Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended "PURE has made a preliminary estimate that there are 59 schools where there are no candidates at all, or too few to form an LSC if the election were held today. In addition, there are some 120 schools where there are not enoughcandidates to fill all available slots. You can find the lists here.
"PURE is pleased that CPS has extended the deadline for LSC candidate nominations to 3 pm on March 24. We believe that a larger effort must be made by CPS to get out the word about the extension (so far, nothing has appeared on the CPS web site, for example). Working together, we have set a goal of 8500 candidates for the 2008 LSC election."
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Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 7:35 AM
Hard to believe
NO ONE signed up at Hawthorne? Could that be a clerical error? I find it hard to believe that at this tony magnet school, there were NO sign ups.
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Does this mean that the deadline is extended for all schools or just the ones on the list?
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
The deadline is extended for all schools.
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 8:40 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Still will not help. LSCs are a big waste of time and money. Advisory yes, rule no! Look at the mess they made a Washington HS. Bought off or worn out, LSCs cannot stand since they are designed to be divided and organizations that supposedly support them are devisive--a loosing game for the students..
Charters do npot have councils--this is the slow and inevitable end of LSCs
Charters do npot have councils--this is the slow and inevitable end of LSCs
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 8:44 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Slow death--they should be advisory at best. LSCs are designed to be divided. LSC support organizations are devisive. They will be blamed for motivating daley on ren10 and charters--his way of getting rid of LSC. Instead the law makers should be ashamed. Whatever daley wants daley gets little man....
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
I think LSCs were a dumb idea to begin with. So if they're on the way out, it's fine.
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 9:46 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Do away with LSCs? Sure, how about our presidential elections next - you know, does it really make a difference if it's a Democrat or Republican. Acutally, come to think of it, it doesn't.
Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 10:07 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
You're comparing LSC members to elected government officials (presidents)? Don't think so!
Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 1:24 AM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Before people continue a discussion that's not based on a closer look at the data, here are a few additional facts (based on what's posted here via PURE's website, not on outside stuff).
One. If these figures are accurate, every CPS high school has sufficient candidates. This, of course, is a smaller number than in the past because CPS has been stripping high schools of the right to have LSCs faster than they've been taking away that right from elementary schools. For a look at the alternative, look what's been done to Carver Area High School since the Daley administration militarized it (and abolished its elected LSC). There are several others.
Two. The number of candidates a school is "short" is very low in most cases for the elementary schools that are still (as of the date of the list) coming up "short".
Three. Some of the "schools" with "no candidates" no longer exist. I'm not going to spend more than five minutes breezing over the elementary list, but even a short trip to it reveals that somehow there are some strange "schools" still on the spreadsheet. Unless my notes are off, Howland, Frazier, Anderson (not Andersen), and Colman elementary schools are gone -- some cases, long long gone (the old Anderson building disappeared more than two years ago).
Why are these "units" still on the list at all? One of the more frightening things about the miracle management team at CPS is that Arne Duncan's people cannot even give the public an accurate list of where Chicago's public "schools" actually are at this point in history. Ask for a complete list of "schools" and see how long it takes to get one -- and what form it's in.
If you really want to have a bizarre experience, try and find a complete list with any accurate data in one place on the CPS web site. For people whose claim to fame is their supposed "management skill", this is a real hoot, but the joke is on us.
When the headline "Insufficient candidates at 180 schools..." is adjusted to reflect a closer look at reality, it seems like we're actually looking at between 40 and 50 schools where there is a serious lack of LSC interest -- fewer than ten percent of the total. This is about the same percentage you get for many local elections. Even last year's hotly contested aldermanic elections were not without uncontested elections. The 44th and 48th wards, for example, had only one candidate running, the incumbent. There may have been others. Unless my math is off, that's nearly five percent of all Chicago aldermanic elections in 2007, when of the hottest election years in Chicago history.
Given a couple of facts, there is less to the headline for this thread -- and the implications about "support" for LSCs -- than meets the eye.
There is one other factor: centralized, mayoral, and corporate sabotage of LSCs.
CPS and corporate Chicago once spent more than a million dollars publicizing LSC elections (and offered parents time off from work to participate in LSC work), but this year was little and late. It's not surprising that the interest this year was lower.
The shrillness of the attacks on LSCs have gotten nastier and nastier. LSCs have been under attack for years, but last year's Sun-Times headlines about Curie High School -- egged on by Mayor Daley and his clones -- and the stream of stories against Tom Ramos of the Curie LSC (at least a dozen by my brief count in the Sun-Times alone) would give anyone second thoughts.
Any teacher in her right mind who wants to replace LSCs with Arne Duncan appointees should check out the last ten or twelve schools that were closed or radically reorganized after being sabotaged for years by Duncanian appointees, rather than LSC selected principals.
How do you spell Collins High School?
Austin High School?
As to those who don't like democracy, there are enough alternatives out there to provide even the most avid fan of tyranny the kind of "choice" Arne Duncan offers.
Every town in Illinois elects its school board -- except Chicago.
At the least, most of us with kids in the schools (or who live in the communities served by the local schools) get to elect an LSC and attend LSC meetings where most major things are discussed and where important information is provided. Citywide, we have the example of the Chicago Board of Education's actions the past 13 years as a counter example.
Every vote is unanimous and there is never any debate at public meetings.
And then the Board votes (for the past 13 years) to keep the records of the "executive sessions" secret). Is that the kind of government you really want at every level? If so, you've been getting it in this town for some time now. I'll take the LSCs.
One. If these figures are accurate, every CPS high school has sufficient candidates. This, of course, is a smaller number than in the past because CPS has been stripping high schools of the right to have LSCs faster than they've been taking away that right from elementary schools. For a look at the alternative, look what's been done to Carver Area High School since the Daley administration militarized it (and abolished its elected LSC). There are several others.
Two. The number of candidates a school is "short" is very low in most cases for the elementary schools that are still (as of the date of the list) coming up "short".
Three. Some of the "schools" with "no candidates" no longer exist. I'm not going to spend more than five minutes breezing over the elementary list, but even a short trip to it reveals that somehow there are some strange "schools" still on the spreadsheet. Unless my notes are off, Howland, Frazier, Anderson (not Andersen), and Colman elementary schools are gone -- some cases, long long gone (the old Anderson building disappeared more than two years ago).
Why are these "units" still on the list at all? One of the more frightening things about the miracle management team at CPS is that Arne Duncan's people cannot even give the public an accurate list of where Chicago's public "schools" actually are at this point in history. Ask for a complete list of "schools" and see how long it takes to get one -- and what form it's in.
If you really want to have a bizarre experience, try and find a complete list with any accurate data in one place on the CPS web site. For people whose claim to fame is their supposed "management skill", this is a real hoot, but the joke is on us.
When the headline "Insufficient candidates at 180 schools..." is adjusted to reflect a closer look at reality, it seems like we're actually looking at between 40 and 50 schools where there is a serious lack of LSC interest -- fewer than ten percent of the total. This is about the same percentage you get for many local elections. Even last year's hotly contested aldermanic elections were not without uncontested elections. The 44th and 48th wards, for example, had only one candidate running, the incumbent. There may have been others. Unless my math is off, that's nearly five percent of all Chicago aldermanic elections in 2007, when of the hottest election years in Chicago history.
Given a couple of facts, there is less to the headline for this thread -- and the implications about "support" for LSCs -- than meets the eye.
There is one other factor: centralized, mayoral, and corporate sabotage of LSCs.
CPS and corporate Chicago once spent more than a million dollars publicizing LSC elections (and offered parents time off from work to participate in LSC work), but this year was little and late. It's not surprising that the interest this year was lower.
The shrillness of the attacks on LSCs have gotten nastier and nastier. LSCs have been under attack for years, but last year's Sun-Times headlines about Curie High School -- egged on by Mayor Daley and his clones -- and the stream of stories against Tom Ramos of the Curie LSC (at least a dozen by my brief count in the Sun-Times alone) would give anyone second thoughts.
Any teacher in her right mind who wants to replace LSCs with Arne Duncan appointees should check out the last ten or twelve schools that were closed or radically reorganized after being sabotaged for years by Duncanian appointees, rather than LSC selected principals.
How do you spell Collins High School?
Austin High School?
As to those who don't like democracy, there are enough alternatives out there to provide even the most avid fan of tyranny the kind of "choice" Arne Duncan offers.
Every town in Illinois elects its school board -- except Chicago.
At the least, most of us with kids in the schools (or who live in the communities served by the local schools) get to elect an LSC and attend LSC meetings where most major things are discussed and where important information is provided. Citywide, we have the example of the Chicago Board of Education's actions the past 13 years as a counter example.
Every vote is unanimous and there is never any debate at public meetings.
And then the Board votes (for the past 13 years) to keep the records of the "executive sessions" secret). Is that the kind of government you really want at every level? If so, you've been getting it in this town for some time now. I'll take the LSCs.
Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 6:46 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
George--you are so wrong about LSCs--they have been corrupted much since you were on one at AHS. Just look at the mess at Washington HS. It is the LSC who is bought out and made the deal with the devil at the expense of the students. Not every LSC is like Young HS and even AHS had problems with a horrible community LSC member--no one cried when she passed on to that great LSC meeting in the sky. Wake up on this one George--your frindship with the un-pure is showing.
Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
George, are you saying that the "coverage" of the "insufficient numbers" is really a manipulation of data so that CPS can eventually say "LSCs by volunteers never caught on, so we've decided to appoint"?
Scary.
I've been frustrated with every LSC I've come in contact with because people these days simply can't compromise, have terrible social skills, and take everything personally. And it's so...HIGH SCHOOL to me--popularity contests, bullying, whispering behind the lockers...And there is ALWAYS some nut with too much time on his/her hands. But they've always been interesting, and I've always seen one or two really amazing, hard working members (parents, teachers &/or community members) trying SO hard to move things forward...
I swear I get so depressed by this site. I did get let in on the "corn-flakes-that-look-like-things" phenomenon though--that made me laugh.
Scary.
I've been frustrated with every LSC I've come in contact with because people these days simply can't compromise, have terrible social skills, and take everything personally. And it's so...HIGH SCHOOL to me--popularity contests, bullying, whispering behind the lockers...And there is ALWAYS some nut with too much time on his/her hands. But they've always been interesting, and I've always seen one or two really amazing, hard working members (parents, teachers &/or community members) trying SO hard to move things forward...
I swear I get so depressed by this site. I did get let in on the "corn-flakes-that-look-like-things" phenomenon though--that made me laugh.
Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 3:28 AM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
Friends, you don't have to tell me about "corrupt" or politicized LSCs. I was secretary of the Amundsen High School LSC from 1989 to 1993, when the 47th Ward Regular Democratic Organization (Schulter) took over the thing and tried (unsuccessfully) to create an "Environmental Studies" theme park school in order to get rid of the teachers they (the precinct captains and local politicos on the LSC) didn't like, so they could replace them (like Washington High School today) with patronage hacks.
After they got rid of me (by cutting half the English Department) the following year, most of the scum stuff eventually happened, but they were never able to screw the staff wholesale (as they would have had they been able to do a complete rehire when the school changed themes). There was a lot of patronage (which is part of the reason the school is still corrupted by Latin Kings and Black Stones, to this gentrified day), including a relative of the former head of the Region PTA (also an LSC member). But that was after I left.
Sorry. If you want to return to the good old days of appointed everybody and "Local School Advisory Council" (LSACs were the predecessors of the LSCs; I served on one for ten years), I won't be joining you.
Look what happened when we allowed Mayor Daley to appoint half the City Council. (Count 'em up since 1991). Or the Board of Education.
Democracy might be stressful, but the alternatives are worse.
Any school faculty worth existing in Chicago has figured out how to elect a decent LSC without blowing too many horns about it. Every faculty that goes into this round of LSC elections without knowing which parents and community people are on the side of decency and the teachers is in line to get a dose of reality.
Things will always be iffy in democracy. Whether it's gangsters on the LSC (Phillips had a GD mother for years during the early days; other schools as many; my favorite was the "reformed" Latin King on the Amundsen LSC for a couple of years before I went to Bowen -- involuntarily but ultimately happily).
You still have a week to find candidates and a month to get out the vote for them. You may not like the distraction, but one thing is certain. If you don't pick your LSC, somebody is going to do so. And if you abolish LSCs, you are going to get Arne Duncan (i.e. Richard M. Daley) to pick the principals and everyone else for you.
It's already happening at too many schools.
Is a tyrant and full-bore tyranny really what you want? Believe me, in this town, it's waiting for you.
A year ago, if I had told the 18 schools that just got screwed by Daley edict (via the "Board of Education" and its "CEO") that they were next on the block, most of them would have told me to get lost (or rattled on with some of the same stuff you're sharing right now).
In fact, the people at the Orrs were still being UPC loyalists even after everybody who was paying attention knew they were about to be destroyed. (Anyone who didn't notice that Daley pulled "Phoenix" out of Orr so that it wouldn't be collateral damage was blind).
Same same is happening right now at Clemente, where everybody's more worried about putting up a few bucks to get on my mailing list than looking straight at what's as plain as the nose on their faces. Sabotage of the general high schools, etc.
People, you have a week to find your candidates and a month to organize the vote. Usually, all it takes is one day of phone calls and palm cards for 12 hours. Anyone who can't cock up something that simple has been living in Never Never Land way too long for me to offer any additional suggestions.
Have a nice journey, shipmates (Moby Dick, the Elijah character to Ishmael and his friend).
After they got rid of me (by cutting half the English Department) the following year, most of the scum stuff eventually happened, but they were never able to screw the staff wholesale (as they would have had they been able to do a complete rehire when the school changed themes). There was a lot of patronage (which is part of the reason the school is still corrupted by Latin Kings and Black Stones, to this gentrified day), including a relative of the former head of the Region PTA (also an LSC member). But that was after I left.
Sorry. If you want to return to the good old days of appointed everybody and "Local School Advisory Council" (LSACs were the predecessors of the LSCs; I served on one for ten years), I won't be joining you.
Look what happened when we allowed Mayor Daley to appoint half the City Council. (Count 'em up since 1991). Or the Board of Education.
Democracy might be stressful, but the alternatives are worse.
Any school faculty worth existing in Chicago has figured out how to elect a decent LSC without blowing too many horns about it. Every faculty that goes into this round of LSC elections without knowing which parents and community people are on the side of decency and the teachers is in line to get a dose of reality.
Things will always be iffy in democracy. Whether it's gangsters on the LSC (Phillips had a GD mother for years during the early days; other schools as many; my favorite was the "reformed" Latin King on the Amundsen LSC for a couple of years before I went to Bowen -- involuntarily but ultimately happily).
You still have a week to find candidates and a month to get out the vote for them. You may not like the distraction, but one thing is certain. If you don't pick your LSC, somebody is going to do so. And if you abolish LSCs, you are going to get Arne Duncan (i.e. Richard M. Daley) to pick the principals and everyone else for you.
It's already happening at too many schools.
Is a tyrant and full-bore tyranny really what you want? Believe me, in this town, it's waiting for you.
A year ago, if I had told the 18 schools that just got screwed by Daley edict (via the "Board of Education" and its "CEO") that they were next on the block, most of them would have told me to get lost (or rattled on with some of the same stuff you're sharing right now).
In fact, the people at the Orrs were still being UPC loyalists even after everybody who was paying attention knew they were about to be destroyed. (Anyone who didn't notice that Daley pulled "Phoenix" out of Orr so that it wouldn't be collateral damage was blind).
Same same is happening right now at Clemente, where everybody's more worried about putting up a few bucks to get on my mailing list than looking straight at what's as plain as the nose on their faces. Sabotage of the general high schools, etc.
People, you have a week to find your candidates and a month to organize the vote. Usually, all it takes is one day of phone calls and palm cards for 12 hours. Anyone who can't cock up something that simple has been living in Never Never Land way too long for me to offer any additional suggestions.
Have a nice journey, shipmates (Moby Dick, the Elijah character to Ishmael and his friend).
Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Insufficient Candidates At 180 Schools, LSC Deadline Extended
All elected LSC's in CPS will soon all become appointed LSC's!!!
