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Mayor: New high school won't be named after President Obama
New high school will not be named after President Obama, Emanuel said in a statement on Thursday.
Chicago Tribune
John Byrne, Juan Perez Jr. and Dana Ferguson, Tribune reporters
9/18/2014
Excerpt:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel backed off Thursday from naming a new elite high school after President Barack Obama amid ongoing criticism from African-Americans who felt the honor inappropriate for a school slated for a wealthy, predominantly white part of the Near North Side.
Instead of naming the new school after his former boss, the mayor indicated he would consider other names for the selective enrollment high school set to be built near the site of the former Cabrini-Green public housing project just northwest of downtown.
“Over the last few months, my team has listened to questions and concerns from the community, ranging from location of the building to the naming of the school. We take that community input seriously, which is why – as we continue to look for a thoughtful way to honor President Obama – we will look for other possible names for this future school,” Emanuel said in a statement.
The flap over Barack Obama College Preparatory High School illustrates a tendency by Emanuel to make splashy announcements before working out the details and getting buy-in from other interested parties.
In this instance, criticism began almost as soon as Emanuel unveiled the plan for the new high school and its name with much fanfare in April. Many in the neighborhood where the school was to be built opposed the site because it would have eaten up part of a park and was close to an elementary school where parking was scarce.
The Emanuel administration has been trying to find a new location in the vicinity.
What’s more, families living in the swaths of Chicago where students don’t reside near elite high schools chafed at the fact the new school would be built little more than a mile from the top-tier Walter Payton College Preparatory High School. In September 2013, Emanuel announced a $17 million addition at Payton to increase capacity.
That wasn't the only beef about the new school's location, however. Powerful far South Side Ald. Carrie Austin, who represents part of the Roseland neighborhood where Obama worked as a community organizer before getting into politics, said she told Emanuel shortly after the announcement that the name was a problem given where it would be built.
“If they’re going to name a school after President Obama they should put it somewhere else,” Austin said Thursday. “Either in Roseland, where he got his start, or in the Hyde Park area, where he lived and has a home. To put it (on the near North Side), that just doesn’t look right.”
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View the complete article, including video, at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ry.html#page=1
New high school will not be named after President Obama, Emanuel said in a statement on Thursday.
Chicago Tribune
John Byrne, Juan Perez Jr. and Dana Ferguson, Tribune reporters
9/18/2014
Excerpt:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel backed off Thursday from naming a new elite high school after President Barack Obama amid ongoing criticism from African-Americans who felt the honor inappropriate for a school slated for a wealthy, predominantly white part of the Near North Side.
Instead of naming the new school after his former boss, the mayor indicated he would consider other names for the selective enrollment high school set to be built near the site of the former Cabrini-Green public housing project just northwest of downtown.
“Over the last few months, my team has listened to questions and concerns from the community, ranging from location of the building to the naming of the school. We take that community input seriously, which is why – as we continue to look for a thoughtful way to honor President Obama – we will look for other possible names for this future school,” Emanuel said in a statement.
The flap over Barack Obama College Preparatory High School illustrates a tendency by Emanuel to make splashy announcements before working out the details and getting buy-in from other interested parties.
In this instance, criticism began almost as soon as Emanuel unveiled the plan for the new high school and its name with much fanfare in April. Many in the neighborhood where the school was to be built opposed the site because it would have eaten up part of a park and was close to an elementary school where parking was scarce.
The Emanuel administration has been trying to find a new location in the vicinity.
What’s more, families living in the swaths of Chicago where students don’t reside near elite high schools chafed at the fact the new school would be built little more than a mile from the top-tier Walter Payton College Preparatory High School. In September 2013, Emanuel announced a $17 million addition at Payton to increase capacity.
That wasn't the only beef about the new school's location, however. Powerful far South Side Ald. Carrie Austin, who represents part of the Roseland neighborhood where Obama worked as a community organizer before getting into politics, said she told Emanuel shortly after the announcement that the name was a problem given where it would be built.
“If they’re going to name a school after President Obama they should put it somewhere else,” Austin said Thursday. “Either in Roseland, where he got his start, or in the Hyde Park area, where he lived and has a home. To put it (on the near North Side), that just doesn’t look right.”
............................
View the complete article, including video, at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ry.html#page=1
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