catalyst-chicago.org

The Chicago Public Schools inspector general said Wednesday he is investigating reports that bused protesters were paid to carry signs or read scripts at school closing hearings, the Sun-Times reports.

Reacting to allegations that “rent-a-protesters” packed recent school closing hearings, two ministers said Tuesday it is not common practice for Chicago clergy to pay people to attend hearings or “training. (Sun-Times)

Before she was even hired, Chicago Schools’ new chief health officer Dr. Stephanie Whyte addressed a health problem Wednesday — by rushing to the side of a woman who collapsed during a school board meeting. Later, school board members agreed to payWhyte $157,000 a year in the newly created position of chief health officer for Chicago Public Schools. (Sun-Times)

Parents charged Wednesday that the opposition to a 7.5 hour extended school day touted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel is strong and growing, with more than 900 parents signing a new online petition against it. (Sun-Times)

Chicago schools are serving more healthy food than they were a couple years ago, but many kitchen workers seem to think the district still has a long way to go. (WBEZ)

One of the school actions slated for a February vote by the Board of Education is the permanent location of Chicago High School for the Arts at Doolittle Elementary in Bronzeville. Parents of students from Chi Arts want city and school officials to increase security at the school, in the wake of a Jan. 24 shooting of two teenage girls near Doolittle. A meeting on Chi Arts is scheduled for Thursday evening at CPS headquarters, and parents have launched a petition drive calling for specific steps to increase security, including security cameras and a full-time police officer.

Project NIA, a youth advocacy group, is calling on Chicago aldermen to pass a student safety act similar to one in New York City that forces the school district to reveal the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions per school every quarter. (Catalyst)

Eric Delli Bovi has been named executive director of he Urban Gateways. His appointment is effective Feb. 13. Delli Bovi is a musician and former teaching artist. He has served most recently as the Director of External Affairs at the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he led the capital campaign for Old Town’s newly opened arts education facility. (press release)

IN THE NATION
William Watkins, professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois at Chicago, criticizes the replacement of neighborhood schools with charter schools and the replacement of education leaders with corporate officials in "The Assault on Public Education: Confronting the Politics of Corporate School Reform" (Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 2012), a collection of essays by scholars across the country. Free-market principles should not be applied to school reform, Watkins writes. (Physorg.com)

A study on publicly run schools in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has found that, while single-sex schools may benefit female students who prefer a single-sex environment, they are not inherently beneficial for boys or most girls. While the findings are based on data from one Caribbean nation, experts say they may carry implications for public schools in the United States. (Education Week)

The Obama administration announced long-awaited changes to government-subsidized school meals, issuing rules that add more fruits and green vegetables and reduce the amount of salt and fat. (The New York Times)

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and a Republican-dominated Senate have given new life to an effort to pass legislation that would give permission to students who are homeschooled to play on the athletic teams of their local schools. There are three bills in the Virginia legislature that are modeled after a Florida law informally known as the “Tim Tebow law,” which was passed in 1996 and gave the homeschooled Denver Broncos quarterback a chance to play for local private and public schools on his way to an NFL career. (The Washington Post)