In the News: Friday, Feb. 26

Chicago schools, shortchanged on learning time, seek creative substitutes for gym. (Tribune)

[Michelle] Glick runs Stretch-N-Grow, an in-class fitness program that operates in 22 Chicago-area elementary schools. It and other efforts that offer dancing, yoga and cardio training to Chicago Public Schools students help augment — or are a substitute for — physical education programs.

City school officials say budget constraints are to blame. Spokeswoman Monique Bond says the budget deficit — a half-billion dollars last year — has not improved and "crosses into almost every area of food service and physical education programs."

* Schools Chief Ron Huberman says Chicago faces $1 billion deficit and potential cuts to teachers, after school programs and other services.

* Parents scramble to get kids into popular Parks programs. (Tribune)

* Greg Hinz applauds Huberman’s turnaround push.

* 15-year-old Crane student shot and killed. (Tribune)

* Chicago pays $14.6 million in 17-year-old trampoline settlement case. (Tribune)

Continue Reading In the News: Friday, Feb. 26 »

Huberman sounds school budget alarm; confirms 500 more layoffs No stranger to doomsday budget predictions, CEO Ron Huberman issued a big one Thursday, saying that the state’s huge shortfall announced Wednesday will add to the district’s deficit, bringing it to nearly a billion dollars next school year.
Continue Reading Huberman sounds school budget alarm; confirms 500 more layoffs »

Chicago schools budget approaching the stimulus cliff

In an unusual effort to solicit public input on the budget, Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday proposed $2 billion in cuts to education along with grim revenue estimates for a state awash in $13 billion of red ink.

Notably missing from revenues are some $3 billion in federal stimulus funds sent to schools since 2009, a loss that is part of what national observers call a “stimulus funding cliff” that threatens school districts across the country. In Chicago, where Quinn's cuts would mean perhaps a $200 million shortfall, it’s unclear how well officials have prepared.

Officials hoped the one-time infusion of federal cash would be spent on efforts that would spark lasting reforms that wouldn't require ongoing funding. Catalyst Ohio highlighted a few examples in its latest report, including a plan in Cleveland to buyout older, higher-paid teachers and the creation of a school improvement planning team in Columbus.

Here in Chicago, details on stimulus spending are somewhat murky. Yet, district officials are able to point out only a few examples of spending that will propel reforms.

Continue Reading Chicago schools budget approaching the stimulus cliff »

In the News: Thursday, Feb. 25

Some parents disturbed, others intrigued by turnaround plans for Phillips. (Chicago Journal)

Related: Mary Mitchell defends the turnaround process with a look at Howe.

"It takes adults of like-mindedness with a shared belief about urban education to bring about true change," [said Howe Principal Keisha Campbell].

More than 85 percent of the students' parents participate in school activities, something that was unheard of at the old Howe..."We went to the parents. We introduced ourselves and engaged in several community walks," Campbell said. "We also used the local churches to connect with parents."

* Turnarounds are dominating headlines because the Board of Education stamped plans yesterday to close and turnaround eight schools.

* Honors student skipped over at Board meeting. (Sun-Times)

* WBEZ has unfiltered audio from the Board meeting.

* Former South Loop principal Pat Baccellieri—who recently served as the district’s Executive Director of School Performance Management—takes the helm at Pulaski IB.

* Homeless students more likely to have learning disabilities. (Medill)

* Jones College Prep students sign petition: diversity matters. (Chicago Journal)

* A teacher collapsed and died yesterday at Dunbar Vocational. (Tribune)

Continue Reading In the News: Thursday, Feb. 25 »

It's official: Eight schools will be closed or turned around
The Chicago Board of Education unanimously gave the go-ahead to CEO Ron Huberman’s scaled back plan to close or turnaround eight schools, including two venerable neighborhood high schools.



Continue Reading It's official: Eight schools will be closed or turned around »

In the News: Wednesday, Feb. 24

Signs of success lead to an expansion of Chicago’s New Teacher Center mentoring program. (Tribune)

CPS' previous approaches to teacher mentoring, the GOLDEN system (Guidance, Orientation, Leadership Development Empowering New Teachers) and its predecessor, MINT (Mentoring and Induction of New Teachers), cost less but had inconsistent results, Frost Leo said. Both paid experienced teachers a stipend to mentor new teachers in their schools. Because the mentors were full-time teachers, they did not have time to mentor adequately, she said.

By contrast, the New Teacher Center has full-time coaches who are CPS employees with an average of nine years of teaching experience, said David Osta, director of communications.

* Lots of dramatic news on the school closings front yesterday: CEO Ron Huberman removed Prescott and Marconi from the list and Circuit Judge Leroy Martin Jr. dismissed a union motion to save two schools running the TAP program.

* Sen. James Meeks continues his push for open enrollment. (Daily Herald)

* Illinois faces historic, epic budget crisis as governor prepares revenue projections for public input. (Tribune)

Continue Reading In the News: Wednesday, Feb. 24 »

On eve of vote, Huberman grants two more repreives
And then there were eight.

With a Chicago Board of Education vote fast approaching Wednesday morning, CPS CEO Ron Huberman late Tuesday pulled two more schools off the school closing and turnaround list, nearly cutting in half the original number of targets.
Continue Reading On eve of vote, Huberman grants two more repreives »

In the News: Tuesday, Feb. 23

More protests are planned this morning over plans to close or turnaround nine Chicago schools. (WBEZ)

* The protests follow a raucous education committee hearing in the City Council yesterday, where Schools Chief Ron Huberman pledged to improve the school closings process. The hearing ended without a vote on Ald. Pat Dowell’s and Freddrenna Lyle’s proposed moratorium on closings.

* Of course, the effort to force more community involvement on school closings decisions has a long history, one highlighted by a Grand Boulevard Federation press statement in Substance.

* With dire warnings sounding over the state’s financial future, the Tribune offers a snapshot of the vexing budget cuts facing schools.

* More red ink coverage: Elgin officials sketch out more than $31 million in budget cuts (Daily Herald); Oswego school officials approve $5.5 million in cuts, including 80 jobs (Tribune); District 300 slashes $4.6 million (Daily Herald); Unprecedented cuts planned for District 204 (Daily Herald); Ball-Chatham school officials will cut preK program until state funding is known (SJR); Springfield superintendent: no classroom teachers will be cut. (SJR)

 

Continue Reading In the News: Tuesday, Feb. 23 »

City Council hearing ends without vote on school closings, turnarounds Is it better to do something that means next to nothing, or to do nothing at all?
That’s probably the question that Alderman Latasha Thomas was asking herself this afternoon during a four-hour City Council education committee hearing, as members considered passing a non-binding resolution to put a one-year moratorium on school closings and turnarounds.

Continue Reading City Council hearing ends without vote on school closings, turnarounds »

In the News: Monday, Feb. 22

Chicago youth maxim: Back down at your own peril. (Tribune)

Youth violence has claimed the lives of 18 city students this school year and left more than 110 shot. To stem the scourge, the Chicago Public Schools have launched an unprecedented campaign to intervene in the lives of the most at-risk children and create peaceful environments at the most troubled schools.

Among the challenges officials face is reversing a culture of violence that pervades Chicago's toughest, poorest and most desolate stretches, where pride is a fiercely guarded commodity and showing weakness just invites more trouble.

Related: Changing the hard cases. (Tribune)

* The City Council’s Education Committee will consider a resolution today that would put a one-year moratorium on school closings. (CNC)

* Schools faced with closure rallied at the Rainbow/PUSH headquarters on Saturday. (WBBM)

Continue Reading In the News: Monday, Feb. 22 »

Unfunded mandates bill part of larger school funding push A downstate legislator is pushing a proposal to free schools from some of the state’s unfunded mandates as a way to ease the burdens of districts as they grapple with the current fiscal crisis.
Continue Reading Unfunded mandates bill part of larger school funding push »

In the News: Friday, Feb. 19

* CPS offers $4 million for safe passage programs at 12 neighborhood high schools. (Tribune)

The safe passage proposals requested today will seek groups with at least 3 years of experience offering safety services for high-risk kids, according to district guidelines. Groups will be responsible for tailoring a specific strategy for kids to get to and from school based on unique neighborhood factors, dismissal times and popular forms of student transportation.

* The Sun-Times examines the role Latinos are playing in Chicagoland.

* Ald. Pat Dowell is at the center of debate over school closings. (Chicago Journal)

* More from Medill and the Defender on the removal of five schools from CEO Ron Huberman’s school closings list.

* The Tribune takes a closer look at the mentoring role The League of Black Women play in student’s lives.

* Summer Quest, a college prep enrichment program, may not survive the district’s budget woes. (NewsHour)

Continue Reading In the News: Friday, Feb. 19 »

Early education another victim of Illinois budget crisis Preschool for All, still reeling from a 10 percent funding cut this fall, is now facing even more uncertainty. As the state teeters on the edge of insolvency – with at least $5 billion in unpaid bills this year and a projected deficit for next year large enough to wipe out several state departments – no one is sure how many children the program will be able to serve, or have to turn away, next year.




Continue Reading Early education another victim of Illinois budget crisis »

In the News: Thursday, Feb. 18

More than 300 activists rallied in Springfield yesterday, supporting HB 174 as a way to help balance the state budget and address inequities in school funding. (Chicago Talks)

* Late yesterday, Schools Chief Ron Huberman announced five schools will be removed from a list of 14 slated for closure or turnaround.

The Sun-Times notes that the announcement came just before the City Council took up the controversial school closing process.

The Tribune quotes a somewhat satisfied Jitu Brown of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.

Still, the Board of Education will vote next week on plans to close five schools, notes WBEZ.

* Health advocates hope Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative strikes a chord in Chicago, the First Lady’s hometown. (Medill)

* The Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust and the Post-Tribune Foundation grants $100,000 to KIPP Ascend in Chicago and KIPP LEAD in Gary. (Sun-Times)

Continue Reading In the News: Thursday, Feb. 18 »

Huberman grants reprieve to five schools slated for actions
Continue Reading Huberman grants reprieve to five schools slated for actions »

State backtracks on special education cuts The Illinois State Board of Education is backing off its proposal to cut Chicago’s special education allocation by $53 million this year, but the district still faces the threat of a fundamental change to the way it receives state funding.
Continue Reading State backtracks on special education cuts »

In the News: Wednesday, Feb. 17

Schools Chief Ron Huberman met with top aides last night to review the district’s school closing proposals. Still no word which schools—if any—will be removed from the list. (Tribune)

* A student-led urban teacher program at Illinois State University—called Urban Needs in Teacher Education or UNITE—aims for savvier Chicago teachers. (Tribune)

* Ald. Pat Dowell calls community meeting on proposed turnaround at Phillips High. (Substance)

* Former head of Triumphant Charter found guilty of embezzlement. (Sun-Times)

* Prison documentary says 'stay in school'. (Columbia Chronicle)

* Art for the People lecture series tells the story of WPA murals in Chicago schools. (NewsOK)

Continue Reading In the News: Wednesday, Feb. 17 »

In the News: Tuesday, Feb. 16

CPS officials will change the process for closing failing schools. The district plans to warn struggling schools early, giving parents and educators time to devise their own improvement strategies. (WBEZ)

[Chief administrative officer Bob] Runcie says CPS wants to educate parents on what a high quality education looks like...“And raise their level of expectations in terms of what they should be demanding in the quality of education in their schools.”

Related: A handful of schools will likely be pulled from this year’s list of proposed closings. (WBEZ)

* Two out of three Chicago students exercise less than the government recommends—well behind national and state averages, according to research at Children’s Memorial Hospital. (WBEZ)

* Eric Zorn and Dennis Bryne debate state Sen. James Meeks’ school voucher plan. (Tribune)

* Mayor Daley protests war in pro-education speech at Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards ceremony.

Continue Reading In the News: Tuesday, Feb. 16 »

In the News: Monday, Feb. 15

Tab hits $189,623 in federal probe of selective enrollment practices in CPS. (Sun-Times)

* More from the Tribune on state Sen. James Meeks’ proposal to curtail LSC powers.

"The politics of this are complicated in a year that there is likely going to be some calls for pension reform that impacts new teachers," said state Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), who was involved with the previous attempt to create an local school council task force.

Related: clergy group says Meeks’ bill is bad policy from a good man. (ABC7)

* Aldermen Pat Dowell and Freddrenna Lyle have introduced a resolution to freeze all school closings for one year. (Substance)

* UPC slate assembled for Chicago Teachers Union campaign race. (Substance)

* CPS CEO Paul Vallas out of Chicago mayoral race and into school system planning in Haiti. (Sun-Times)

* James Kane, an engineer for CPS for 37 years, has died. (Sun-Times)

Continue Reading In the News: Monday, Feb. 15 »

In the News: Friday, Feb. 12

State budget wrangling could result in 10 percent cuts to general state aid, says chair of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations Committee. (Naperville Sun)

* Local School Council advocates will today rally against legislation proposed by State Sen. James Meeks at a City Hall press conference at 10am. Meeks’ bill would remove the authority councils now have to hire principals and approve discretionary budgets. (Newstips)

Related: Matthew Blake describes the bill’s rationale and national context.

Meanwhile, the Sun-Times says Mayor Daley has refused to take sides over legislation proposed by Meeks. (Besides the controversial LSC proposal, Meeks is also pushing legislation that would give vouchers for private schools to nearly 40,000 students at the city’s worst public schools.)

More from WBEZ here and here.

* The Chicago News Cooperative profiles Marshall High and the district’s turnaround plans for the troubled school. Marshall was featured in Catalyst’s 2008 In-Depth report on High School Transformation—a program alluded to by Chicago turnaround officer Donald Fraynd in the CNC piece.

Continue Reading In the News: Friday, Feb. 12 »