Renaissance 2010

Summer 2010

The Renaissance 2010 strategy—close low-performing schools, open new, better ones—has taken the center stage nationally under Race to the Top. But results here in Chicago are decidedly mixed. Almost half of the neighborhoods most in need of better schools have gotten none.

	Order
Searching for equity Sarah Karp In the short time Sharisa Lee’s children have been enrolled at Wendell Smith Elementary School in Pullman, she’s seen the hallways become sparse and classrooms left with empty chairs and desks. Some families moved to new apartments outside Smith’s attendance area. Some students were sent to live with relatives in other neighborhoods deemed safer than crime-plagued Pullman and adjacent Roseland, nicknamed the “Wild Hundreds” (a reference to the east-west streets numbered in the 100s). A few students now travel daily to magnets and other schools, their parents eager to see if they... Renaissance 2010 > Read More
Budget landmines Sarah Karp Despite the cloudy sky, light streams into the imposing, two-story plate-glass windows of the school gym. Seated in several rows of chairs are immigrants, some in jeans and others in their best outfits, clutching papers and balled-up tissues. Behind them on bleachers are students, middle school and high school-aged, neatly dressed in blue uniforms with white shirts. Their teachers hover nearby. The occasion is a swearing-in ceremony for new citizens at the Archer Heights charter school run by the United Neighborhood Organization. It’s emblematic of what UNO once was—a... charter schools, finance and budgets, Renaissance 2010 > Read More
A revolving door for charter teachers Sarah Karp Charter schools had to replace an average of more than half of their teachers between 2008 and 2010, a turnover rate on par with some of the most troubled district-run schools. Experts say that high teacher turnover is associated with a school in turmoil and that instability often hampers student performance. Of the 10 charter schools with the highest turnover, only one—LEARN Charter—had the majority of its students score at or above the state average on the ISAT. Chicago’s charter teacher turnover—from an analysis of charter employee lists obtained by... charter schools, Renaissance 2010, teacher retention > Read More

Searching for equity

Sarah Karp

In the short time Sharisa Lee’s children have been enrolled at Wendell Smith Elementary School in Pullman, she’s seen the hallways become sparse and classrooms left with empty chairs and desks.

Some families moved to new apartments outside Smith’s attendance area. Some students were sent to live with relatives in other neighborhoods deemed safer than crime-plagued Pullman and adjacent Roseland, nicknamed the “Wild Hundreds” (a reference to the east-west streets numbered in the 100s). A few students now travel daily to magnets and other schools, their parents eager to see if they...

Renaissance 2010

> Read More

Budget landmines

Sarah Karp

Despite the cloudy sky, light streams into the imposing, two-story plate-glass windows of the school gym. Seated in several rows of chairs are immigrants, some in jeans and others in their best outfits, clutching papers and balled-up tissues.

Behind them on bleachers are students, middle school and high school-aged, neatly dressed in blue uniforms with white shirts. Their teachers hover nearby.

The occasion is a swearing-in ceremony for new citizens at the Archer Heights charter school run by the United Neighborhood Organization. It’s emblematic of what UNO once was—a...

charter schools, finance and budgets, Renaissance 2010

> Read More

A revolving door for charter teachers

Sarah Karp

Charter schools had to replace an average of more than half of their teachers between 2008 and 2010, a turnover rate on par with some of the most troubled district-run schools.

Experts say that high teacher turnover is associated with a school in turmoil and that instability often hampers student performance.

Of the 10 charter schools with the highest turnover, only one—LEARN Charter—had the majority of its students score at or above the state average on the ISAT.

Chicago’s charter teacher turnover—from an analysis of charter employee lists obtained by...

charter schools, Renaissance 2010, teacher retention

> Read More

Letter From the Editor

Shift course on renaissance

By: Lorraine Forte

Ask Wanda Taylor to give her view on Renaissance 2010, and you get a brief sigh and a “Where do you start?” Her story is a parent’s-eye view of what has happened since Mayor Richard M. Daley and then-CEO Arne Duncan launched the plan in 2004.

Sidebar

New schools: Drivers of change?

By: Sarah Karp

Not really. Over the past six years, the number of students inhigher-performing schools—those in which the majority of students meetstate averages on the ISAT—rose 22 percent.

But Renaissance 2010, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s grand 2004 plan to closelow-performing schools and replace them with better ones (mostly charters), has not been the main spark.

Not really. Over the past six years, the number of students inhigher-performing schools—those in which the majority of students meetstate averages on the ISAT—rose 22 percent. But Renaissance 2010,...

Sidebar

Illinois charters lack transparency

By: Sarah Karp

In Massachusetts, the public can easily find financial information for charters, including how much money they bring in, where that money comes from—including private sources—and how much the schools spend on teacher salaries and other expenses.

In Illinois, it is nearly impossible to get a good read on similar financial information from charters. Doing so, however, could help direct policy, serve as a guide for future charter schools and give authorizers specific information about which charter schools are in financial trouble.

Letters From Readers

Reports on charter school transfers miss a larger truth

By: Andrew Broy

This week, two news reports were released that create the mistaken impression that charter school students in Chicago are more likely to transfer out than students who attend traditional schools. While the stories relied heavily on individual anecdotes, they ignored the only systematic, comprehensive data on charter transfer rates in Chicago. What is even more puzzling is that the stories relied on an "internal CPS memo" when public comparison data is available on the Chicago Public Schools website.

This week, two news reports were released that create the mistaken impression that charter school students in Chicago are more likely to transfer out than students who attend traditional schools....

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