THE LOOP — Noble Network students packed a hearing on new charter schools Wednesday night, but the debate raged on.
Noble alumna and current staffer Angelica Alfaro said the new school, proposed at 47th Street and California Avenue, is needed for Southwest Side students who have to endure long commutes to Noble Network charter schools on the North Side. She claimed the support of Ald. Edward Burke (14th), state Rep. Daniel Burke (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago).
She led off speakers at Wednesday's 1½-hour hearing and, looking over her shoulder, urged Noble students to be confident and speak their minds, which they did, sometimes snapping their fingers to applaud one another.
Noble is known for its loyal and organized students and parents, who regularly praise the charter network at Board of Education meetings, and it soon turned out that Noble students — many from Muchin College Prep, 1 N. State St., just down the block from CPS headquarters at 42 W. Madison St. — had beaten most others in line to sign up to comment at the hearing, where public comments were limited to two minutes apiece.
They showered praise on Noble and snapped their fingers for one another as a quiet form of applause.
Anita Caballero, board president of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, charged that opponents were allowed just 10 slots, compared with dozens in favor of Noble, and called it "totally unfair" and "totally wrong."
The debate raged back and forth, with the Board of Education scheduled to make a ruling Oct. 28 on the Noble proposal and six other charters addressed in earlier hearings.
Charter proponents advocate school choice, while opponents sid that in the zero-sum game of student-based budgeting they siphon off funding from traditional neighborhood schools. Both sides point to how charters usually have nonunion teachers.
"There has never been a more divisive educational issue," said George Szkapiak, principal at Kennedy High School, which he said would suffer from the introduction of a charter "less than a mile" away.
"This is not the time to divert funds," he said.
"I don't know about taking money from any community," Noble parent Gregory Harris said. "I know what Noble has done," and he recommended approving the new school.
Noble alumna Denise Delgado called the network "a catalyst for education reform in Chicago" and backed the new proposal as "a great resource for the community."
Others begged to differ.
"There's already great high-school options" in the area, said Kennedy teacher Mary Mondt, a Gage Park High School alumna. She urged the board to ultimately "oppose charter-school expansion."
After one Noble student had said she'd be pregnant if she had stayed in traditional CPS schools, Kelly High School student Stephanie DeLeon began her remarks by saying, "I'm not pregnant," adding, "This school is not needed. We need money to fix our school."
Ald. David Moore (17th) said 42 members of the City Council had signed on to a proposed resolution calling for a statewide moratorium on new charters.
"Many of us feel they hurt the traditional public schools," he said. "We want that funding to stay at the schools."
The debate was civil, compared with meetings over the summer on the issue, if dominated in time by Noble students.
Hearing officer Margaret Fitzpatrick said she fitted in as many of the 86 people who registered to speak as she could.
"The students did an especially good job," she said, "all the students who spoke tonight."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
