catalyst-chicago.org

CPS officials say they have reduced consultant spending by more than $74 million from fiscal year 2009, saving almost 30 percent. Nine out of every 10 dollars were spent on citywide or school-based services, said CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman.

CPS officials say they have reduced consultant spending by more than $74 million from fiscal year 2009, saving almost 30 percent. Nine out of every 10 dollars were spent on citywide or school-based services, said CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman. The District employs consultants and contractors to augment existing staff resources and to meet specialized needs, Huberman said. Consultants are paid to provide actual and direct services – such as tutoring – and not merely to “consult” on such services. (CPS press release)

CORE (Caucus of Rank-and File Educators) holds its 2010 convention Aug. 20-21 at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Student Center. (Substance News)

The American Federation of Teachers group that is organizing Chicago charter schools issued a press release last week charging that the administration of the Chicago Math Science Academy charter school fired a teacher for union organizing. (Substance News)

In the state

Arlington Heights District 214 school board votes to use a new quartile system to report class. (Trib Local)

In the nation

More public schools across the nation are part of a new — and debated — national experiment: single-sex education, The Washington Post reports.

Many Spanish-speaking parents are having trouble helping their children with homework or communicating with U.S. teachers as English-immersion classes proliferate in K-12, according to an Associated Press-Univision poll that highlights the language and cultural obstacles facing Latinos in the U.S. (USAToday)