is currently the CPS "Public Relations and Internal Communications Officer" (and who at the time was "Deputy Chief of Staff to CEO Arne Duncan), said that LaSalle II would absolutely not take Andersen students in 3rd grade or above because they were not able to learn a language properly after that point, according to Mildred Rodriguez, president of the Andersen LSC.
The Andersen parents were told that Andersen would phase out one year at a time, and that LaSalle would phase in one year at a time. In Sept. 2008 LaSalle opened with PreK-2rd grade. Andersen operated 3rd grade through 8th grade. However, by November of 2008 the Board had decided that LaSalle II would add 4 more years (not one) for September 2009. Next year they will operate PreK-6th grade. Andersen may be allowed to operate one class each of grades 4 through 6, and 2 classes each of grades 7 and 8. Andersen parents say that this directly contradicts the promises that CPS made. And it very much puts in jeopardy the promise CPS made that all Andersen students would be allowed to graduate with their Andersen classmates.
LSC Chairperson Rodriguez told Substance that it has been necessary to argue every step of the way in this phase-out/phase-in.
"They didn’t want to give our students applications for the sibling lottery," she said. "I had to push them to give applications to everyone."
Separate and Unequal Facilities
Ms. Rodriguez reports on the glaring disparity in facilities in the short time since LaSalle II has been in the building.
Andersen School consists of a newer two-story building and an old three-story building. LaSalle and Andersen have been sharing the newer two-story building. However, the LaSalle side of the building has gotten new lighting, new floors, newly painted walls, a computer lab with brand new computers, new doors (completed this last spring break). Additionally, the LaSalle portion of the building has gotten all new equipment — desks, chairs, etc. And plans are underway to remodel the library.
In contrast, the Andersen portion of the building has not gotten any of these repairs. "We’ve had to make do with the old stuff," she reports. A representative of Alderman Manny Flores reported visiting Andersen and Lasalle II and said that the difference in physical plant between the renovated LaSalle and the overlooked Andersen "was night and day….it was deplorable. We sent the photos to David Pickens."
After the Alderman Flores' office complained, some stairs were repaired on the Andersen side. However, as one Andersen parent puts it, "What message are we sending these children? That they are not good enough for the new school? The best interests of the children have not been considered one bit!
The perfect weather on May 30 make the Andersen protest a part of the community celebration that was taking place along Division Street. Many of the families at Andersen that are being displaced from their public school by the so-called "phase out" have been in the community for three generations, with roots at both Andersen and in the broader community. Above, Officer Flores, on foot patrol, stopped by to chart with neighbors, the Lopez and Rodriguez families (right), while Kristine Mayle (left) looks on. Substance photo by Garth Liebhaber. Just as invidious to the Andersen parents is the treatment that they are receiving from the LaSalle II parents. Andersen LSC Chair Rodriguez could not believe her ears when she heard LaSalle parents ask, "Are our kids going to be using the gym at the same time as them (the Andersen students)?" "Will our kids be playing on the playground at the same time as them?" Rodriguez reports, "Our kids don’t have diseases you know. You've got some new parents here who just look at you like they can't wait for you to go."
Only in its first year of operation, the new LaSalle II Magnet School has different demographics than Andersen: 65% Hispanic, 22% white (figures for African-American and multiracial students unavailable). The low-income rate is 63%, while 14% of the students are English Language Learners (CPS website).
The new LaSalle II parents are setting into motion a high-powered parent group and fundraising apparatus. Indeed, they have been busy organizing a PTO and planning an impressive array of schoolwide events, restaurant nights, family outings and fundraisers such as silent auctions at local cafes. They also have a Google Group for parent and teacher communication, as well as a PTO website.
Andersen Challenges the Board to Save a Successful School
The Andersen community finds itself disrespected, pushed out, and pushed aside. They are asking the Board of Education to find them another building for Andersen, because they continue to believe Andersen is a vibrant, viable neighborhood school. Andersen’s staff and parents can’t comprehend how their school can be dismantled, at the same time that other schools are "saved" from the chopping block. For example, they cite the fact that this year, Yale School was spared from being turnedaround due to "Yale’s improvement in the areas of reading and math over the last three years, [therefore] it was determined that Yale would be given additional time to improve its performance."
Andersen’s ISAT scores jumped 25% in Reading and 35% in Math over 3 years. They cite the fact that this year Peabody school was threatened with closure due to underenrollment and when their community "provided new insight into space utilization….Peabody no longer met the under-enrollment criteria."
Furthermore, the Board spared Hamilton School from phase-out, after threatening to close it due to "underutilization", citing its impressive academic performance (CPS Press Release 2/24/09). The Andersen community has appealed to CEO Ron Huberman to remove the phase-out designation, to restore all grade levels and programs, to help the school to address any "underenrollment", to provide resources to enhance the Andersen program, and to relocate Andersen to another location, so that it can continue to provide a quality education to the all students in the Andersen community.
Andersen School and Renaissance 2010
What does this mean for Chicago?
The phase-out of Andersen and the phase-in of LaSalle II Magnet School are a textbook example of Renaissance 2010, Mayor Daley's plan to close neighborhood schools and reopen so-called "new schools" that are often privately operated and usually selective.
In Wicker Park, Andersen parents believe that by pushing out Andersen School and its minority population — which is mostly low-income — the gentrification of the area will be accelerated.
This way the transformation of a mixed-income neighborhood into an elite one will occur even faster. By closing the neighborhood school — which provides a quality education to children of all of the neighborhood's working class families — and opening a magnet program whose enrollment will be more selective, Andersen's families feel that they are no longer welcome in their own community.
For more information on Andersen School, see Data and Democracy Project: Investing in Neighborhoods, Paper #1: Examining CPS' plan to close, consolidate, turnaround 18 schools, February 2008. www.uic.edu/ educ/ceje/ resources.html
Norine Gutekanst is a third grade teacher at Chicago's Whittier Elementary School, where she serves as Chicago Teachers Union Delegate. She is also a member of CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) and a staff reporter for Substance.
By: zoraida
Thank You all !!!
I wanted to Thank You all for helping us trying to save Andersen School. It means alot to me and my children. because of your determination I wont loose HOPE.