If Davis Gates had simply defended her family’s decision by saying something like her son really had his heart set on going to that school, then I don’t think anyone could really disagree with her choice.
Instead, the union president initially stonewalled when faced with questions and then offered up an explanation to a local public radio station which threw the South and West sides under the bus and, more importantly, just wasn’t true.
Davis Gates said basically three things last week to a WBEZ reporter: 1) Course offerings for high schools on the South Side and West Side “are very marginal and limited”; 2) Selective enrollment and magnet public high schools were just too far away and would’ve forced her son to, according to the article, “spend hours traveling”; 3) A public high school with a good soccer program (a sport played by her son) and strong extracurriculars are just not available close by, or are in Latino neighborhoods that were too far away.
Look, there’s no doubt whatsoever that problems exist in public schools on the South and West sides. But that doesn’t mean the areas are completely bereft, no matter what internet trolls scream online.
Just as a small sampling, Davis Gates lives only three miles from Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep, a high quality selective enrollment high school which has a soccer team and extracurricular activities.
Lindblom Math and Science Academy in the West Englewood neighborhood has a pretty darned good soccer team and is 6 miles from the union president’s home.
The Catholic school her son is attending, on the other hand, is almost 9 miles from Davis Gates’ home.
Not to mention the area’s charter schools, which are taxpayer-funded and privately operated.
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