As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.
Join the conversation
We encourage our readers to leave comments and engage in dialogue about our stories. But before you do, please check out our "rules of the road."
Current Issue
Why this parent blames the mayor for teachers strike
I think the mayor is just plain wrong and at fault for the current strike. I think he set out to demonize the teachers and imply they were overpaid and under-performing.
By: Melissa Lindberg / September 17, 2012
-
Melissa Lindberg
My kid is in a Chicago public school—a really good one, with selective enrollment, great teachers, and a great new “green” school building that is LEED-certified - but has no air conditioning. And here’s the thing: It's getting warmer earlier--in the 80's last March, and hot in school. You know what? It's hard to learn and to teach when it’s too hot. The heat makes it difficult to concentrate.
Why is this relevant? The lack of air-conditioning in some schools is just one of the issues that have been raised by teachers in the current strike. In Track E schools, students were in non-air conditioned schools during several days of over 100 degrees and weeks of over 90 degrees. Were the kids there to actually learn, or to make the Board of Education feel good that they’re providing extended school hours for them?
The extended school day is another issue. It's fine to say we need longer school days to meet current educational standards. It's not fine if you have no curriculum for those extended days-- no art, no music, no physical education, no recess.
Plus, everyone agrees that teachers should be evaluated. Teachers want evaluation so they can improve their teaching skills. But how do we know if a teacher is good? If kids like the teacher? Some kids don’t like good teachers because they enforce discipline and make them work. If the principal likes the teacher? Some principals play favorites, or penalize teachers who have spoken up about things that aren't going well. If the test scores go up? Surely test scores are unbiased data points, right?
Well, let's examine that. My kid’s school has great test scores. It also has great teachers, kids who are motivated, parents who are supportive, a new building, textbooks, computers, art and music classes, and PE. But take the same school, the same teachers and principal, and plop them down in a violent neighborhood, take away the selective enrollment, and what happens? Test scores go down. Are the teachers suddenly less qualified, less talented, less caring, and worse at teaching? No. The environment has radically changed. Introduce factors like poverty and crime, and suddenly it becomes very difficult to teach and for students to learn at the same rate.
Then what happens when a school “fails?” It's shut down, and likely re-opened as a charter school with non-union teachers. Undoubtedly, some charters are better than the schools they replaced—but overall, charters are no better.
Why disrupt neighborhoods, close schools and fire teachers just to open charter schools that perform no better? Seems like the answer is 1) to bust the union -- the trend these days is very much towards blaming public sector unions for all our financial ills; and 2) turning public money into profit centers for individuals and corporations.
However, if you fire all the teachers, who will be left to teach? If you fire just the bad teachers, can you replace them all with good teachers? Or will you find mediocre teachers, compliant teachers, disengaged teachers, and call it an improvement? Who will go into teaching if the Board of Education and the mayor routinely put down the entire teaching profession and call into question their honesty, their commitment to their students, their quality as teachers? Who will go into a profession that demands constant continuing education if you are just told that your education and your degrees are worthless and you are paid too much? And why is a middle-class income too much money to pay our teachers?
Failure of leadership, not teachers
When you talk to teachers, what you find is a deep anger over cuts in education funding and the feeling that the children are not being served well by the system. They argue that every school needs a social worker and a school nurse, and text books on the first day of classes, not six weeks in. They argue that the emphasis on testing forces them to teach to the test and to teach students how to fill in little circles on a form—not to teach them critical thinking, or creativity, or love of learning. They argue that kids need art, because it unleashes creativity. They argue that kids need music and physical education, because these are lifelines for students who are otherwise drowning in the stress of their daily lives. They argue that no one should be expected to work 24% more per day and then take a pay cut. They argue that cutting health benefits means more sick days for teachers, more disruptions in the classroom. They note the major disrespect they feel from the mayor and his hand-picked Board of Education. They've been made to feel that they are at fault for everything that is wrong in the schools.
Meanwhile, Illinois is 50th in the nation in education funding. Let that sink in. And TIFs have been a major force in siphoning off money from education and into the hands of private developers, with little accountability for how those TIF dollars have been spent.
So perhaps the current situation isn’t all the teachers’ fault. Perhaps it is a major policy failure on the part of every single politician who has ever voted for a budget in the state, city, and county. Perhaps the appointed Board of Education is at fault for applying business models to education, with no basis in any research in education that has ever been done.
Perhaps the failure comes from the leaders, not the teachers.
Meanwhile, CPS parents have routinely seen their concerns dismissed by that same Board of Education. CPS parents have attended public hearings to argue forcefully against having their neighborhood schools closed, against sending their kids to other public schools and either placing them in unsafe environments or forcing them to travel through unsafe environments. The board has consistently gone ahead with their predetermined plans for school closures, teacher dismissals, principal dismissal and the labeling of schools as “failures” even as significant improvements were being made.
For all these reasons, I think the mayor is just plain wrong and at fault for the current strike. I think he set out to demonize the teachers, imply they were overpaid and under-performing. I think he wants to break their union so he can stop paying middle-class wages to public employees, and instead create profits for his friends in the charter industry. I think he’s a Democrat in name only-- just like Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, he wants to break all public unions, and the police and fire-fighters unions are next on the list. He thinks he can get away with it—but here’s hoping that he doesn’t.
Do non-union schools perform better? Richard D. Kahlenberg, writing for the New Republic, notes otherwise:
“The theory that a non-union environment, which allows for policies like merit pay, would make all the difference in promoting educational achievement never held much water. After all, teachers unions are weak-to-nonexistent throughout much of the American South, yet the region hardly distinguishes itself educationally. Indeed, the highest performing states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey—and the highest performing nations, such as Finland—have heavily unionized teaching forces.”
Thank you to the Chicago Teachers Union for teaching us all this past week about what the real issues are, and what the "education reform" movement is all about. We don't need Democrats who mimic Republican talking points on education or fiscal policy.
Melissa Lindberg is a CPS parent.
Anti-Charter Bias?
I teach at a Noble school, so I’d like to answer to some misconceptions.
To response #2, 3, 4: Noble Street is not selective enrollment. It’s free, public education. We have more applicants than we can accept, so we use a random lottery. We serve about 95% minority students, and over 90% free & reduced lunch.
To #3: We do take children with special needs (I have a class that is 30% IEP right now). We don’t fine for misbehavior; we do charge a $5 fee if your misbehavior results in detention. You can say it’s semantics, but words matter. We don’t boot kids to neighborhood schools if fines don’t work.
To #4: What about the other 40%? Source? And again, most charters (and definitely Noble Street) are NOT selective enrollment. And we’re still outperforming some of the actual selective enrollment schools.
To #12: Any school that prepares students for college & life is the answer. Some of our charters are doing that now; some aren’t. Some of our CPS schools are doing that now; some aren’t. It doesn’t help to demonize one or the other – all schools need accountability.
The rhetoric is at a high right now, but it rarely is meaningful or helpful. CPS, charters, private, selective enrollment - all have one goal: educating Chicago's kids. Let's talk about how we can do that best, and examine, appreciate, and emulate those schools that are educating well.
There is no definitive
There is no definitive research that says charters perform better than public schools. None.
list with ACT
Here' the list I posted earlier with ACT added.
First number is growth
Second number is ACT
1) Northside – 7.2, 29.6
2) Noble Pritzker – 6.7, 21.4
3) Noble Chicago Bulls – 6.4, 20.8
3) Noble UIC – 6.4, 21.9
3) Payton – 6.4, 27.8
6) Noble Rauner – 6.3, 21.0
7) Young – 5.9, 27.0
8) Noble Rowe Clark – 5.7, 19.7
9) Noble Muchin – 5.6, 20.8
9) Noble Golder – 5.6, 20.1
11) Jones – 5.4, 25.1
12) Noble Comer – 5.2, 19.3
12) Noble Noble St. – 5.2, 20.0
14) Urban Prep West – 5.0, 17.7
15) Chicago Academy (AUSL) – 4.8, 19.3
16) Lane Tech- 4.7, 23.9
17) CHGO Math And Sci.(charter) – 4.5, 18.2
18) Lincoln Park – 4.4, 22.3
19) Von Stuben – 4.2, 20.2
20) Lindblom – 4.1, 22.1
By the criteria used last year, it seems that Noble UIC again has the highest open enrollment ACT with a score of 21.9.
I believe Noble UIC has the fewest low income students in the Noble Network . By CPS criteria this school is 82% low income and 9% SPED.
A deep analysis using student level data to build a model projecting students through different school types would be much more meaningful than these simple lists.
So what did you do?
If there were problems this bad at Waters, what did you do? Call CPS? Run for the LSC? Organize parents to all show up at LSC meetings to demand? change? Contact the media and out the situation? How did it end? What did you do? My kids schools and the neighborhood schools are great with nothing like this and have involved parents, as I'm sure Waters does. What did you do?
CHARLOTTE DANIELSON - Thanks!
I sure will look into this! Post any source material that you might have, if you would be so kind . I am planning to contrast CD with PAR and this would be really useful to add on.
noble teacher
You are right but after i saw that documentary called two missions i was sickened. I especially dont understand the husband wife director thing. You guys seem like good teachers. I just wish they would pay you more.
Charter schools. I agree with
Charter schools. I agree with the other post that not every charter school is operated the same way, just as every public school is not the same. Perhaps it is not fair to make blanket statements about the quality of education. At the same time, it really isn't fair for politicians, the board, the media, etc to compare public with charter schools.
Charter schools take in students from the same neighborhoods as the public schools. However, in order to get into a charter school, you have to sign up for a lottery. This signing up is 1 giant part of how charter schools are selective, even if the lottery itself is random. While signing up for enrollment ahead of time may be common in say Wrigleyville, check out schools in say Austin. Every year, I start my class with about 13 kids on my list. Of those 13, maybe 4 transfer out to a new school before school even starts (maybe they were selected for a charter school or selective enrollment school, maybe they moved out of the are, etc. Who knows.) every year, my list of 13 or so that goes down to 9, every year it goes up on the actual first day of school. So now I have 24 students. Yes all enroll on the first day. Then by the end of the first week I have 30. Then a few weeks in, I get up to 35 students. Students enroll late for all sorts of reasons. They didn't know school had already started. They just moved into the area from another state. The adult at home had no transportation to get them to school. They are homeless and staying with different relatives from time to time. Really rough things for these families and kids. Again, in the same neighborhood that charters get their kids from. But the parents who are invested enough to know about the charter school are the ones who sign up. And the families that move from shelter to shelter, are they the families with enrolling in charters? And if a family comes into the neighborhood late in the year, those spots are full (unless a student in a charter decides to leave, then the spot opens to the next student on the list, BUT NOT the new family who is staying with family for the next few months.
Are there enforceable class size limits in charter schools? I would assume if there is a lottery, it is because there is high interest and they need to cap it somehow. So kids 1-28 get admitted. Kids 29-300 sorry, you are on a wait list until one of kids 1-28 leave.
CPS has a "cap size" of 28 in primary, but when new families come, we cannot turn them away. Which is why I have 35 students. (Thanks a lot for all the reform, Rahm.)
Do charter schools kick students out if they cannot fix up their grades or behavior? How would one explain Urban Prep starting with a large freshman class and dwindling down to a very small senior class?
Again, I realize that not every charter is the same. And I bet some/most of the teachers in charters are caring and pretty good. However, I would also say that most of the teacher in Chicago public schools are caring and pretty good.
What makes a charter school "good" or desirable for parents is their ability to "weed out the rif-raf". Yes, every parent wants their child to be safe at school. I am not arguing against enrolling your child in a charter school. But comparing the end results from each school and praising one and punishing the other when it's not apples and apples makes no sense.
It would be similar to comparing a regular neighborhood school to a magnet or selective enrollment school.
Charter schools. I agree with
Charter schools. I agree with the other post that not every charter school is operated the same way, just as every public school is not the same. Perhaps it is not fair to make blanket statements about the quality of education. At the same time, it really isn't fair for politicians, the board, the media, etc to compare public with charter schools.
Charter schools take in students from the same neighborhoods as the public schools. However, in order to get into a charter school, you have to sign up for a lottery. This signing up is 1 giant part of how charter schools are selective, even if the lottery itself is random. While signing up for enrollment ahead of time may be common in say Wrigleyville, check out schools in say Austin. Every year, I start my class with about 13 kids on my list. Of those 13, maybe 4 transfer out to a new school before school even starts (maybe they were selected for a charter school or selective enrollment school, maybe they moved out of the are, etc. Who knows.) every year, my list of 13 or so that goes down to 9, every year it goes up on the actual first day of school. So now I have 24 students. Yes all enroll on the first day. Then by the end of the first week I have 30. Then a few weeks in, I get up to 35 students. Students enroll late for all sorts of reasons. They didn't know school had already started. They just moved into the area from another state. The adult at home had no transportation to get them to school. They are homeless and staying with different relatives from time to time. Really rough things for these families and kids. Again, in the same neighborhood that charters get their kids from. But the parents who are invested enough to know about the charter school are the ones who sign up. And the families that move from shelter to shelter, are they the families with enrolling in charters? And if a family comes into the neighborhood late in the year, those spots are full (unless a student in a charter decides to leave, then the spot opens to the next student on the list, BUT NOT the new family who is staying with family for the next few months.
Are there enforceable class size limits in charter schools? I would assume if there is a lottery, it is because there is high interest and they need to cap it somehow. So kids 1-28 get admitted. Kids 29-300 sorry, you are on a wait list until one of kids 1-28 leave.
CPS has a "cap size" of 28 in primary, but when new families come, we cannot turn them away. Which is why I have 35 students. (Thanks a lot for all the reform, Rahm.)
Do charter schools kick students out if they cannot fix up their grades or behavior? How would one explain Urban Prep starting with a large freshman class and dwindling down to a very small senior class?
Again, I realize that not every charter is the same. And I bet some/most of the teachers in charters are caring and pretty good. However, I would also say that most of the teacher in Chicago public schools are caring and pretty good.
What makes a charter school "good" or desirable for parents is their ability to "weed out the rif-raf". Yes, every parent wants their child to be safe at school. I am not arguing against enrolling your child in a charter school. But comparing the end results from each school and praising one and punishing the other when it's not apples and apples makes no sense.
It would be similar to comparing a regular neighborhood school to a magnet or selective enrollment school.
Comparisons
Great post above. I have some confidence that CPS policy makers understand it's not "apples to apples" when comparing a particular charter to a nearby neighborhood school. But I'm not an understandably skeptical CTU member.
I don't agree that some charters aren't more efficient with their "charter student cohort" compared to those students attending traditional schools. Many charters provide more instructional hours at the same or less cost to CPS. That's a major benefit to some students if delivered in the right environment.
It seems to me that student's need for effective teacher instructional time varies from zero (successful home schoolers) to a heck of a lot for children in poverty. CPS has a couple billion a year to spend on teachers. Their job as managers of a low income school system is to buy the most high quality instruction they can afford. What's good for (union) teachers is not always good for students.
Noble effectively provides ~325 minutes per week of english, math, and science. How is that going to be done in a traditional high school under the CTU contract within the money CPS has available?
A great many moderate people do not care about union ideology or the sanctity of the neighborhood school. What are the most effective long term choices for students considering the probable budget?
A closer look at the Urban Prep 100% college "success story".
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Get past the sales pitches.
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1240
An even more detailed look at the Urban Prep story.
http://madisonamps.org/2011/10/11/some-truth-about-urban-prep-and-why-it...
Some Urban Prep numbers by Gary Rubenstein
The chart is particular clear. http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2011/03/06/same-kids-same-building-...
Don, do you see charter
Don, do you see charter teachers agreeing to work long stressful hours for less pay for more than 2 years? It's a burn out job. Just like TFA.
Aren't charter schools starting to form unions too?
Urban Prep
Anyone truly wondering about in Urban Prep can sign up for a tour:
http://www.urbanprep.org/support-us/seeing-believing
Great article
I really enjoyed this article and think the article, and the comments, provide a more realistic and frank discussion of the situation than what has been reported in some news outlets. I don't understand where the contempt and hatred for teachers that has surfaced in recent weeks came from. My son is in a wonderful public school and I highly value the teachers and staff. All of his teachers have been outstanding. And I trust them with my child's future, which is saying a lot. I try to volunteer in the classroom at least 2 days each year, and feel that very few people could handle teaching 30+ students each day, much less excel at it. Most people I know fall apart over significantly less stress than having 20 children asking you the same question all at once while five chat and two are inexplicably out of their seats. If you want good people you have to pay them. I think if they start paying highly educated teachers less than a living wage, we will see a drain of the best talent as they move off to jobs in the corporate or non-profit sectors. As a parent, I think the reform Rahm should look at is to move to an elected school board which includes school representatives, actual experts on education and parents, and also to provide more funds for school improvement and classroom supplies. Does Rahm buy his own tissues, pencils, copy paper and paper towels for work, I wonder?
Stressful hours
Do charter teachers work long stressful hours? Some charters are probably exhausting places to work. So are some CTU schools.
Noble professionals are generally experienced urban teachers and have employment options. They're doing what they want to do.
In my inexpert option, Noble instructional hours per teacher seem pretty high, but CTU hours seem low considering the typical CPS student's minimal academic support at home.
Special Needs Students at Charters
I've actually received students that have been asked to leave Charter Schools, so maybe they take students with mild disabilities, but the more challenged students are left to the professionals at CPS
Don, really, a tour of Noble?
Taking a tour of Urban Prep would be like attending a sales promotion for a time share. All fluff. Looking at results is valid, a sales pitch is not. You can't identify problems and seek solutions with a sales pitch.
Add your comment