Vote on new UNO charter stalled after Ald. Sposato objects

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Updated: January 15, 2012 8:15AM

Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato (36th) on Tuesday stalled approval of a new charter school desperately needed to ease school overcrowding over the powerful objections of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose campaign co-chairman would operate the charter.

Zoning Committee Chairman Danny Solis (25th) denounced Sposato as an “embarrassment” and claimed the votes are there to approve the zoning change and ignore City Council protocol that allows a local aldermen to be the final word on zoning issues.

But Solis nevertheless allowed Sposato to defer a final vote on the school for 576 K-8 students at 2102-08 N. Natchez to be operated by the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO).

Solis said he is baffled by Sposato’s opposition to the charter school at a time when the 36th Ward is likely to go from 32 percent Hispanic to 67 percent under a new ward map.

“My advice to him was, if this is gonna be an Hispanic ward, why don’t you become a hero and start making your record in terms of how good you can lead a ward that’s predominantly Hispanic?” Solis said.

Sposato said he stalled the charter school because “my decisions are made by what my community says. If my community doesn’t want it, then it doesn’t happen. … I’ve heard them, and they don’t want it.”

UNO Executive Director Juan Rangel, who helped run Emanuel’s campaign, accused Sposato of doing the bidding of the Chicago Teachers Union, which has long opposed charter schools.

The Galewood school would be the 12th in UNO’s charter network. The group is in line for three more charter schools next year.

“He’s being pressured by the teachers union. … But this has nothing to do with the union. This is about relieving overcrowding in Latino neighborhood schools” that are now 3,800 students over capacity, said Rangel, who bussed scores of supportive parents to Tuesday’s Zoning Committee meeting.

“His community of teacher union representatives doesn’t want it, but we have hundreds of signatures on petitions of parents that want the school and there’s a real need.”

Emanuel, a huge fan of charter schools, made no bones about it. He wants the UNO school to “go forward” in time for the 2012-2013 school year. That tight time frame is likely to mean another Zoning Committee meeting later this month.

“No. 1, you have the school crowding issue. No.2, UNO is a good operator for charter programs. I’ve seen the schools directly. I’ve seen the results,” the mayor said.

“I respect what the alderman [Sposato] said, but we’ve been working through the issue already to make sure we can get a new school built.”