Chicago Steps Closer to Opening GLBT School

As reported earlier on GayAgenda.com, Chicago has been seeking safer alternatives for it’s GLBT student body. Pointing to studies showing that gay high school students are at greater risk of dropping out because of stigma and fear of violence, Chicago Public Schools leaders said they will be making the recommendation to open a campus for GLBT students.

Final approval of the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, which would be the city’s first school for GLBT students, is expected to become reality on October 22, when the city’s Board of Education votes.

Arne Duncan, the schools chief said he will ask the board to approve the school. Upon approval it will be expected to open in the fall of 2009. “We want to create great new options for communities that have been traditionally underserved,” Duncan stated. “If you look at national studies, you see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates. . . . I think there is a niche there we need to fill.”

Hopefully with this type of forward thinking, unfortunate events, such as the murder of Larry King, will diminish.