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Forcing children to be bussed out of their neighborhood school in order to alleviate overcrowding is no solution to this problem. Neither is creating makeshift classrooms out of storage rooms, science labs or computer rooms; nor structuring the school year on a multi-track schedule. Yet in 2009, Chicago Public School (CPS) students still endure these obstacles to a quality education.

According to a new report commissioned by the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO), these burdens are being borne largely by Chicago’s Hispanic children and families.

This school year, 64 neighborhood elementary schools meet CPS’s definition of overcrowding and do not serve the needs of their communities. 70% of these schools are predominantly Latino. The worst example is at Lee Elementary which serves a student body that is 94% Latino and is at 179% of capacity. Overall, there are almost 63,000 students attending an overcrowded neighborhood elementary school, of whom, 79% are Latino.

It is clear that there is no issue more pressing for the Latino community of Chicago and in Illinois than providing a quality education in non-overcrowded classrooms.

It’s time for the state legislature to step forward and support the #1 Latino priority: new school construction for Chicago’s overburdened families.

Call your state legislator today and demand an end to school overcrowding.

Read more at www.uno-online.org or here .