West Cook News

Oak Park and River Forest High School freshmen will no longer have the option to take honors classes in history, foreign languages, English or science.

The high school board voted 7-0 Thursday night to ban honors classes at OPRF, saying they discriminate against black and Mexican students.

After the vote, board member Gina Harris, who worked as a Maywood elementary school teacher and official with the state's largest teachers union until last year, said opponents of the ban were white supremacists. 

“There is an inherent idea that because we are making (formerly honors classes) available to everyone, that it has to be dumbed down and that idea comes from an idea of supremacy," Harris said. "It can only come from one place.”

Board member Kebreab Henry, a telecommunications project management consultant, said opponents have an “inherent fear of having more children of color in a class with white students deemed to be high performing”.

Laurie Fiorenza, OPRF Director of Student Learning and a vocal advocate of the ban, said letting high-achievers take more challenging classes is racist and the reason black and Mexican students score lower than whites on standardized tests.

“I want to assure you that the restructured freshman curriculum will absolutely support and develop all students' talents and abilities to the highest levels," she said.

Five members of the public made comments ahead of the vote, two in favor and three voicing concerns.

Joan Davis, 71, of Oak Park, said she favors the policy, comparing it to a reading program for ex-criminal offenders where she once worked. Davis said the criminals may not have had access to quality education.

"What I found in these reading discussions that I helped facilitate with ex-offenders is how incredibly smart they are," Davis said.

Meg Lewis, 49, of Oak Park spoke in favor, citing her experience as an OPRF parent of a black honors student in classes with too many white students.

"My own experience with my daughters who are both black and both in the honors track is it’s an incredibly isolating experience for them," she said.

Marshall Brown, 47, a parent of a future OPRF student, said he does not favor the policy change because it will penalize the school’s smartest students.

“One of the obligations of the school system is to make sure that every student is being challenged to the best of their ability,” he said. “It’s clear that there will be students that will not be challenged as much as they otherwise could”.

OPRF graduate Ross Lissuzzo, 52, of River Forest, said he didn’t believe the school leadership communicated honestly with impacted parents like himself.

“Our community will continue to be divided as many believe there was never any true collaboration,” he said, predicting a 7-0 board vote.

Former OPRF School Board President John Phelan said the school used an “illiberal process" to pass the honors ban.

“The vote tonight is not the result of study or analysis, but the implementation of an agenda," Phelan said. "What you're voting on tonight is simply a symbolic gesture at best and a distraction of the real solution at worst.”

Evanston Township High School District instituted an English and history honors ban in 2010, moving from five levels of classes to just one.

ISBE reports that in 2017, 87 percent of white Evanston High School sophomores and 27 percent of blacks passed the SAT, versus 76 percent of whites and 23 percent of blacks in 2019.

The debate over whether to reduce, hold or increase class options for students comes test scores have been falling for high school students nationally. 

Last year's National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-term Trends Exam, given every eight years, showed the largest decline in student achievement since the exam’s 1971 inception. It also showed a larger "achievement gap" among students, as the scores of lower-performers have gotten worse.

District 200 board includes President Sara Spivy and members Henry, Fred Arkin, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Tom Cofsky, Ralph Martire and Harris.