IL HR0011

Urges the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and stakeholders to build a new high school on Chicago's West Side to serve the Austin community, which has approximately 14,000 high school-age students but only 1,038 total seats in three existing schools.

Proposes constructing West Side Unity High School on the 133,600 square-foot site of the old Emmet School, which is already owned by Chicago Public Schools and qualifies as a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) area with over $20,000,000 in available funding.

Notes that Austin Community Academy High School was phased out by 2007, reducing the neighborhood's high school capacity from 6,000 students to 1,038 students across three smaller schools, forcing many students to travel long distances or apply to selective magnet schools.

Congratulates President Barack Obama on the dedication of Barack Obama College Preparatory High School and commends Mayor Rahm Emanuel for expanding educational opportunities while urging them to build an additional high school on the West Side.

Identifies multiple elementary schools that could feed students into a new high school, including Austin neighborhood schools and Ellington, GR Clark, DePriest, Spencer, Hay, Nash, Brunson, McNair, Lovett, and Young Schools.