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With help from its national and state affiliates, the Chicago Teachers Union is planning a push to organize charter school teachers.

The American Federation of Teachers, which recently won teacher support to unionize seven charter schools in Florida, has sent national representative Rob Callahan to Chicago to spearhead the charter outreach campaign. (In addition to Florida, the AFT has organized charter school teachers in Maryland, New Jersey, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. New York City's local, the United Federation of Teachers, runs two charters.)

Almost 140 schools that were on probation last year are no longer on the list because their test scores rose in 2006, according to CPS data.

Following the delayed release of spring ISAT scores for 2006, CPS recently released the list of 46 elementary schools that will be on probation this year. A comparison with the previous year's list shows that 138 schools are now off probation.

Only 12 percent of high school students in Chicago Public Schools have taken advantage of their right not to have personal contact information forwarded to military recruiters, CPS data show.

Under a controversial policy enacted as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, school districts that receive federal funding must give military recruiters the same student contact information, as well as access to high school campuses, that is provided to college recruiters and potential employers.