Oct 13, 2009 5:27 pm US/Central
Proposal To Improve Bucktown School Under Fire
Parents Say Plans For An International Baccalaureate Program At Pulaski Fine Arts Academy Will Push Hispanic Kids Out
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Pulaski Fine Arts Academy
CBS
You would think a plan to improve a school would get a warm welcome. But that's not the case in Bucktown. The proposal is now under heavy criticism, with allegations of racism. CBS 2's Jim Williams explains what the fuss is all about.
Guillermo Ramirez has two children at the Pulaski Fine Arts Academy, and he's pleased with the education they're getting.
"I am so happy, and I am proud that my kids are coming to this school, yes," Ramirez said.
Kids from all over the city attend the magnet school. Teachers insist the school is improving. They say test scores are up and the school band is winning awards.
"We have been constantly growing," said teacher Ramiro Prado.
Prado said that the school is moving in a positive direction.
But not positive enough, according to some who live in the fashionable Bucktown neighborhood. They say Pulaski's test scores are still too low and the school is underperforming.
And so the Board of Education is considering a change. It would create what's called an International Baccalaureate program and phase out the magnet school.
Parents like Guillermo Ramirez believe some people who have moved into Bucktown in recent years, residents of expensive homes, want the majority Hispanic student body gone.
"What they don't want to see is all these Hispanic kids coming around here to their neighborhood," Ramirez said.
That is absolutely untrue, according to a proponent of the change, who would not go on camera. All ethnic and racial groups would be welcome at the new Pulaski, he said. Residents simply want the school to get better.
Maria Sanchez-Rios, who teaches English to adults at Pulaski and has children at the school, stopped short of saying the proposal is a deliberate effort to push Hispanic kids out, but she fears the effect would be the same.
"It's very unfair what they're trying to do, to me as a parent," Sanchez-Rios said. "We have a school that has 800 students, primarily Hispanics or African-Americans, and they're getting a great education."
The Bucktown Community Organization that wants changes at the school would not comment. The Board of Education did not return calls for comment.
But a source close to the controversy told CBS 2 a compromise is in the works that would likely please all parties.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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