Gay High School Stymied by Mayor Daly

Mayor Daly of Chicago delays vote on Gay High School. This is a poor move on the part of Mayor Daly. I think his turndown of the School which would have helped LGBT high school students who have been subjected to harassment or could be was probably motivated by political pressures and perhaps, the poor economic times. The need for these kinds of school is dire; too many young LGBT students attempt of commit suicide or drop out of school as a result of outright homophobic treatment and the existence in many schools of a hostile enviroment. Shame on Daly for not doing the right thing. These schools are needed.

SRaphaael

Daley voices concerns about gay high school
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October 24, 2008
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Mayor Daley on Thursday expressed strong reservations about the Chicago Board of Education’s controversial plan to open the city’s first high school serving gay and lesbian students.

One day after his handpicked school board put off a vote on the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, Daley explained why — by expressing his concerns.

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“You have to look at whether or not you isolate and segregate children. A holistic approach has always been to have children of all different backgrounds in schools. When you start isolating children and you say, ‘Only 50 percent here, 40 percent here’ — same thing we went through with the disabled — then you want to do that when they’re adults,” Daley said.

Daley insisted he was not behind the board’s decision to put off a final vote on Social Justice High until Nov. 19. The school would serve a 50/50 population of gay and straight students.

Schools CEO Arne Duncan had hoped to open the school in the fall of 2010 to offer parents and students more choices and a feeling of safety. He has argued that gay and lesbian students have higher drop-out rates because they feel ostracized.

Duncan was emboldened by a national survey of 6,000 middle and high school students released by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network. It showed that nearly 90 percent were harassed at school and that 61 percent felt unsafe.

Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois, said Daley is “absolutely correct” on Social Justice High.

“There’s no doubt there’s violence and bullying of gay kids and something has to be done, but segregating them is not the answer,” said Garcia. “It doesn’t stop bullying at other schools. And if a kid is different and the object of scorn or bullying, instead of addressing it, the teacher might say, ‘Send him to homo high.’

“Instead of a school for gay kids, maybe we need a school for the bullies. Gay kids are not the problem. Bullies and teachers and administrators who don’t stop the bullying are the problem,” he said.

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