Dispatches from Chicago's south side.
When most college students think of spring break, they think of a tropical getaway along sandy beaches. But for the sixth year in a row, a group of students from Morehouse College in Atlanta is giving back and serving the South Side of Chicago.I think it was cool that they made it to Harlan this week, Harlan is where I graduated from high school. Back in the day, I could've used a young male college student to show me how it is. Hopefully I'd have listened and followed up with them.
The Morehouse mentors were matched with their mentees at Chicago State University on Thursday.
"The reason why I started the Young Men of Color Conference was because, for me, growing up I didn't see brothers who look like me doing successful work," said Corey Hardiman, founder of the Morehouse group called Hope Dealers. "All we are here to do is to promote excellence of young men of color. If they can't see it, how can they become it?"
These spring breakers are focused on getting their CPS mentees ready for a career, helping them resolve conflicts and teaching new life skills.
In state Rep. Robert Rita’s legislative district — which covers a swath of Chicago’s south suburbs and part of the city’s far South Side — just one out of 10 people has a college degree. The daughter of Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) — a friend and political ally of Rita — is being given the chance to buck those odds and earn a degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tuition-free courtesy of a coveted “legislative scholarship” handed to her by Rita.There have been attempts within the last year to eliminate these perks which it has been contended by many was abused by state legislators. For example these waivers - or scholarships - have often been given to the children of other politicos around the state.
That four-year freebie to the state’s flagship state university is valued at nearly $37,000.
It’s the latest in a string of cases in which the children of political insiders have been given one of the two four-year scholarships to a state university that each Illinois legislator gets to award every year to students who live in their district. Legislators also can split the scholarships, giving a partial tuition break to as many as eight students a year.
Beale and Rita (D-Blue Island) have close ties. Beale has endorsed Rita for re-election in the past, calling him a “strong” ally. Beale’s wife works for Rita. Dana Beale is a part-time, $400-a-month legislative aide at Rita’s district office who, until recently, was also making $76,684 a year working for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. And Rita has contributed more than $20,000 to the alderman’s election campaigns over the years.
Beale, who makes $110,556 a year as a Chicago alderman, says none of that put his daughter, Taylor Beale, at the head of the line when Rita was deciding which students would get four years of free college tuition.
“She filled out the application, submitted it to the state rep and received the scholarship,” says Beale.
He describes his 21-year-old daughter as a good student who earned the tuition waiver on merit.
The data, searchable on the Tribune's website, reveal wide disparities in how students from different public high schools perform at college. For example, Bolingbrook High School graduates had an average 2.44 at the University of Illinois, while those from Glenbrook South High School earned a 3.43 — even though college-bound students from both schools had similar average high school GPAs.
The average freshman GPA was 2.52 across all state universities and community colleges, roughly C+ work, based on the state's tracking of more than 90,000 public high school students who graduated between 2006 and 2008. In high school, those same kids exceeded a B average — 3.08.
Graduates who enrolled in Illinois' four-year public universities during that period averaged a 2.78 GPA as freshmen, compared with 3.37 in public high schools.
College and K-12 officials blame the performance declines on myriad factors, from inadequate high school preparation to high school grade inflation, newfound independence and increased partying away from home.
Educators say GPAs often improve following freshman year and are an important factor in gaining admission to competitive undergraduate majors such as business, and graduate and professional programs. In a tough job market, employers also look at GPAs, preferring at least a 3.0 average, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
I could've used this years ago when I was a senior. There was very little clue on my part about federal financial aid (such as grants or student loans) or other forms of financial aid. I know this event is about filling out the FAFSA, but hopefully there are events for getting scholarships and information for students about borrowing money for school. The way college tuition is going up, today's high school senior needs a run-down of college financing.
While white Illinois seniors saw their average ACT scores rise from 22.0 five years ago to 22.4 in both 2009 and 2010, the state's African-American students saw their scores go in the opposite direction.Well let's be sure some of our black high school seniors, will score well enough on the ACTs to be able to get into college. Or at the very least let's be sure they are ready for college.
The average African-American Illinois senior scored 16.9 in 2006, compared to 16.8 in 2009 and 16.7 in 2010, new data released today showed.
Illinois' Hispanic scores dipped from 18.2 last year to 18.0 this year, but were up slightly from five years ago, when Illinois Hispanics averaged a score of 17.9.
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The growing gap comes even though the No Child Left Behind Law has stepped up pressure on schools to close such gaps on state tests, which in Illinois includes the ACT.
African-American students stand to benefit if Illinois wins its bid for $400 million in Federal Race to the Top funds, Fergus said, because part of the money would bankroll the "turnaround" of low-scoring schools, many of which serve minority students.
Levois,This student is working on a rough draft of their research paper right now, but needs any information provided to them before they have to turn in their final drafts by December 7th. Our contact e-mail as always is thesixthward [AT] 1chicago [DOT] net (please remember to change brackets with @ and the dot or period punctuation) but it's also in the sidebar, please respond by sending this blog via e-mail and any information you have for her will be forwarded to her!
I saw your post on The Sixth Ward about neighborhood schools and was wondering if you know anything about Deneen Elementary? I along with 3 other members of my class are doing a school study on Deneen and trying to see how it functions in relation to parents and the surrounding community. Additionally, if you know anyone who is a parent of a Deneen student, we would love to get their perspective.
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Maggie Claudy
University of Chicago
Urban Teacher Education Program
PS: I've attached a copy of our director's letter describing the project in more depth.
In addition to the perspectives of parents with currently enrolled students, we're interested in hearing from former students, former or current teachers, anyone who has an opinion on Deneen.Help a college student out! :P
We also welcome anonymous contributions.
CHICAGO - November 4, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn today named four new members to the Chicago State University (CSU) Board of Trustees, which oversees the management and operations of the higher educational institution.Hopefully this can only lead to good news at Chicago State. Hopefully!
"Chicago State University is committed to academic excellence and strives to provide students with an outstanding educational and life experience," said Governor Quinn. "These new board members are dedicated to that important cause. They will build upon the institution's many strengths, provide our students a great education and continue to foster strong relationships with the university's community."
The CSU board has eight trustees. Seven board members are appointed by the Governor and one voting student trustee is who is selected by a campus-wide student referendum. Working with CSU's Administration, the University's board of trustees is responsible for the overall management of CSU and its branches.
Governor Quinn's new appointments are: Lisa Morrison Butler, Executive Director, City Year Chicago; Gary L. Rozier, Vice President, Institutional Marketing and Client Services, Ariel Investments; Julie Samuels, Community Outreach Coordinator, Openlands; and Zaldwaynaka "Z" Scott, Partner, Mayer Brown, LLC.
For more information on Chicago State University go to http://www.csu.edu/.
The state will deny the financial aid applications of an estimated 130,000 students -- the most in Illinois history.
They were denied because they applied for state aid after May 15, a cutoff months earlier than in years past, thanks to Springfield's budget woes.
Hardest hit? Students at community colleges and returning adult students, because they tend to apply for aid later.
What's more, under the state budget compromise reached earlier this month, which slashed funding for the state's Monetary Award Program in half, no student at any Illinois school will receive aid for the second half of the 2009-2010 school year.
If lawmakers don't provide more funding, "that would be horrendous,'' said Andy Davis, director of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which runs MAP.
