Five years ago, Little Village was confident of getting a new high school because the Chicago Board of Education had purchased land and earmarked $30 million for construction. They didn’t, and community residents took action. From business-like-meetings in 2000 to a hunger strike in 2001 to curriculum planning sessions in 2002 and 2003, the creation of a second high school in Little Village is part of a Chicago tradition -- community organizing to get the government on your side. According to Alexander Russo, it also represents a budding variation: the involvement of community development corporations in schools. http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/06-03/0603overview.htm