CPS bends rules for "Elite 8" athletes

By Liam Martin
Medill Reports - Chicago

High school athletes who do not meet the strict academic admissions criteria at Chicago's most selective schools now have a greater chance of getting in.

The Chicago School Board decided Wednesday that it will allow principals of the so-called elite eight schools to handpick 5% of incoming freshmen, including student-athletes who are ineligible based on a mathematical formula - comprising attendance, grades and two test scores - now used for admissions decisions.

"We thought this was the best way to promote a diverse student body," said CPS spokesman Michael Vaughn after the decision late Wednesday afternoon. "And we want to ensure that kids who don't quite make the grade but are talented in other fields have a shot at the best education possible."

Administrators and coaches throughout CPS are skeptical about how the change might affect their schools, though officials at the elite eight schools were obviously more pleased.

"This is a long time coming," said Tom Horn, boys basketball coach at Northside Prep and a proponent of expanding principal discretion. "It's a great situation for our athletic program and for our school."

Under the plan, principals will have to demonstrate to CPS officials that their picks meet at least one of four criteria for exemption, including advanced achievement in an extracurricular activity, such as athletics.

For Horn and Northside Prep, more discretion in admissions could be a boon to an athletic program that has taken a back seat to the school's focus on academics since its inception in 1999.

"There have been a number of kids in the past who wanted to come here - great students who had real futures as athletes," Horn said. "They couldn't get in because their test scores were one point too low or their grades weren't exactly there. Some of those kids should be here, and now maybe they can be."

The announcement, however, comes after a separate debate about what critics of discretionary admission see as loopholes - that already exist - in elite schools' admissions policies.

The 2007 annual report from the board's inspector general, for instance, led to disclosures earlier this month that a number of applicants to Sabin Magnet on the Northwest Side had falsely claimed they had siblings attending the school.

Under CPS policy, sibling applicants are given a weighted advantage in the lottery process.

In another case, Michael Jordan's son Marcus transferred to Whitney Young from Loyola Academy in Wilmette in his junior year under a separate rule that allows principals sole discretion in admitting transfers.

While Young's principal, Dr. Joyce Kenner, said Jordan fit her criteria and represented a broader attempt to increase the population of black males at the school, some have suggested it is no coincidence that he is also one of the top high school basketball prospects in the area.

Expansion of these discretionary powers raises new concerns from parents, administrators and athletic staffs in the non-elite eight CPS system that the changes could further the competitive advantages already in place for selective schools.

For an elite eight school like Lane Tech, with an enrollment of 4,278, as many as 53 students from each class could be handpicked by the principal.

To Jim Richard, athletic director at Mather High School on the North Side, that's too many.

"I think it stinks," he said. "These schools are already drawing kids because of their academics. Now they'll have their choice of good athletes, too. That's a real leg up on the rest of us."

Vince Carter, head coach of Von Steuben, also on the North Side, said he is skeptical of the changes but believes elite eight principals would be reluctant to tamper with the well-established academic integrity of their schools.

"The integrity of these principals is high," Carter said. "I just don't think the top schools are going to lower their standards too much. The bottom line is these kids still have to pass."

That, according to Simeon head boys basketball coach Robert Smith, is exactly the problem.

While Smith, at the helm of one of the city's perennially dominant boys basketball programs, said he is only mildly concerned about the effect of principal discretion on competitive advantage, he expresses deeper worries about the well-being of students who are admitted to selective schools despite not meeting strict academic standards.

"What if you let one of these kids in because he or she [has] great athletic talent but hasn't quite caught up academically yet," Smith said. "They might fail out. Now you've completely set that kid up for failure."

Administrators and athletic staffs at the elite eights, however, maintain that that won't be a problem, pointing out that CPS policy, even with the changes, will give the board a great deal of oversight on the admissions decisions made by principals.

As announced by the board, principals' selections will still have to score a minimum 44th percentile on admissions exams and persuasively demonstrate to the board their ability to handle the academic demands of elite eight schools.

Northside Prep, for instance, the No. 1-ranked high school in the state and No. 24 in the country, is already legendary for the high academic standards it sets for its students.

With the adequate safeguards in place, coach Horn said he is confident the new policy will work to improve not just the Mustangs' athletic program, but the school as a whole.

"This change could make our school like the Princetons and Harvards of the world," Horn said.

"We'll have student-athletes. We don't want kids who are one-way streets - just good at academics or just good at sports. We want well-rounded kids. That's what's best . for our school."