We Stand with Roosevelt High School
To our elected representatives:
We are writing to ask that you speak at the next Board of Education meeting or write the Board of Education and CPS CEO and ask that they do not vote to approve the proposal to relocate Aspira Early College High School to Albany Park.
As an elected official representing families in the Roosevelt High School attendance area, we are counting on you to support policies that lead to strong, well-resourced neighborhood high schools in every neighborhood. We oppose the Aspira relocation for the following reasons:
Roosevelt HS has pulled off the monumental task of stabilizing enrollment. Yet, it is not overcrowded. Our community does not need another high school. History shows us adding another high school will divert resources from Roosevelt.
CPS must do a facilities assessment and a racial equity assessment before making this decision. The North River Elementary community—whose students are 24% diverse learners, 89% low income, and 60% English learners—have been advocating for an adequate facility and their requests deserve to be heard. Their current building is not ADA accessible and does not have a playground.
The Roosevelt area is gentrifying. We need to connect the dots between schools and housing and predict predictable patterns. Gentrification leads to a decline in school age children. We already can expect a struggle to maintain enrollment in our neighborhood schools without adding a new school. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
Public education should not be a competition for scarce resources. We don’t want to pit schools against each other competing for students and dollars. We have witnessed Aspira representatives recruiting parents on neighborhood school grounds and we do not want to see more of that kind of competition.
Education funding should go to students, not marketing. Our school system is inadequately funded as it is; we can’t afford to spend time and education funding on glossy door hangers and marketing campaigns.
We love our neighborhood schools! Roosevelt and many of its feeder elementaries have dual language programs, world language programs, diverse staffs, and culturally relevant curriculum. Let’s continue to nurture our beautiful ecosystem of neighborhood schools and increase funding for them, not destabilize the system.
Thank you
