Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris | catalyst-chicago.org

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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

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Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris

71 school actions in massive district shakeup March 21, 2013 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris In announcing the largest shakeup ever attempted in one year by a major urban school district, CPS officials laid out a complicated plan for a total of 71 actions--closings, co-locations and turnarounds--that will affect more than 30,000 students. (Full list below.) Read More \| (15) Comments	CPS: School closures could halt after this round November 26, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris If CPS gets extra time to plan this year's round of school closures, district leadership is pledging to stop closing schools for the following 5 years. That announcement made by CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett Monday provided one of the backdrops for the first Commission on School Utilization meeting. Another backdrop was a state legislative hearing set for Tuesday, when lawmakers will consider a bill to extend the deadline to announce school closings from Dec. 1 to March 31. Read More \| (12) Comments
Aldermen take CPS to task over school closings November 20, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris New CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has said that she wants to separate the discussion on closing under-utilized schools from the discussion about opening charter schools, but at a City Council committee hearing Tuesday it was clear that Byrd-Bennett is unlikely to get her wish. Read More \| (19) Comments	Delegates: Strike is over September 18, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris Claiming some major wins and gearing up for a renewed battle against school closings, Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted on Tuesday to suspend the strike. Classes will resume Wednesday morning, a relief for parents who had supported teachers but were ready for the strike to end. Leaving the meeting, delegates looked happy and said they felt victorious. “We are happy to be able to go back with dignity,” said Adam Heenan, the delegate from Curie High School. Read More \| (6) Comments
Strike Day 3: Negotiators report movement, CPS makes new offer September 13, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris In the new contract proposal released late Wednesday night, CPS seems to have sweetened the deal for good displaced teachers. It is unclear if the CTU is happy with this new proposal, but leaving negotiations, CTU President Karen Lewis indicated she is hopeful that on Friday students could be back at school. In addition to teacher evaluation, a sticking point in this contract is the fate of teachers laid off because their school or position was closed. Read More \| (9) Comments	Strike Day 1: Emanuel weighs in, CTU pickets September 10, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris Mayor Rahm Emanuel again Monday called the teachers’ strike one of “choice” and said that negotiators just need to figure out two issues. Though he said the issues were so resolvable that he thought the union should have postponed the walk out, he went on to insist that his position was correct and didn’t seem open to budging. Read More \| (29) Comments
CPS, CTU reach partial agreement in contract talks July 24, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris CPS and CTU announced a partial agreement in ongoing teacher contract negotiations on Tuesday, with the union accepting the lengthening of the school day and the district saying it will hire 477 teachers, giving preference to teachers displaced over the past two years. With these extra teachers and some scheduling changes, such as eliminating a morning prep time and putting lunch for teachers back into the middle of the day, the workday for elementary school teachers won’t be lengthened and will be only slightly longer for high school teachers. Read More \| (19) Comments	Emanuel backtracks on longer school day April 10, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris Under pressure from parents who oppose a 7.5 hour school day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that 7 hours would be enough for elementary school students. “No longer will we have to make false choices,” he said. “Teachers will not have to pick between science and social studies, math versus music, reading versus recess.” High school students will have the 7.5 hour day four days a week, but will be released 75 minutes early once a week. Read More \| (15) Comments
Despite opposition, CPS moves ahead on closings, turnarounds February 22, 2012 By: Sarah Karp and Rebecca Harris Rejecting pleas from parents and grassroots activists not to move forward with school closings and turnarounds, School Board members unanimously approved actions that include a record 10 turnarounds in one year. Read More \| (20) Comments

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