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April 2007: Children of the Incarcerated

April 2007: Children of the Incarcerated

As the prison population has soared, so too has the number of schoolchildren with one or both parents behind bars. These children show up in classrooms with social and emotional problems that hinder learning. Yet schools are often unaware of the problem and lack resources to help students.

Cover Stories

Collateral damage to kids As the prison population has soared, so too has the number of schoolchildren with one or both parents behind bars. These children show up in classrooms with social and emotional problems that hinder learning. Yet schools are often unaware of the problem and lack resources to help students.
Knowledge, training lacking CPS social workers do not know how many of their students have parents in prison, nor do they know exactly what to do for these children. Catalyst Chicago conducted a survey of school social workers, primarily in schools in South and West side communities that have a higher than average share of children with an incarcerated parent. Here's what the had to say.
Retiring principal on new mission Set to retire in June, a West Side principal is laying the groundwork for an organization that would provide mentors to children in North Lawndale whose parents are in prison.
Wanted: mentors and children A national study found that when they have mentors, children with incarcerated parents do better in school and are less likely to use drugs or get violent, but some advocates worry that mentoring may fall short.
Counseling for 'taboo subject' This school year, Von Humboldt joined more than 1,400 schools, faith communities and social service agencies in Illinois that use Rainbows, a curriculum designed to help grieving children--including those whose parents are in prison.
WebExtra: Measuring impact on test scores when mom goes to prison A unique study that examines how Chicago Public Schools students whose mothers are behind bars perform in school paints a dire picture, yet concludes that the incarceration is not the breaking point in their academic lives.

Letter From the Editor Hope for prisoners' children Statistics show that about half of the male children whose parents are in jail or prison will someday follow in their footsteps. While the situation for these children is extremely difficult, it is not without hope.

Updates

WebExtra: Charter organizing on union’s agenda With help from its national and state affiliates, the Chicago Teachers Union is planning a push to organize charter school teachers.
WebExtra: Fewer schools now on probation 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.
Union campaign heating up Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart and former president Deborah Lynch are trading barbs on the campaign trail leading up to a rematch of the contentious 2004 race that Stewart won on a razor-thin majority.
CPS to lose one in five principals by year's end Chicago Public Schools will be hit this year with a record number of principal vacancies. One in five school leaders—120 systemwide—have notified the district that they will step down from their jobs at the end of the year, CPS reported in mid-March.
Few students use 'opt out' rights 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. Activists say schools aren't doing enough to let students know they can block access to that information.

Q and A

Q&A with Greg Duncan Economic policies that support work and boost income are a proven way to improve children’s academic achievement, says Greg Duncan of Northwestern University. Duncan is co-author of the new book “Higher Ground: New Hope for the Working Poor and Their Children,” on a three-year program instituted in Milwaukee in the mid-1990s.

Notebook

Notebook A collection of facts, figures, and news briefs about school reform—both in Chicago and around the country.

Guest Column

The struggles and lessons of New Orleans Leslie Jacobs and Shenita Johnson Garrard describe how New Orleans is striving to convert a failed, corrupt school system into a decentralized system of schools. With some 60 percent of its public school students enrolled in charter schools, New Orleans has the most school autonomy and competition of any district in the country. To hear their presentations, go to www.catalyst-chicago.org and click on “On the Air.”