In June, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced Chicago would create 100 new schools by 2010. Since then, the bold initiative has hit a series of political and financial snags. Though some will fade quickly, others have left even supporters of the plan questioning its future.
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Back Issues
 October, 2004
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 September, 2004
Chicago schools are hiring more teachers from alternative certification programs, most of them for hard-to-fill specialties such as math and special education. A new study will try to answer the question of whether these teachers do a better job of raising achievement. |
 July, 2004
Summer updates from Catalyst found exclusively online. |
 June, 2004
Chicago has become a leader among urban school districts in bringing more Advanced Placement courses to neighborhood high schools. But racial disparities still exist. African American students are least likely to take AP courses, while Latino participation is surging. |
 May, 2004
Decades of research on student retention have found that repeating a grade generally does not improve students’ academic performance and, in the long run, increases their chances of dropping out. Yet the popularity of such policies is growing. The reasons range from a perceived lack of alternatives, to the motivation that the threat of retention generates in at least some students and parents. |
 April, 2004
Unlike previous efforts, the latest campaign to increase school funding and make it more equitable includes a broad spectrum of advocates, not just those from the education community. All make the same argument: the state’s tax structure is not geared to meet the needs of children. To help politicians over the hump of higher taxes, the campaign is going to the grassroots to explain that need—and the numbers. |
 March, 2004
When local school councils were created 15 years ago, they were given perhaps the most significant task involved in improving a school: choosing the principal. But since then, the School Board has created more new schools where central office, not LSCs, have that authority. Local school council advocates fear the number will continue to grow, while the board says its goal is creating innovative schools. |
 February, 2004
CPS formed its first child care partnership 15 years ago. Today, it has contracts with 71 agencies, making it a leader not only in Illinois but also in the nation. By sharing state pre-kindergarten funds with private day care and community-based Head Start centers, CPS is seeking to increase the number of children who come to kindergarten ready to learn. |
 December, 2003
A joint board-union committee on teacher evaluation has returned to the teachers' contract, following a four-year absence. It will pick up from an initiative launched last summer by Leadership for Quality Education, a business-backed nonprofit, to revise a process that no one finds useful. |
 November, 2003
With 39 percent of teachers new to Chicago resigning within five years, top administrators under Schools CEO Arne Duncan know the district has a problem with teacher turnover. More money and staff are being devoted to mentoring new teachers, but local and national experts say the program falls short of what's needed. |
 October, 2003
Schools CEO Arne Duncan has put education-to-careers on the drafting board once again. In April, he hired Jill Wine-Banks, a lawyer and former business executive, and charged her with ensuring that every CPS career education graduate walk out of high school with the credentials that employers are seeking for entry-level jobs. |
 September, 2003
CPS organizes schools into 24 areas and hires instructional teams to support—and pressure—principals to raise the quality of teaching. A Catalyst survey finds school leaders are responding favorably, but some wonder how much difference it will make. |
