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

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Anyone want a turnaround? May 30, 2008 By: John Myers Updated April 22, 2008--The city’s biggest charter school operator is gearing up to enter the school turnaround game, and the district is taking the first steps to coax more private managers into the mix. Chicago International Charter Schools has partnered with the NewSchools Venture Fund, based in San Francisco, to form a new nonprofit subsidiary to handle turnarounds. Dubbed ChicagoRise, the subsidiary plans to take over at least one elementary school by September 2009. Read More \| (4) Comments	Charters: Open more, or rein them in? April 23, 2008 By: Aaron Chambers Updated April 23, 2008--The Illinois Senate has passed two bills that would give Chicago more charters—in one case, by shifting slots to the city from the suburbs and downstate Illinois. Under the bill sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), five new slots would be shifted to Chicago, giving the city 35 charters—more than half the statewide cap of 60. The new charters would be solely for truants and dropouts; each charter would be allowed up to 25 campuses. Read More \| (0) Comments
Aspiring principals show off their skills April 22, 2008 By: Debra Williams It’s 9:30 a.m. and at the West Side Technical Institute, Miyoshi Knox of Mays Elementary gives her poster-board exhibit and PowerPoint presentation a final once-over. Viewings will begin soon, and she wants to make sure she is prepared to explain her project. Read More \| (0) Comments	Coaches keep rookie teachers on track April 22, 2008 By: Debra Williams Stephanie Hansen, a new kindergarten teacher at Jensen Elementary, was having problems in her classroom. Getting 23 rambunctious youngsters to concentrate on their work was quite a feat, and Hansen admits she wasn’t doing it very well. “I was walking around trying to see what [one] student had written, while keeping [other students] focused on the assignment. And they all wanted my attention,” says Hansen. Read More \| (0) Comments
WebExtra: Late students undermine high school reform March 19, 2008 By: Sarah Karp Posted February 18, 2008--Chicago Public School's multimillion dollar High School Transformation project is forcing the district to confront a long-standing, but quiet problem: Hundreds of freshmen don't register until weeks after the first day of school. In Chicago, a district with one of the shortest school days and years in the nation, this phenomenon hits especially hard at schools where many students are starting out behind. At these schools, students lose out on instruction time and teachers must backtrack on lessons and do more to get kids up to speed. Read More \| (0) Comments	Seeking 10,000 LSC candidates March 17, 2008 By: Rebecca Harris This year, organizations that are trying to recruit parents and community residents to run in the upcoming local school council elections will have to sign up candidates before they receive full funding from the district for their efforts. It's a far cry from the heyday of LSCs when private foundations fronted the money—as much as $400,000—to seed candidate recruitment. Read More \| (0) Comments
New plan to keep freshmen on track March 12, 2008 By: Sarah Karp Research confirms the early signs that students are on their way to dropping out of school: They are older than their peers; they are failing classes; and they are increasingly absent. Now, CPS is trying to figure out what it can do to get these students to change course. Read More \| (1) Comments	Not just for poor schools anymore March 09, 2008 By: Debra Williams The district's alternative certification initiative has changed dramatically over the last three years: Some programs that worked with CPS have ceased operating or been scrapped, and prospective teachers no longer receive tuition subsidies. Read More \| (0) Comments
WebExtra: What a good teacher does March 05, 2008 By: Debra Williams Updated February 13, 2008--Chicago Public Schools is getting closer to changing how teachers are evaluated. For the last three years, a joint district-Chicago Teachers Union committee has been working on revising teacher evaluations, long criticized as virtually useless. (See Catalyst, WebExtra July 2007.) Read More \| (3) Comments