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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to restructure teacher education

Chicago Public Schools released data this week showing the base salaries and other benefits of every CPS official with an administrator's certificate. High school and elementary school principals will make an average of $133,000 this year, with 17 earning a top salary of $154,000. Schools are required to post the salary breakdowns on their websites by Dec. 1. (Sun-Times)

Chicago Public Schools released data this week showing the base salaries and other benefits of every CPS official with an administrator's certificate. High school and elementary school principals will make an average of $133,000 this
year, with 17 earning a top salary of $154,000. Schools are required to post the salary breakdowns on their websites by Dec. 1. (Sun-Times)

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico laid out what he called a plan of “bold, innovative reforms” that he would introduce to the Chicago Public Schools. Chico's plan includes: lengthening the school day, increasing school year, providing every student with a laptop, all-day kindergarten, creating more charter, magnet and college prep schools and cutting the central school administration by one-third. Chico said he said has been thinking about these ideas since he was school board president from 1995-2001. (Sun-Times)

Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone, delivers the keynote address Wednesday at the Education Action Summit sponsored by the United Way and Park Community Church.

In the state

The Downers Grove District 99 school board approved a $66.7 million dollar levy for the current year on Tuesday night. (Trib Local)

Glenview Public School District 34 anticipates smaller tax levy increase than the 5 percent requested. (Trib Local)

Hinsdale High School District 86 launched its first-ever anti-bullying committee Monday in connection with National Bullying Awareness Week. (Trib Local)

In the nation

Momentum builds to restructure teacher education. (Education Week)

A panel of top educators urges a major revision of teacher training programs. (The Washington Post)

A new report by Russ Whitehurst and the Brookings Brown Center Task Group on Teacher Quality on value-added measures in evaluating teachers acknowledges that value-added scores are far from perfect but demonstrate that they are as good as evaluations of workplace performance in use in other fields and are better than other available measures of teacher performance. "We do not advocate using value-added measures alone when making decisions about hiring, firing, tenure, compensation, placement, or developing teachers, but surely value-added information ought to be in the mix given the empirical evidence that it predicts more about what students will learn from the teachers to which they are assigned than any other source of information," the study authors conclude. (release)

6 comments

Thanks Runcie wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

LOVE how the names of the schools are in order by the school's first name.
Amazing how after years, IT cannot get this in alpha order by the school's LAST name.

Did the principal salary include the wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

furlough days we have to take? Same for all else?

Danny wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

So Gerry Chico's "bold, innovative" plan includes providing for a longer school day and year.

And how does he plan to pay for that?

Adding one hour per day entails a 16% increase in labor costs, or better than a half-billion dollars.

Extra days are a little bit cheaper--about one-half percent increase per day.

And these amounts do not include raises. To ask me to work a day that is 16% longer requires you to pay me 16% more. A raise would be over and above that.

I'd like to hear how Mr. Chico plans to pay for this when the state and city are both broke.

CTPF and Springfield wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

I had two interesting discussions with members of the Illinois General Assembly here in Springfield today about the Chicago Tribune article written by Jason Grotto about the very big problems with Chicago's pension funds, in particular the Teacher's pension fund.

One member told me she had regrets about voting for the plan which delayed payments to the teacher's pension fund after reading the story. I told her that at the time I was in Springfield and the projections in the Tribune article were given to members but really no one was listening. I added another point, do you recall who besides the Mayor, CPS, and the Speaker of the House were urging you to vote for the payment delay. She said a lot of people were, I said one voice in particular do you recall. Well no she said. I told her the very newspaper this story was written in urged the members of the General Assembly to give CPS this so called pension relief.

She said by god you are right, now they are attacking us for approving something they urged us to approve that's pretty low life. I told her I agreed, but next time do not accept Tribune editiorials as having much of a basis in reality.

Rod Estvan

War on Education???? wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

Is there a site to find the salaries of all the other public employees so easily??
Why is the whole world picking on teachers and principals so much? We didnt put this country in the finacial mess we have now?? Or at least we are no more to blame? Did they post the salaries of Citibank and Chase when the US lent them money? Are they asking to create new FINANCIAL TRAINING Programs for stock brokers?? Why is there this war on educators???????????

Danny wrote 2 years 26 weeks ago

In the News: CPS releases principal pay data; momentum builds to

War? Picking on teachers? Take a deep breath, and cut back on the hyperbole.

You can find the salaries of the President, Supreme Court justices, Members of Congress, Executive branch officers, and other federal officials whose salaries are set by law.

You can find the salaries of the Governor and other state officials; the Mayor of the City of Chicago and of all the depatment heads.

Taxpayers should be able to see where their money is going, and teachers are public employees. It has nothing to do with some kind of payback for the state of the economy.

Stockbrokers, on the other hand, are private employees. If you are truly that averse to transparency in government, then perhaps you should seek a job in the private sector of the economy.

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