Racial mistmatch between students and teachersLorraine Forte,Debra Wiliams,Illinois needs teachers, especially teachers of color
In January, the Illinois State Board of Education forecast that the state's schools will have to hire 51,500 teachers and 3,500 administrators over the next four years. The need is being fueled by growing student enrollment, a recent bulge in teacher retirements, an increase in teachers leaving the profession and district-level initiatives such as reduced class sizes. The high-demand teaching areas remain math, science and special education.
Meanwhile, the supply line is constricting. Undergraduate enrollment in... > Read More |
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Quiet start, big finish mark Duncan's first yearDan WeissmannLast June, shortly after Paul Vallas stepped down as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, education professor Tim Shanahan got a call from a young man named Arne Duncan. "I'd never heard of him," says Shanahan, an expert on reading from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Duncan, then 36, said he had been Vallas' deputy chief of staff and wanted to come right over. "He said he'd asked a bunch of people about reading, and they said talk to me," Shanahan recalls.
Hearing Shanahan talk about his work, Duncan told him, "What you're describing makes a lot of sense. My mother... > Read More |
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Duncan administration year oneDan WeissmannIn summary
The coming year:
"There are three key challenges they're going to face: Springfield, and the [state's] ... totally unacceptable budget; the implementation of these national education reforms, [implementing them] in a way that ... doesn't bust the school district's budget; and [CTU] contract negotiations."
Paul Vallas
former CEO, Chicago Public Schools
"This next year isn't going to be a picnic."
David Peterson,
Chicago Principals and Administrators Association
The bureaucracy:
"You still have... > Read More |
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Smoke on the horizonDan WeissmannIn his second year as CEO, Arne Duncan will face stiff challenges that his predecessor, Paul Vallas, never had to deal with: declining state revenues, a sweeping new federal education law and a feisty Chicago Teachers Union led by officers elected to shake things up.
Here are details of the hurdles the Duncan administration must clear in year two.
Declining revenues
State legislators are expected to continue haggling over the budget until the session ends in early June, but CPS is almost certain to lose some funding. In early April, estimates of the damage ran... > Read More |
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Politics strain board, union relationsJody TemkinWhen Schools CEO announced a new reading initiative last August, Chicago Teachers Union President Deborah Lynch, then newly elected, found out about it in the next day's newspapers. Not exactly what Lynch had in mind when she was on the campaign trail calling for teachers to have more say in shaping CPS educational priorities.
At their monthly meeting, Lynch let Duncan know she wasn't happy. After that, he seemed more willing to open the lines of communication to keep the union involved when making new plans, Lynch says.
Since then, Lynch has added a second monthly meeting... > Read More |
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CTU in SpringfieldJody TemkinPolitical pundits are predicting that Democrats will gain control of the Illinois Senate after elections this November. This bodes well for the Chicago Teachers Union, which has tested the waters this session in Springfield with several bills.
It was the Republican-majority state Senate that took away CTU's bargaining rights when it gave Mayor Daley control of the city's public schools in 1995. But a redistricting map that favors Democrats, who generally support the CTU, is expected to swing control of the Senate to the other side.
This year, CTU found it had enough votes in... > Read More |
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Scott's ties round out mayor's school teamAlexander RussoIf Mayor Daley took a gamble appointing an inexperienced, youthful Arne Duncan to head the schools, he took no such chance in naming a new president for the Chicago Board of Education.
Little fazes Michael Scott, a fiercely loyal political operative who has worked for the last four mayoral administrations. Scott, 52, has put in more than 30 years in city government and was a West Side activist in the 1970s. He is politically savvy and connected and knows his way around city bureaucracy.
"Michael has been what I would call a diplomat," says U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. "He has fit... > Read More |
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The timeframeChristine OlivaSpring/Summer 2002
Parents notified of school choice.
New hiring standards for paraprofessionals go into effect.
July 2002
Title I funds must be used in accordance with the new law.
September 2002
School choice goes into effect.
Parents of children whose teachers are not "highly qualified" will be notified, and all parents will be told they can request teacher qualification status.
Parents of children in specialized language programs will be notified of students' status and options.
New school report... > Read More |
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