Getting into the act: a Chicago principal is concerned about how No Child Left Behind will affect his school

Chicago Reporter, The, Oct, 2003 by Kathryn Monroe

When state exam scores were released this summer, 365 of Chicago's 602 public schools failed to meet national requirements in reading and math. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the students at those schools were offered the option of transferring to higher-scoring schools.

Some 19,000 students did request transfers, but Chicago Public Schools officials announced that the better-performing schools only had space for about 1,100, and the slots would be awarded through a lottery process. Yet, by the beginning of the school year, fewer than half the students who won transfers had switched schools.

So, amid the confusion, some schools began the year scrambling to improve while others were working to accommodate a host of new students. Eliza Chappell Elementary School, located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the North Side, was one of 35 primary schools slated to receive transfer students, and 27 had enrolled there by September.

Over the last several years, state test scores have steadily improved at Chappell, including among minority and low-income students, whose progress is measured under the No Child Left Behind Act. During the 2001-02 school year, the most recent for which data are available, Chappell had 514 students, 65 percent of them Hispanic, 15 percent Asian, 15 percent white and 5 percent African American, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. About 83 percent of Chappell students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, meaning they were from low-income families, and 31 percent spoke limited English.

Chappell Principal Bruce M. Allman takes pride in the school. In addition to its academics, he highlights the JROTC cadet program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, and the karate club that awards belts based on both technique and school grades.

But Allman says he isn't sure what the law and the new transfer students will mean for the school. He's concerned that an influx of low-scoring students will hurt its academic environment and test scores.

Just before school began and students flooded the hallways, Allman sat down with The Chicago Reporter.

Chappell has a diverse student body. What kind of issues has this raised?

We haven't had racial problems. The community seems to be very accepting of all different kinds of people. And our teachers are of a variety of backgrounds, so everybody can see role models that they can adhere to, regardless of their own ethnicity or race. Also, we don't look for problems that don't exist. We all are what we are, and we're here to get educated. So I really don't think we're going to get serious issues with ethnic and racial diversity [with the transfer students]. I don't anticipate social problems, as much as academic problems.

What about issues as a result of economic disparities?

I think there's a difference between the 20 percent who are economically better off and the 80 percent who are struggling. Some people are living two families to a home, and others have a lot of elbow room and are more comfortable. So the disparities exist, but they don't really present themselves at school.

School is the great equalizer. Everybody has to read, everybody has to write, and, if you want to play basketball, you still have to bounce the ball. It doesn't make any difference what your economic situation is.

The children know before the teacher does who the free-lunch people are. It's just amazing. You are not supposed to announce it. It's supposed to be hush-hush. But they look at the [lunch payment] cards, and they can see the codes and realize. And after day one, nobody even mentions it. Everybody seems to be very accepting.

It's almost as if we have a problem with apathy. Our biggest enemy here is sloth. They could do a lot better if they really focused harder and if they did the homework.

How do you feel about the No Child Left Behind Act?

The goal is noble. But the actual statistical outcome that they're expecting is mathematically impossible. By the year 2014, the government says that all children will be at or above national norms. In a normal distribution, you're going to have 50 percent of the kids above the middle and 50 percent of the kids below the middle.

The problem will be that, in two to three years, we won't have any performing schools left, because all the schools that are having testing problems will divest more children into the schools that were lucky enough to do well. And it's not the school's fault. It's the way the cards are dealt. I was dealt pretty good cards and have made good use of it. But if you keep giving me children who are under-performing, eventually I'll be classified as an under-performing school.

What particular problems do you anticipate this fall?

My issues are more nuts and bolts. The [Chicago Board of Education] gave me several thousand dollars to spend on these new kids, but I can't buy anything, because I don't know who they are. I don't know their size, so I can't buy desks and chairs. I don't know what grade they're going into, so I can't buy books. And this is the problem. But the board has been very accommodating, providing me with teachers and providing me with extra money.