The vote was taken by congressmen in Washington, but the blow was felt by Keith Hamilton, a teenage high school dropout from Cabrini-Green.
“The federal government does not determine who gets the money,” says Jackson. “It’s decided on the local level.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The city funds Prologue to work with dropouts between the ages of 16 and 21. “You have to be a dropout to get into Prologue,” says Jackson. “That’s the union card around here.”
“I marched at the federal building against budget cuts,” says Hamilton. “We’ve learned about how the system works and that we have a voice too.”
After she dropped out, she spent most of her time at home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of her infant son, Jose Alexander. “Before I got pregnant, my son’s father would pull me out of school and we would go to the park or the mall,” says Jimenez. “He was 19 and I was 14. I don’t know what I liked about him. He was cute, I guess that’s it. That’s the reason the girls bothered me, because of him. They were jealous. I never see him anymore. He just doesn’t come around.”
The loss of the summer jobs caused the greatest consternation, as mayors, governors, and editorial writers considered the consequences of thousands of jobless teenagers with nothing to do in the summer heat. So the Senate proposed to restore the summer jobs programs by whacking away even more year-round money. The two houses of Congress are expected to settle their differences in funding in the next few weeks. But no matter what compromises they reach, Chicago’s alternative high schools are facing deep cuts.
