catalyst-chicago.org

CPS has tapped Allan Alson, the highly regarded superintendent of Evanston Township High School, to oversee its high school transformation project. In 1999, Alson led the creation of a consortium of 15 school districts that were committed to closing the achievement gap between white and minority students. Associate Editor Maureen Kelleher spoke with Alson about what needs to be done to make Chicago's public high schools better.

Talk a little bit about your job and your role in high school transformation.

CPS teachers have another year to go under their current contract agreement, yet union delegates have approved a preliminary list of demands and are gearing up to negotiate a new deal.

Several items on their wish list—shaving 15 minutes off of the school day, eliminating 50-minute periods in high schools, requiring the district to foot the entire bill for health insurance premiums—would undo provisions that were hammered out by former Chicago Teachers Union President Deborah Lynch and her team.

Last October, Chicago teachers authorized a strike after rejecting a proposed five-year contract that was backed by their union's leaders. Anger over the contract's length and health care costs fueled the rejection.

In late November, they approved a revised package by just 2,503 votes (15,289 to 12,786), locking themselves into a four-year pact but winning 4 percent annual pay raises.

Dissatisfaction lingered, sparking a three-way challenge to union President Deborah Lynch in the upcoming May 21 election. If no candidate wins a majority, there will be a two-way runoff.