Roberto Clemente Community Academy: A counter-narrative on Chicago school reform, 1988--1998

This case study presents a counter-narrative about urban school reform. From 1988-1998, Chicago's Puerto Rican community (Puerto Rican Chicago ) authored and implemented a school-wide reform at Roberto Clemente Community Academy. Inspired by the work of Paulo Freire, the reformers aligned the high school's mission and vision with a comprehensive agenda for community transformation in Puerto Rican Chicago. Shortly after implementation, a media campaign ignited allegations about Clemente's reformers misusing public tax dollars to indoctrinate students with anti-American Puerto Rican nationalism and finance a campaign to release fifteen convicted Puerto Rican "terrorists." The media campaign prompted local and federal officials to convene special hearings and FBI grand jury investigations to investigate Clemente's reform. As a result, an "official story" circulated about the "radical reform led by Puerto Rican terrorists." Although accusations remain unproven, recent changes in Chicago's school policy prematurely terminated the reform. Consequently, many reform advocates were frustrated and disappointed with the criminal portrayal of their work and the redirection of school control back to the Board of Education.;Case study methodology revealed the reform's origins and trajectory. Through analyzing school documents, newspaper articles, and conducting in-depth interviews with nine reform advocates and architects, I uncover a context for understanding that is absent in the "official story." From this analysis, a counter-narrative emerged that features the reformer's accounts and perceptions situated it in a broader discussion of global cities, neoliberalism, globalization, and colonialism. Citing Chicago's shifting political economy and imbalanced urban development since the 1970s, the discussion explores how and why the aforementioned sociopolitical dynamics inhibit democratic participation of marginalized communities who seek to reform schools.