stability of Oak Park schools (Chicago, Aurora: school districts, to live, prices)

[Humboldt1]

Rightschoolneeded,

How much African American percentage do you need to have as a minimum in the schools where you are looking to enroll your children?

Whether or not myself and other posters agree with using race as a criteria to determine schools for kids, you have that right as a parent.

Regardless of race, I would choose the top schools for my kids.

[Hatchetman]

Check out Sayre Elementary just to the North in Chicago. I've heard it's a pretty good school.

[Rightschoolneeded]

Humboldt1,

Thanks for that question. Academics are VERY important ... but so are demographics. I've learned that over time. School is more than just academics; it helps in the development of the whole person. I'd like a school in which a third of the students are minorities of some kind. But also with very strong academics.

[linicx]

The fact is the Village of Oak Park is one of the most truly diverse communities in the Chicago area with African American, Caucasian, Asians and Hispanic residens, children and business. Whether or not the school you chose will have one-third African Americans I could not say. If it is a concern I would speak to the principal before I moved into any school district.

Yes, No Child Left Behind skews tests scores in every school. I have never heard any disparaging remarks about the K-8 schools in OP in 60 years. I would not worry about OPRF until my child reached 6th grade. At this point I would be talking to the principle and attending every school board meeting. At the end of two years I will certainly know whether or not my child would attend OPRF or a private highschool.

Fifty percent of Illinois residents are unemployed and are receiving some type of state assistance. Similar remarks can be said of senior residents who also receive some type of state aid, and the unemployed older resident not yet 65 who also receives some type of state assistance. This certainly does not mean that everyone who receives state assistance is a ghetto type or ignorant. Bad things happen to good people during an economic downturn. If you think not, please read the history of the stock market crash and the resulting Great Depression.

[Humboldt1]

Linicx,

How many hispanics do you know in Oak Park?

I know there are some (my girlfriend) but not many, particularly in the northern and western parts of Oak Park.

Finding a school that is a third minority is the posters option. Again, I would not let race dictate where I send my kids to school. Performance is much more important to me than ethnographics (demographics is not just about race).

Linicx,

Also please correct your last post. 50 percent of people in Illinois are not unemployment. U2 may be in the 16-17 percent range though (U2 for the non-economics folks includes those are no longer seeking work and are out of the workforce). There are also a number of under-employed but not the same as unemployed.

Rightschoolneeded,

You understand there is a difference between ethnographics and demographics?

[Rightschoolneeded]

Humbolt1, I do understand that there is a difference between the two. Ethnographics usually refers to a type of data/information collected through a particular type of research method. It encompasses a number of components, one of which involves ethnic groups. In my doctoral program we speak more about demographics, of which race is a component along with other elements such as gender and education.

In this case I'm combining elements of race and education. I completely understand that non-minorities see education as only involving academics. I selected my son's school for kindergarten based on that criteria alone, although I did consider diversity but only mildly. That lack of diversity led to an inherrent lack of understanding (on the part of the administration) about a number of issues and apathy toward issues that were much too important to me. I won't make that mistake again.

Also, I didn't say that the school needed to be 1/3 African American in student population. I said that I wanted the total percentage of minorities overall to be 1/3 of the school. I'm originally from the Midwest, and I know that we usually think of schools in terms of black and white populations, but now I live in the Southwest where most of the minorities are Latino. I just think that there should be a mix of ethniticities just as there is in the real world. Being a highly educated African American woman, I know the importance of seeing others that are similar to ourselves.

[urza216]

I'm white and from the south suburbs and attended elementry school, middle school, high school and community college where blacks were the majority. I am a young unmarried man with no kids. But if I had kids, I wouldn't send them to an 85% black high school even if my old high school was close to 80% black when I went there. I'd prefer a mixed high school where they aren't singled out AND don't grow up to be ignoramuses who act like they've never met a minority before. No offense to anybody.

Like Humboldt1, I would also appreciate a correction from Lininx about unemployment in Illinois.

[Humboldt1]

Urza,

Thanks for your comment.



Rightschoolneeded,

To clarify, you are looking for a school with no more than 2/3 white student population? I understand that you include asian and hispanics as non-white. You should understand that the vast majority of people in Oak Park are either white or black. There are asians and hispanics, but not nearly as many.

Some of the diversity you will find in Oak Park in the more affluent areas of Oak Park will be asian and black, and to a lesser extent hispanic.

My girlfriend is Mexican and honestly we see very little of "her kind", her words, apart from the wait staff and food workers at the restaurants we frequent in Oak Park. We have noticed more hispanics as we approach Berwyn to the south, but not a whole lot until you get south of the Eisenhower.


OakParkDude,

Are there any good schools in Oak Park with less than 2/3 white student population?

If so, where are they located?

[urza216]

Even if I might have to ask for directions out that way, my experience and almost even ROOTS in Oak Park goes back very far. The largest Unitarian Universalist church in Chicagoland is in Oak Park. Although I grew up going to the U.U church in Park Forest on Sundays, I'm not here to tell you my life story.

But yeah, I love the near west suburbs. The Galloping Ghost arcade in Brookfield and Horrorbles, a horror and sci fi memorabilia shop in Berwyn, are worth giving a shameless plug to in my post. Oak Park Bakery is tasty and for a quick bite to eat after checking out Horrobles, there's this Mexican restaurant down the street called Taco Yo that’s decent. They have good flan. Oh, and also there's a guns and knives store I'm assuming with a Brookfield address that's down the street from the Galloping Ghost arcade.. There's a lot of outdoorsy stuff and I bought my green key chain ring that has a retractable blade hidden and attacked on the ring itself from there.

In all of Oak Park's glorious diversity, Humboldt1 is correct in that the Hispanic population is very small. Nearby suburbs have a very significant Hispanic population but most parts of Oak Park have an entrance fee. This isn't the southwestern United States and most Mexicans in Chicagoland are working class or at best, lower middle class. And there aren't very many non-Mexican Hispanics outside of the Chicago city limits. This would be my explanation for it.

[oakparkdude]

I don't have any particular insights into the Oak Park public schools except for one: In my limited experience with District 97 schools, there are an unusually large number of mixed-race children which tend to not show up in the demographic statistics.