Sarah Karp | 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

Winners and losers in CPS budget July 06, 2012 By: Sarah Karp CPS leadership is proposing a budget that does not include massive layoffs, but that doesn’t mean that some schools aren’t losing teachers and other staff. This year, for the first time, CPS posted a searchable database that shows school-level and unit-level information on budgets and positions. These numbers show how staffing ebbs and flows among schools. Read More \| (10) Comments	Watchdog sounds alarm on CPS plans to empty reserves July 06, 2012 By: Sarah Karp Chicago Public Schools budget released today provides a 2 percent raise for all staff -- but no step and lane increases -- and completely drains the district’s reserves, putting the administration in the position to argue that the district has no money to offer teachers anything more. “We cannot sit on hundreds of millions of dollars and inflict pain on our schools,” says Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley in explaining his rationale for zeroing out $431.8 million in reserves. CPS' total budget is $5.73 billion. Read More \| (24) Comments
CPS to raise property taxes to the limit June 27, 2012 By: Sarah Karp For the second year in a row, CPS will raise property taxes to the max in order to fill a budget deficit, projected to be between $600 and $700 million. Homeowners with houses valued at $250,000 will pay $28 more a year, according to CPS. The move will bring in about $41 million. In a press release, Board President David Vitale said the money will help the district keep class sizes stable, implement a longer school day and invest in preschool. “We don't take an increase lightly,” he said. Read More \| (18) Comments	Community schools will keep funding June 27, 2012 By: Sarah Karp A week after agencies that run community schools were told that they would not get CPS funding for the upcoming school year, the district says that the groups will get their money after all. CPS spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said the $2.5 million will be in the budget for the coming year. She did not say why the district sent out the previous notice that money would be cut. Read More \| (0) Comments
Community schools funding in question June 22, 2012 By: Sarah Karp Organizations that run community schools--the programs that keep school doors open into the evening with classes for adults and activities for children--reportedly have been told by CPS that they will not receive district funding next year. Sylvia Gonzalez, the community schools resource coordinator for McAuliffe School in Logan Square, says the loss will mean that students won’t have as much access to tutoring and a safe place to be after school. Like many community schools, hers opens at 7:15 a.m. and doesn’t close for 12 hours. Read More \| (8) Comments	Students file civil rights complaints against school closings June 21, 2012 By: Sarah Karp Jorel Moore’s story could be told by any number of Chicago students. During his freshman year, school district officials announced plans to phase out his school. Each year, new schools moved into the building and his high school was edged out bit by bit. By the time he graduated, Jorel’s classes were squeezed into 1-1/2 floors of the four-story building. Some classes didn’t have enough chairs. The library was non-existent. Read More \| (5) Comments
CPS awarded grants to "transform" four high schools June 20, 2012 By: Sarah Karp This story has been updated to reflect the actions of the Illinois State Board of Education at their June 21 meeting. CPS was awarded on Thursday a $25 million federal School Improvement Grant to perform what is called "transformation" on four high schools and to turnaround one. Read More \| (17) Comments	A temporary fix June 18, 2012 By: Sarah Karp Only 16 district-run schools have their own full-time social worker, and most of the 16 are turnaround schools that will only have the extra resources temporarily. One of these is Fenger High in Roseland, a school that CPS points to as a model: Located in a troubled community where violence is common, the extra support provided for students has made a difference, district officials maintain. Principal Elizabeth Dozier boasts of a sharp—66 percent—decrease in student misconduct reports since she took over in the summer of 2009. Read More \| (0) Comments
Crisis team swamped by more cases June 18, 2012 By: Sarah Karp The phones ring at a steady pace. “Crisis,” Catherine Malatt answers, pulling out a pad of paper. It is a Thursday morning in early May. A principal is calling, with an out-of-control child in his office. Malatt takes notes, asking the principal what he is doing and what his next steps are. Satisfied that he knows what to do, she tells the principal to call back later and tell her how it went. Close by and within ear-shot, psychologist Daniel Zoller follows up on an incident report about a fight, helping the school’s disciplinarian figure out a response. Read More \| (2) Comments

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