Betty A. Sizemore Campus Will Remain Open!
By Ken Hare
Chicago Defender Staff Writer
The Chicago Defender first reported on Betty A Sizemore Academy’s fight with Chicago Public School and its Office of Innovation and Incubation in December of last year. The controversial agency threatened to close the school and put it on an academic warning list to be closed in 2016.
The African-centric academy worked closely with school officials and worked out a plan to remove the academy from the warning list despite a highly dubious and rigged scoring system used by CPS and the Office of Innovation and Incubation as justification.
Despite meeting the agreed upon criteria to save the school, I&I changed course after acknowledging in writing that Betty A. Sizemore had met the necessary objectives to keep the school open. CPS and I&I continued to press forward with closing the Academy that has been open and proudly serving Englewood students and residents since 1998.
However, with lots of public pressure, parental and community support; on March 1st, 2016, it was decided by the Illinois State Charter School Commission that Barbara A. Sizemore Campus was to remain open. In a unanimous vote, according to a press release by Sizemore, the state commission brought the matter to its logical conclusion.
“We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from all of you, the community, and individuals all over this country, who spread the word about the “gem of Englewood”. We appreciate the opportunity to continue providing quality African-centered education to the community of Englewood and [the] city of Chicago, an email statement read.
Sizemore’s Principal, Danielle Robinson said “African-centered learning builds the self-esteem our children and their need to be successful in life – the kind of self-esteem that is predicated on knowledge, love and respect for the experiences of African people and culture. We all came together to show our children they were worth fighting for… and we won.”
View the original Chicago Defender story here on page 9:
https://issuu.com/chidefender/docs/cd_12-09-15
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