catalyst-chicago.org

It’s almost 8:21 a.m. at Gary Comer College Prep Charter, nearly a minute after the morning bell. On this sunny day, Principal James Troupis stands in the gleaming foyer, watching several stragglers head to class.

“Hurry up,” he tells one young woman, as she shifts her backpack from one shoulder to the other. “Power-jog if you have to.” The student picks up her pace.

Behind her, two serious-looking students trickle into class. By 8:25, the foyer is empty.

This month, Chicago Public Schools will find out whether the district has been selected for a federal grant to launch a new initiative on merit pay that would radically restructure teacher compensation at participating schools.

Last year, Kenny Rainey was saying goodbye to high school. He had too few credits to graduate and was nervous about his future, but he had a summer job lined up and plans to enroll in an alternative school to earn his diploma.

But now, Kenny is in Cook County Jail’s boot camp, where he was sentenced for possessing an illegal firearm. Two days before he was shipped to the camp, he appeared much thinner than he had been a year ago, and looked pale in the fluorescent light of a jail visiting room.