Matt Farmer’s a hotshot trial lawyer in a downtown firm who plays in a rock ‘n’ roll band on the side and rarely gets involved in local politics. But since the Chicago Public Schools kicked his kindergarten daughter in the teeth, he’s been an activist unleashed, sending snarky e-mails to reporters, school officials, and parents on the northwest side. The issue on his mind is Arne Duncan’s plan to move the Edison Regional Gifted Center out of its longtime home at 6220 N. Olcott and into the same building that houses Albany Park Multicultural Academy, at 4910 N. Sawyer, about five miles down the road.
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But at what cost? Over the years staff and parents at Edison have fixed up their school with money they raised at auctions and other fund-raisers, and the students have grown comfy in their cozy confines. Albany Park Multicultural is a middle school, and while the CPS tries to keep schools that share a building as physically separate as possible, some question the wisdom and safety of combining kindergartners with 12-to-14-year-olds.
Plus, up till now Edison parents had good reason to think the central office would leave them alone. Edison’s students serve a political purpose: they’re the brainiacs the school board needs to help drive up test scores so Mayor Daley can claim he’s fixing the system.
After Farmer heard about the proposed move—from a reporter—he and other parents mobilized. In addition to whether Edison would retain its cozy feel if transplanted to a larger school, they’re worried about other plans the board might have in store. Built to hold 800, Albany Park Multicultural currently houses only 250 kids. So even after Edison’s moved there, it will still have room for another 280 children or so. “If you’re a parent thinking about your child’s educational future—and I assume the board wants parents who are involved in their children’s educational futures—you have to ask the logical question: What school is the board thinking about moving there next?” asks Farmer. “You have to assume that something’s going there. It’s reasonable to request a say in planning these things. You don’t want year after year of surprises from the board.”
And we’re just talking about the system’s most pressing needs. We haven’t even begun to address the everyday inadequacies most parents take for granted. Talk to Matt Robertson, who’s on the local school council at the overcrowded Palmer Elementary in North Mayfair, and he’ll lay it on the line for you: no art, no music, no drama. “Palmer has been underserved by CPS for so long parents don’t know how to place value on the things we don’t have,” says Robertson. “For me, the fact my kids don’t have a science lab is unacceptable. The fact my kids don’t have a computer lab or a music room or an art room is unacceptable.”
