I’m opposed to the Near South High School plan — here’s why

A vacant lot at West 24th Street and South State Street in the South Loop is the proposed site of a new high school. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

As a story in Tuesday’s Chicago Sun-Times noted, I secured $50 million in state funding for Chicago Public Schools’ proposed new Near South High School. And I have long been committed to assisting community members in their decades-long effort to get a school built.

But that does not mean that I am in agreement with the current proposal to build on Chicago Housing Authority land, on the site of the former Harold Ickes Homes. In fact, I am deeply opposed.