CONTACT: Virgil Crawford – 773-678-7593

Emergency Meeting Called For Austin Community On Tuesday Night
The Future Of High School Education In Crisis

Chicago, IL. (May 29, 2007) One of the largest district populations in the city of Chicago is facing a crisis in its public school system.

Across the Austin community on Chicago’s far Westside, concerned local groups have organized residents to speak out at an emergency community meeting this Tuesday night, 6:30 p.m. at Frederick Douglass School, 543 N. Waller in Chicago. Their agenda is to address the future of high school education for Austin students. Several Chicago Public School officials have also promised to attend the meeting to answer questions.

After the closing of Austin High School in 2005, the restructuring plan left the community with insufficient slots to address its large high school population. Many students are forced to travel outside their community, paying their own bus fare, to attend public high schools such as Wells, Clemente and Collins. All of these schools experienced spikes of in-school violence during the process of restructuring. The safety concerns and financial burdens faced by Austin families have been called “a crime” by local residents.

CPS moved to convert Austin’s Frederick Douglass Middle School into a high school, but has failed to provide Douglass with the resources necessary to function fully as a high school. To add to the community’s uncertainty, CPS has not been straightforward in discussing what grades will be served in the long term at Douglass.

Meeting sponsors include the South Austin Coalition, Westside Health Authority, Westside Ministers’ Coalition, and PURE – Parents United for a Responsible Education.