Persuasive Topic:
The controversial closure of National Teachers Academy in favor of a new South Loop high school.
Chicago Public Schools Position
Chicago Public Schools formally recommended that the National Teacher Academy(NTA) grade school at 55 W. Cermak Road be closed and converted to a new neighborhood high school serving all or parts of the South Loop, Bronzeville, Bridgeport, Chinatown and other Near South Side neighborhoods. The South Loop is one of few growing neighborhoods in Chicago as the city faces widespread population loss. The Downtown neighborhood is also in the midst of a construction boom that projects to bring thousands of new homes to the area. As a result nearby South Loop Elementary School is getting a new building
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Parents say their school is getting cut out of the neighborhood without their voices being heard. Furthermore, National Teachers Academy Principal Isaac Castelaz, states that he was never consulted on any plans for the school. In two years National Teachers Academy went from the a level 2 ranking on CPS quality ranking to achieve the highest mark on CPS' five-point scale.. In 2016, according to research from the University of Illinois-Chicago, when testing 3rd graders' reading achievement statewide, 56 percent of the low-income, African-American students at NTA scored above the overall state average, compared to 32 percent in the rest of CPS schools, and 26 percent for Illinois schools outside Chicago. The jump in achievement is a source of pride for parents at a school where about 80 percent of students are raised in low-income households. Simply put, NTA excels at achieving exceptional scholastic gains for low-income African American children. Also, it’s worth mentioning that when South Loop Elementary School was built in 1988, boundaries were drawn that excluded and separated low-income black children