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American Morning

Chicago Leads Nation in Military High Schools

Aired April 26, 2001 - 09:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: At the center of the education debate is the need for better schools.

In Chicago, CNN's Kathy Slobogin takes a looks at how military schools appear to be winning a crucial battle in education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY SLOBOGIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may look like the Army and sound like the Army, but it's a public school, one of eight such schools in the city of Chicago.

Chicago has the largest military buildup of any school system in the country: 10 percent of its high school students are now in uniform.

An assistant says it's making a difference.

SUPT. PAUL VALLAS, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Students in those military schools have stronger attendance than students as a whole and higher grade point averages than students as a whole.

SLOBOGIN: Superintendent Paul Vallas says most of the military- style high schools don't have academic entrance requirements, but they do require the student to make a commitment.

VALLAS: What gives the military academy programs the edge is this contractual commitment to meeting certain behavioral standards: I will show up at school, I will not have bad attendance, I will not be a disciplinary problem, and I will follow the classroom rules.

SLOBOGIN: Bronzeville Academy was the first military-style school in Chicago. It's housed in a World War I armory in the heart of the city's notorious Robert Taylor Homes.

The uniforms are provided by the U.S. Army. Socks must be black. Nails must be clean. Uniforms must be perfect. Students without them are sent home.

Although this cadet is merely demonstrating his skill, pushups are used as discipline here.

(on camera): Behind all the spit and polish, there are solid academic gains. More than half the students here test at or above national norms in reading and math, and their scores are 40 percent higher than the citywide average.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you fumble, you get to start over one time.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Except for the daily military drills, the curriculum is standard for Chicago schools. What stands out here is an insistence on presentation.

This teacher is judging not just content, but verbal stumbles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had four.

LAVIN CURRY, CADET: I was an out-of-control student. I was getting in trouble.

SLOBOGIN: Today, Lavin Curry is being promoted to sergeant first class, for academic achievement. A 16-year-old who has never known his father and whose mother was unable to raise him, Lavin was getting Cs and Ds when he came here -- now it's As and Bs.

CURRY: I march so much now I can find myself just walking down the street marching by accident, swinging my arms -- and I look and think, what am I doing -- I'm not in school? I mean, it helps, it carries with you; what you do here carries to the outside.

SLOBOGIN: Retired Brig. Gen. Frank Bacon, who runs Bronzeville, says, like many students, Lavin Curry has been changed by the school.

BRIG. GEN. FRANK BACON, RET.: We had our difficulty with him the first year, and we did some behavior modification on him, and he tells me that he's happy that we did.

CURRY: I actually saw that they were fighting for me and they wanted me to stay, so if they really wanted me to stay that much, then there must be something that they see in me.

SLOBOGIN: Now Lavin plans to go to college. Superintendent Vallas says the military model goes beyond uniforms and drills to reach the students.

VALLAS: I really think that the military academies create a sense of family. There's a real emphasis on looking out for your other student.

CURRY: I think that's more than just the military, the saluting, and the uniform: It's a lot of love, too.

SLOBOGIN: Kathy Slobogin, CNN, Chicago.

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