catalyst-chicago.org

It's a big day for the Chicago Teachers Union, as it expects thousands of its members to attend a rally at the Auditorium Theatre that's staged to fire up teachers and serve as a display of muscle in the midst of protracted contract talks with CPS.

CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey says while thousands of teachers will rally at the Auditorium Theatre today, the event will not include a strike vote. (CBS Chicago)

Nearly 80 percent of Chicago Teachers Union members voted to reject the latest teacher contract proposal in recent straw polls — more than what would be needed to authorize a real strike under a new law, CTU leaders said Tuesday.

Schools in Chicago's Austin area are slated to receive a little more than $12 million as part of Chicago Public Schools’ $110 million and five-year capital improvement plan announced earlier this month that will address immediate health and safety concerns for its public schools. (Austin Talks)

IN THE NATION
Teacher union leaders and school administrators this week at the Labor Management Conference in Cincinnati will focus on ways to transform the teaching profession with such targets as better recruiting, preparation and career development, and evaluations based on effectiveness. (CBS News)

The Education Department is issuing draft criteria for the $400 million in new Race to the Top competitive grants earmarked for districts. (Education Week)

With the need for charter administrators growing, the sector is developing its own leadership-training programs, many of which are as diverse as the in dependently operated public schools themselves. But questions remain about whether those entrepreneurial programs are growing quickly enough to meet the demand for charter school leaders and whether the programs are turning out leaders of high quality. (Education Week)

The New York Times obtained information showing how scholarship programs have been twisted to benefit private schools at the expense of the neediest children. Spreading at a time of deep cutbacks in public schools, the programs are operating in eight states and represent one of the fastest-growing components of the school choice movement. This school year alone, the programs redirected nearly $350 million that would have gone into public budgets to pay for private school scholarships for 129,000 students, according to the Alliance for School Choice, an advocacy organization. Legislators in at least nine other states are considering the programs.