When future historians view the wreckage Mayor Emanuel has made of public education in Chicago, I’m sure the conversion of Ames Middle School into a military academy will not top the list.
I’m not sure what exactly inspired the alderman, and he didn’t return my call to explain.
“This is a community school—it’s open to everybody,” says Emma Segura, a member of the Ames local school council. “My children love it. You shouldn’t just take it away from the community.”
But Alderman Maldonado was undeterred. At a meeting last summer, he urged board members to move the marine academy to Ames.
On the other hand, if he sided with Maldonado, he’d have the alderman’s undying loyalty forever—though he may have it anyway, since aldermanic loyalty generally comes with the office.
So within a day, the mayor’s office issued one of its famous clarifications: the marine academy wasn’t moving to Ames—it was staying on the west side.
