catalyst-chicago.org

The Chicago Teachers Union and community groups fighting Chicago Public Schools' efforts to close down or turn around failing schools marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with protests on the West and Southwest Sides. (Tribune)

And, from the Sun-Times: Scores of school activists waged a Rev. Martin Luther King Day march outside Marquette Elementary School Monday to protest plans to turn over the massive school to what they called a “politically connected’’ operator.

The Chicago Teachers Union and advocacy group Action Now collaborated on a protest Monday against the Chicago Public School’s proposal to close or turnaround 18 schools. Protesters marched from Dvorak Math and Science Academy, on Central Park Avenue and 16th Street, to Herzl Elementary School, on Central Park Avenue and Douglas Park Boulevard. Think Progress has a video of the march.

IN THE NATION

New York Gov. Cuomo will use the budget he unveils this week "to impose union-hated teacher evaluation systems on 700 school districts throughout the state," according to the New York Post.

While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is insisting that he'll move forward with a radical proposal to remove more than 1,500 teachers from 33 of the city's most troubled schools, the United Federation of Teachers is prepared to go to court to stop him. (ny1.com)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has changed his mind about No Child Left Behind. A decade after voting for the education reform legislation, he said in a debate on Monday night that he was sorry he had approved it. (The Washington Post)