Columnist

November xx, 2006

The Haves and Have Nots in the Chicago Public League

by Neil Hernandez    

 There are 93 high schools in the Chicago Public League. Yet the results on the sports field are not evenly dispersed.  A handful of schools consistently finish in the top, the rest struggle to compete in most sports. So in the Public League there are the Haves and the Have nots.  The Haves consistently have good results and the Have nots do not.  Looking at the 2006 Fall sports results (see Table below) I can probably categorize teams in the Haves in no particular order as Lane Tech ,Northside Prep, Mather, Whitney Young, Von Steuben, Payton, Morgan Park. The Have nots are everyone else. We also see that of the 5 of the 7 schools in the Haves category are from the northside.

      Why do those Payton, Lane, Vonsteuben, Northside Prep, and Mather  of the northside  dominate so much in the Public League? I’m sure it’s a combination of a lot of factors. The biggest two that stands out is income and grades. All of those northside schools perform well in the traditional metrics of academic success that is average ACT score per student and other standardized tests. In fact all of those schools are probably in the top 10 in the Public League in average ACT scores. Another reason is economics. All of those schools also have a relatively low percentage of low-income students in their student population. I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of low income students in Lane or Mather but compared to Wells, Spalding, Lindblom, and most of the schools in the Haves category, there's not a lot.

        Now please, I'm not saying that the schools in the Haves a category are objectively better than the other schools. I am saying that schools and communities that do well in the basics like, keeping the school safe, making sure their children are well prepared for life, stressing more parental involvement, and just making an environment conducive for learning have a better opportunity to bring the most out of the children they are hoping to educate.   I'm a Lane Tech grad who grew up in the city. So I know what it's like going to a Chicago Public School. I've been to the buildings of Lane, Amundsen, Robeson, Whitney Young, Roosevelt, Senn, Sullivan, Simeon, Taft, and Northside Prep. So I've witnessed first hands the differences between the Haves and the Have not's. 

     I think it is a safe conclusion to say that a student is much performer in extracurricular activities such as sports when the basics of grades and money are not a big issue. It is not a new revelation to say that there is a high correlation between socio-economic status and sports teams performance. That is why, unless other Public League schools find ways to drastically improve ways to get better performance from their kids. Schools like Lane Tech, Northside Prep, and Payton from the northside and Morgan Park and Whitney Young from the south and new west side will always be at the top of the Public League.

          But the rest of the Public League has a chance. There are a few success stories. The biggest examples that come to mind is basketball. Marshall and Hope have done well in girls basketball despite a high number of low-income kids. Marshall, Farragut, Curie, Crane, and King have prospered in boys basketball. Farragut and Kelly have done the same in boy’s soccer. Those schools have found a way to get the best out of their kids despite the perennial problems of socio-economics. So there is hope for the Public League, but the solution is complicated and will take a great amount of caring people who dare to make a change. It will take people with courage and faith. It will take persistence and a lot of patience. Success will be determined if you can take the situation given to you and improve it to the best of your ability. I’m not sure if a school in a difficult situation like Corliss, Wells, Sullivan, Carver, Brooks, or Harper will ever compete in all sports with the likes of a Northside Prep or Lane Tech, but their only hope is to focus on improving the things they can control and putting forth the effort in making things better every single day.

Fall 2006 Public League Sports Results

This table is not complete. If you know of any missing results, please email the Publisher.

This table is not complete. If you know of any missing results, please email the Publisher.

Walter Payton College Prep located at 1034 North Wells Street. Payton is only 6 years old, yet in Fall 2006 their varsity sports teams finished in the top 4 in Girls Golf, Girls Swimming, Girls Volleyball, and Boys Golf. Their 4 top 4 finishes equals the number of top 4 finishes for all the South side (excluding Morgan Park) Chicago Public High Schools combined!!