Aspira Fight

Roosevelt & River North Public Schools Fight Against Aspira Charter

By Jim Vail

Roosevelt High School teacher Jim McIntosh is helping organize resistance to 
Aspira Charter High School's attempt to move into a nearby school building.

Roosevelt High School and River North Elementary public schools are fighting hard against Aspira Charter School.

The Aspira Charter High School is trying to move into the Aspira Charter Middle School located at Leland and Lawndale Avenues in Albany Park.

"We want to protect our neighborhood schools," stated Brenda Lleyva, a Roosevelt High School graduate and member of the school's local school council at a press conference organized near the school on Tuesday, March 18.   

About 100 people including parents, students and teachers from the River North and Roosevelt schools gathered at the corner of Leland and Wilson to denounce the corrupt charter school's latest attempt to hoodwink the public by moving its charter high school into a public school building.

River North is an elementary school near Kedzie and Montrose Ave. that rents space in the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church where there is little room for the overcrowded school. A physical education teacher told the crowd that they have very little space for physical activities and use a small basement in the church. He said several times during the year he has to ask about 30 kids in his class to maintain silence during their activities because there is a funeral upstairs. He then turned around and stated, "But here there would be so much space to run around, play basketball and even play golf frisbee!"

But not over Aspira's dead body! When River North petitioned the Chicago Board of Education to allow their overcrowded high achieving school to share space with the grossly underenrolled Aspira Charter Middle School, several Chicago Public School (CPS) bureaucrats, including the Network 1 Chief Julie McGlade, said no way, Jose. North River cannot relocate to Aspira.

A crowd of about 100 people in support of neighborhood schools Roosevelt and River North attended a press conference on Tuesday, May 18, to denounce Aspira's attempt to relocated a few blocks away.

Meanwhile, the crafty charter operator with political connections to current Board of Ed President Miguel Del Valle, suddenly announced that their high school was going to relocate inside the middle school.

That was when the Roosevelt and River North communities kicked into overdrive and organized resistance to the insider deal.

"Roosevelt is doing an incredible job," stated 33rd ward Alderman Rosanna Rodriguez at the press conference. 

Rodriguez said she is in full support of her local high school and against the move of Aspira High School down the street that many believe would siphon students away from Roosevelt and thus endanger it's programs, including its highly touted culinary arts program.

Aspira has a history of making inside deals that bypass the community. The Haugan Middle School was originally built about 15 years ago to relieve the overcrowded Haugan Elementary School. It was assumed the teachers would move with their middle school students to the new school. But like a dark wolf that appears out of nowhere, Aspira swooped in and claimed the middle school at the height of CPS charter corruption and dirty privatization deals made behind closed doors.

Several teachers complained about harassment and corrupt actions including an illegal strip search of students at Aspira. The community has been frustrated because unlike a regular public school, Aspira is a private charter operator that does not have a local school council.

Having two high schools located within a couple of blocks of each other makes no sense at all. Rodriguez said Roosevelt is at about 75 percent capacity. 

"Albany Park does not need another high school," read one sign at the rally.

The 33rd Ward Working Families group passed out a flyer at the rally against the Aspira Charter relocation that stated: Moving ASPIRA so close to Roosevelt could threaten enrollment and funding at Roosevelt, ASPIRA has a problematic track record with parents, students and teachers and 71 percent of new charter schools opened between 2000 and 2012 were within 1.5 miles of the 49 schools that would be closed due to low enrollments in 2013 and Aspira has a youth development center named after Board of Ed President Migues Del Valle.

The Chicago Board of Education could make a decision on allowing ASIRA to relocate at their scheduled board meeting May 26th.