February 2006: 10 years of mayoral control

Chicago was the first big-city school system to come under the authority of the mayor in 1995. Since then, central office has handed down a host of directives. But the key question is: What’s happening to students as a result?

Cover Stories

• Second time around for struggling 3rd-grader Saleemah Muñoz is one of 3,180 3rd-graders in the Chicago Public Schools to be retained in the 2005-06 school year and the only 3rd-grader held back at Jordan.
  
• Great expectations for King Prep come up short The selective enrollment magnet, formerly a low-performing neighborhood school, seemed a perfect fit. But four years later, as she prepares to graduate, Alexandra Hunter says the school reneged on its promises.
  
• Immigrant student faces language, social hurdles Jafet’s experiences over the past 18 months illustrate some the challenges facing the 57,700 students in Chicago Public Schools whose native language is not English.
  
• 10 years of mayoral control: How far have we come? How three students and their schools are affected by the district’s retention policy, the drive to create elite high schools, and tougher accountability for bilingual students
  

Letter From the Editor School reform by the numbers; where do we go from here? A recent survey of voters in Chicago found more than half saying Richard M. Daley is doing a good job as mayor, despite their misgivings over a spate of City Hall hiring and contracting scandals. One bright spot Daley points to regularly is the city’s public school system.