Harper High in Chicago gets pool

[jenrik2714]

Harper High School Principal Ronn Gibbs began the countdown: "1, 2. . ." Splash!

In jumped civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson in red swim trunks, and his swimming partner, Arne Duncan, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, wearing blue trunks and the black, long-sleeved, top of a wet suit.

Minutes before, they'd cut a ribbon to open Harper's recently repaired pool to student use for the first time, and were now christening it with six male students who gleefully cavorted in the water with the two VIPs.

"Come on in, the water's fine," Jackson invited state representatives, aldermen and Harper staff who had gathered.

"We're doing more than swimming here," he said. "This is about more than water. It's a mission accomplished."




The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan (center, behind Jackson) celebrate the reopening of Harper High School's pool Monday by taking a dip. The school, which was adopted by Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, also has a much improved computer lab, a new weight room, and more books. (JOHN H. WHITE/SUN-TIMES)
So it was. On Monday, Harper celebrated a bounty of school renovations and enhancements it received this year after being adopted by Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, including the pool, which was previously a waterless, oversized storage bin for empty boxes and old computers that had sat in disrepair for 10 years.

"This water feels so good," said Harper junior Justin Banks, 17, making waves. "I can't believe this has happened."

The 94-year-old school in Englewood, one of the city's most disadvantaged neighborhoods, was adopted as part of Jackson's crusade for school funding reform, which began last fall with his leading Harper families on a tour of Aurora's Waubonsie Valley High. There, they marveled at the Olympic-size pool, planetarium and well-equipped music program.

He then began intensively soliciting help for Harper's 1,400 students, using Harper to highlight inequities between city and suburban schools and between inner-city schools and those in affluent city communities.

"Before, you couldn't really do anything on those old computers. They were stuck on one screen," said freshman Elston Hartwell, 16, who was studying spreadsheets for a final next week in a brand-new, second-floor computer lab.

When Jackson began his quest, that lab was more like a computer morgue. Then, only a third of some 100 computers at Harper worked. But Monday, Harper technology coordinator Gary Latman showed off some of the 400 computers that have been donated. He was proudest of having four new computers in every one of the 60 classrooms.

"My son's favorite addition is the brand-new weight room," said Harper local school council secretary Wanda Peterson-Powell. "We're so, so grateful to Rev. Jackson. The transformation accomplished here is more than physical."

Last winter, a tour of Harper also spotlighted a library of empty shelves and obsolete books; a gym devoid of lighting or a scoreboard or working showers in the locker room; a first-floor girl's restroom lacking stall doors and working plumbing; no athletic or band uniforms; and only 50 aging band instruments shared by 200 students.

A tour Monday revealed library shelves filled with donated books; a gym with some 50 new ceiling lights, new scoreboards and working locker room showers; and new stall doors and working toilets in the girl's restroom.

"This is a school that's touched all of our hearts," Duncan said. "We're very proud of partnerships like this that make miracles happen."

[wvhsparent]

Fantastic....One Chicago HS down....How many more to go?
I hope thay all get some attention like this. Personally the CPS Admin should have never let it that bad in the 1st place, but that is in the past, it's fixed now, time to move forward.

[jenrik2714]

I went to a CPS School and we did have pools and so did the other CPS schools in the area. It is bureacracy and red tape that is letting it get this bad not to mention the cut in funding schools have due to the war in Iraq and other things.

[momto4]

jenrik2714 said:

The 94-year-old school in Englewood, one of the city's most disadvantaged neighborhoods, was adopted as part of Jackson's crusade for school funding reform, which began last fall with his leading Harper families on a tour of Aurora's Waubonsie Valley High. There, they marveled at the Olympic-size pool, planetarium and well-equipped music program.

Last winter, a tour of Harper also spotlighted a library of empty shelves and obsolete books; a gym devoid of lighting or a scoreboard or working showers in the locker room; a first-floor girl's restroom lacking stall doors and working plumbing; no athletic or band uniforms; and only 50 aging band instruments shared by 200 students.

It sounds like wonderful things are happening at Harper. However it strikes me as odd that I keep hearing about the instruments that we have here at WV. How many instruments does WV actually provide? As far as I know, the thousands of IPSD kids who play a band or orchestra instrument need to provide their own instrument, except perhaps in the case of the very large and hard to lug around instruments. I understand that some or most of the students at the other HS may not be able to afford to rent or buy instruments, but JJ doesn't give any credit to the fact that the PARENTS are providing the musical instruments here, not the school district/taxes.

[EagleDad]

jenrik2714 said:

the cut in funding schools have due to the war in Iraq and other things.

Do you just make this stuff up? Where'd you get this from?

[jenrik2714]

eagledad said:

jenrik2714 said:

the cut in funding schools have due to the war in Iraq and other things.

Do you just make this stuff up? Where'd you get this from?

I don't have to make it up. Why must you continue to mess with me?

[EagleDad]

Seriously, do you have any evidence that there has been a cut in school funding due to the war in Iraq?

I'm not messing with you, rather I dispute falsehoods you present.

[wvhsparent]

Jen,
I ws going to ask the same thing, maybe not the same way though.

Can you provide us with how the war has hurt school funding? Because if that's the case; that sounds like something we should be taking up with our elected officals.

[jenrik2714]

Excerpts taken from the The Iraq Quagmire: The Mounting Costs of War and the Case for Bringing Home the Troops
A Study by the Institute for Policy Studies and
Foreign Policy In Focus

By Phyllis Bennis and Erik Leaver and the IPS Iraq Task Force


Social Costs

U.S. Budget and Social Programs: The Administration’s FY 2006 budget, which does not include any funding for the Iraq War, takes a hard line with domestic spending— slashing or eliminating more than 150 federal programs. The $204.4 billion appropriated thus far for the war in Iraq could have purchased any of the following desperately needed services in our country: 46,458,805 uninsured people receiving health care or 3,545,016 elementary school teachers or 27,093,473 Head Start places for children or 1,841,833 affordable housing units or 24,072 new elementary schools or 39,665,748 scholarships for university students or 3,204,265 port container inspectors.

Economic Costs

Unemployment: Unemployment figures today range from 20 percent to 60 percent. By comparison, during the Great Depression, U.S. unemployment peaked at 25 percent. Up to 60 percent of Iraqis depend on food handouts and the average income has dropped from $3,000 in the 1980s to $800 in 2004.

Corporate War Profiteering: Most of Iraq’s reconstruction has been contracted out to U.S. companies, rather than experienced Iraqi firms. U.S. auditors and the media have documented numerous cases of fraud, waste, and incompetence. The most egregious problems are attributed to Halliburton which has been awarded more than $10 billion in contracts. Pentagon auditors found that Halliburton failed to account adequately for $1.8 billion in charges for feeding and housing troops.

[EagleDad]

Ah yes, the "Institute for Policy Studies" (IPS). One of my favorites. For those that would like to read up on the source of this "data", you can do so here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Policy_Studies
But alas. I'll try to keep my own politica beliefs out of it.

Still no direct correlation between the war and reduced funding jenrik. Those are only simplistic "what-if" numbers of what "could" be bought with monies allocated to the war, not "what was eliminated" to fund the war.

[jenrik2714]

If I would of known this was a pro Bush board, I would of never signed up. Yes you are probably part of the corporate evil

What evidence do you have to suggest the contrary?

Alot of programs have been cut due to the increased funding of the war. Illinois, is already $4.8 billion in the hole and will be facing $4.3 billion fewer available tax dollars. Clearly, at a time in which state and municipal budgets are being squeezed due to a slowing economy and reduced funding from the federal government as a result of fiscally expensive tax cuts, additional burdens can only mean budget gaps will be closed either through painful belt tightening or the further elimination of programs and services all together. In fact, this process is already picking up for some states. The New York Times reports that Arizona, New Jersey and Missouri (among others) are cutting funding for arts programs, with Missouri eliminating such funding altogether. In Oregon, budget woes are already impacting education, with schools finding that budget shortfalls may mean shorter school years. Meanwhile, 42 states are looking at having to cut expenditures in Medicaid, a critical lifeline for millions of senior citizens without access to private health care.

All this makes a significant difference in the daily lives of millions of citizens, and can greatly affect the overall health of our society. But the conversation about the war in Iraq, as played out in the speeches of politicians and the media, makes little or no reference to these realities. The NPP study points out that $100 billion is roughly three times what the federal government spends on K-12 education and is enough to provide health care for all uninsured children in the U.S. for 5 years. $100 billion is also 55 times the amount the federal government spends in a year on emergency homeless assistance. Pick your critical domestic spending priority, in fact, and it is safe to say $100 billion buys a whole lot more of it than we are currently experiencing. Then they try to put up a smoke screen on the war by trying to ban gay marriage.

Yes I did attend school in Chicago, but it doesn't mean I am dumb.

You don't like the truth about race and this war. You sit in your big house in the big White Eagle blind to what real life is. I am sure not all people in White Eagle think like you, but the majority do.

[Avenging Eagle]

jenrik2714 said:

You don't like the truth about race and this war. You sit in your big house in the big White Eagle blind to what real life is. I am sure not all people in White Eagle think like you, but the majority do.

You rang, Jenrik?

OK I am here to kick you a** about disrespecting White Eagle.

I want you to walk door to door in White Eagle and take your poll, and get back to me with the numbers. If over 50% of the residents in White Eagle fall into your stereotype, then let me know.

Otherwise, I will begin the a**-kicking.

[gatormom]

jenrik2714 said:

If I would of known this was a pro Bush board, I would of never signed up. Yes you are probably part of the corporate evil

You don't like the truth about race and this war. You sit in your big house in the big White Eagle blind to what real life is. I am sure not all people in White Eagle think like you, but the majority do.

I did not know this was a pro Bush board either. Time to get the tin foil hat out again.

Jenrik, if anyone made a sweeping generalization about a minority group, you would have been all over it. You have just done the same thing to a group of people by virtue of where they live. I find your comments offensive. My neighborhood was called a ghetto by some. That was disturbing. And now I am offended that someone would depict an entire subdivision as indifferent to the world just because they live in big houses and are part of corporate America. I find that troubling.

This thread is about something positive. Harper High is getting some long overdue attention. I hope we can celebrate that success, as I thought that was what this thread was about.

[jenrik2714]

So I guess no one is going to notice what ED said. I guess I am always wrong. He wants to keep challenging me, then so what, he has to deal with the responses right back.

I am suprosed at you Gatormom. You have been fighting for your school to get recognized in the city of Naperville and without success because people in these towns refuse to do so and you are criticizing me because I happen to say something. I am a little person in this big world just like you. Like I said, the majority of people in that subdivision do think Republican. On the other hand, the majority of people worked hard to get there *not getting handouts either* The majority of our area is Republican. They think their little world is perfect. God forbid if you say something that upsets the bubble.

The thread was about the sucess of Harper High. I just happened to say bureacracy and decreased funding is what caused the lack of success of Harper before.

Yes I used race alot, it is true. Tell me, have you ever stepped in a person of color's shoes to see what they experience? Obviously not. THe educational system is different for whites and minorities and you can refute it all you want, because you don't experience it, don't refute it to be false. I mean when the Quad County Urban League has to go to Longwood just to address the diversity issues, I mean doesn't that say alot?

[gatormom]

jenrik2714 said:

I am suprosed at you Gatormom. You have been fighting for your school to get recognized in the city of Naperville and without success because people in these towns refuse to do so and you are criticizing me because I happen to say something. I am a little person in this big world just like you.
The thread was about the sucess of Harper High. I just happened to say bureacracy and decreased funding is what caused the lack of success of Harper before.

Yes I used race alot, it is true. Tell me, have you ever stepped in a person of color's shoes to see what they experience? Obviously not. THe educational system is different for whites and minorities and you can refute it all you want, because you don't experience it, don't refute it to be false. I mean when the Quad County Urban League has to go to Longwood just to address the diversity issues, I mean doesn't that say alot?

I think ED can stand up for himself so I chose not to respond to that part of your post.

I don't know why you believe I have been unsuccessful in fighting for Gombert. I think I have been very successful. The district (I refuse to fall into a Naperville/Aurora stance) has shown respect for an area they did not know or understand before.

I am not a little person in a big world. I find that comment is belittling to both of us.

You are correct, I do not walk in a minorities shoes. I cannot speak for minorities, but can you deny that our district is trying? Have you been to any SB meetings where discussions of minority hiring have occurred? I have. I believe our district is attempting to bridge minority gaps and does need the help of minority families in our district to identify problems.

Jenrik, pointing fingers anywhere does no good. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. I am not sure where you stand at this point.