HR0814 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0814 LRB103 40845 LAW 73779 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Article X of the Illinois Constitution states that, "A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities. The State shall provide for an efficient system of high quality public educational institutions and services. Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free."; and

WHEREAS, The community of Austin on Chicago's West Side is 84.2% African-American and has a population of approximately 100,000, with more than 30% under the age of 19; and

WHEREAS, Austin Community Academy High School was a public 4-year high school in the Austin neighborhood; during the mid-twentieth century, the high school was considered one of the best in the Chicago area; in later years, however, it suffered from low test scores, low attendance, and student violence, leading the Chicago Public School (CPS) system to begin phasing it out in 2004, ordering the school to stop admitting new freshman; the high school's last graduation was held in June 2007, and the phase-out was completed by the end of summer; its successor, Austin Community Academy, was open for one year before it was shut down by Mayor Richard M. Daley; and

WHEREAS, West Side residents have faced inequalities for decades, including drug arrests, the savings and loan crisis of the 1990s that lost billions for bank customers, the 2008 financial crash, and the closure of 50 schools under Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2013; and

WHEREAS, A WBEZ-Sun-Times investigation showed the school closures largely did not deliver on the promises that students would be better off elsewhere at new, improved schools or that their old school buildings would be overhauled; and

WHEREAS, A Chalkbeat investigation showed that roughly one-third of the students who attended closed schools transferred out of CPS entirely; due to families leaving CPS after the closure of their students' schools, the usual channels for local high schools withered; at the time, families and advocates expressed concerns that the school closures would exacerbate displacement and disinvestment in segregated Black neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, According to the CPS's Annual Regional Analysis, 58% of high school students on the West Side attended school outside of the district's region in the 2022-23 school year; of those leaving the West Side for high school, the majority head to the Far Northwest Side and Near West Side; and

WHEREAS, Currently, the West Side is home to three smaller schools, Austin College & Career Academy High School, Frederick Douglass Academy High School, and Michele Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School, which have a combined student body of less than 800 students; by comparison, the former high school previously had a total attendance of 6,000 students; and

WHEREAS, It is widely felt that these three schools do not adequately serve the entire student population of the Austin community and that, if CPS leaders do not create more high school seats in the West Side neighborhood, more youth will end up on the streets of Chicago's toughest areas; local residents have no public option for high school, forcing students to either travel long distances, apply for selective magnet schools to which they have little chance of acceptance, or drop out of school entirely; and

WHEREAS, CPS is increasing the Equity Grant program from $50 million this year to $55 million next year to stabilize funding for smaller and under-enrolled schools, mostly on the South and West sides; and

WHEREAS, The families and students of Chicago's West Side deserve access to equal educational opportunities, and establishing one traditional area high school will assist in the fight to end racism in education, mass incarceration, and senseless death due to violence; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and all stakeholders to work together to support Michele Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School and to build a new traditional neighborhood high school in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side to help meet the needs of the tax-paying families in those communities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker to support, in every way possible, the establishment of a traditional high school in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Chicago Board of Education, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Governor JB Pritzker.