Sep 2, 2008 12:52 pm US/Central
New Trier Campus Accommodates Boycott
CPS Students View A Much Different World Of Education
NORTHFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
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New Trier students put out this sign to welcome Chicago Public Schools students, who are taking a trip to the school as part of a protest of the state's education funding formula.
CBS
Buses full of students pulled up in front of the Northfield freshman campus of New Trier High School Tuesday morning, and New Trier officials and students rolled out the welcome mat.
An estimated 700 children and 300 parents came to New Trier on 75 buses.
As CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports, New Trier students headed for classes filed past a sign posed letter-by-letter in the windows of the school, at 7 Happ Rd. in Northfield on the affluent North Shore, reading, "Welcome to New Trier, CPS Students."
At New Trier, it is a different world – one where high property taxes help pay for an excellent education, and supportive parents donate both time and money to help fund extracurricular programs.
"If someone comes and says we want to have a crew team, we can try to get the funding for that," said New Trier Board of Education President James Koch. "So there are a lot of opportunities in arts and education, music, sports, that we can try to raise money for, or allocate money towards."
That is a stark contrast from many Chicago Public Schools, which cannot even afford basic materials. The boycott is all about fighting for improvements at Chicago schools, and many New Trier students are sympathetic.
"I support them a hundred percent," one New Trier student said.
"I think it's good that they're making a statement because they definitely are," said New Trier student Ilanah Taves, 14, "and I think that there should be something done to change what's going on, because it's pretty bad."
About 100 staff and volunteers stood ready inside the Northfied campus building to process students. A red plastic temporary fence was erected at the north end of the campus to separate the expected crush of reporters away from the CPS students.
Before the Chicago students arrived, some kids clearly were getting a kick from all the attention.
"I think it's going to be fun," said a freshman boy who was shooed into the school by a crossing guard. "It will not be like any other school day... It's for a very good cause."
Once inside, the students will be provided water and cookies. New Trier will also provide fans in the building to keep the students cool, since neither building is air conditioned.
When everyone is settled, the students will be allowed to register. They will give their names, addresses, and birth dates and receive information on state school registration requirements. The registration effort is purely symbolic; New Trier students must live in the district.
Administrators at New Trier say they support the fight to change the way the state funds public schools, but they do not support missing classes.
"It's difficult to take children out of school," said New Trier Supt. Linda Yonke. "I think school funding is an important issue that everyone is concerned about."
Residents of the North Shore agree that something needs to be done to change the funding formula for Chicago schools.
"I have absolutely no objections to that at all. I think that would be terrific. Give them a chance to be in the environment that others have had here," said Northfield resident Eleanor Domash.
New Trier alumna Judy Linklater also applauds the principle behind the protest.
"I would like the community up here to welcome these kids, because they deserve to have our respect," Linklater said.
But she believes there's more to the issue than money.
"I also think there's a question of culture," Linklater added. "There needs to be a culture of wanting to learn, wanting to be in school and wanting to do the best you can with what you got."
Registration at the Northfield campus is expected to last until about 2 p.m. Afterward, students are set to get back on the bus and head to Harms Woods in Glenview for a rally with Rev. Meeks.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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