On April 24, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, announced plans to build a new high school in Chicago in the president’s honor.
Barack Obama College Preparatory High School, slated to open in fall 2017, will be a selective enrollment public school on the city’s Near North Side; the 11th selective enrollment high school in Chicago.
According to ABC News, “Emanuel and school officials say Chicago needs more competitive selective enrollment schools. They say nearly 16,500 students applied for 3,200 seats this school year. School officials say the Obama school will open with a freshman class of 300 students. Subsequent grade levels will be added in following years.”
Currently, the Chicago Public School system is the third-largest school district in the nation, with 400,000 students in 658 schools.
As for funding, Barack Obama College Preparatory High School will be built using $60 million in tax-increment financing funds. –ruthie hawkins/@ruubabie
