Failing schools: Should we cut our losses, or fight to reform them?

District officials point out that many families in the area shun Dyett. In recent years, less than 30 percent of students living in the school's attendance zone have enrolled, district figures show. The others have chosen other schools. And there's clearly some apathy among those who have remained; just four adults showed up at a parent meeting the other night.

"That school should have been closed ... a long time ago," said Tenesha Barner, who pulled her son out of Dyett last year because she found the teachers indifferent and the students unruly.

But Dyett's fans say they see great potential in the school.

Students and parents spent the past two years drafting a plan to turn Dyett into a "school of green technology and leadership," brimming with hands-on science and community service projects. They secured pledges of investment from local universities and the teachers union and talked about hiring a social worker and nurse. But the district had already decided to shut Dyett down.

Even without the planned investments, Dyett's boosters say the school has strengths that don't show up in standardized test scores. Dyett collaborates with the Chicago Botanic Garden on a year-round "youth farm" where students grow spinach, sweet peas and strawberries. There's a brand-new athletic center, refurbished last year with corporate help. Tiles hand-painted by students form a mosaic of sparkling suns on one wall. The library, which had just seven books when Dyett was converted to a high school in 1999, has been steadily built up by community donations.

Pierre Williams, 16, is so loyal to Dyett that even though his family has moved out of the area, he continues to attend, taking a train and two busses to get there.

"I want to help keep my school strong," he explained. 

'WE ARE VIEWED AS EXPENDABLE'

The passion for Dyett stems in part from fears over what might replace it.

In the past decade, the district has closed 15 schools in the largely African-American neighborhoods around Dyett. Nine have since reopened as charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run.

By law, charter schools must select their students by blind lottery. But some have rules that make it tough for poor families with chaotic lives - including the many Dyett students who are homeless - to apply. Schools may require parents to buy uniforms and volunteer, for instance, or they may fine students for infractions such as arriving three minutes late. Once students enroll, they must follow strict behavior codes to keep their places; some charter high schools lose half of each incoming freshman class before graduation.

So while some charters get better test scores than Dyett, local activists don't see them as a replacement for the come-one, come-all neighborhood school.

If Dyett were to turn into a charter, it would be "something else that our children can't go to," said Brown, the community activist.

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