As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.
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In the News: TIF spending on schools adds to inequality
By: Cassandra West / June 07, 2012
Chicago's beleaguered tax-increment financing program is taking another big hit, this time over where and how it's spent more than $800 million building and repairing public schools.
A report being released by Roosevelt University assistant sociology professor Stephanie Farmer concludes that TIF expenditures, instead of reducing inequality, are "contributing to income and race/ethnicity place-based inequality." (Crain's)
It could take several days before the Chicago Teachers Union announces the results of its strike authorization vote, but already Chicago Public Schools officials are questioning the integrity of the process, according to the Tribune. Attorneys for the district earlier this week asked the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board to ensure that the teachers union preserve all documents relating to the vote count this week to allow for independent verification and "to investigate whether any improper conduct occurred."
CPS wants to monitor teachers union strike authorization vote. (WBEZ)
One Chicago high school teacher describes the lingering contract standoff between CTU and CPS as feeling like being in a "marriage going through a rough patch." But will both parties ever patch up their differences?
Jean-Claude Brizard told a group of parents at a Wednesday meeting that the school district "can't afford what is being asked" by the teacher's union, which is seeking a 24 percent raise in the first year of a two-year contract. The district has proposed a 2 percent raise in the first year of a five-year contract. (AP/Businessweek)
The CTU strike authorization voted has attracted national media attention, with CBS MarketWatch, among others, reporting on the union's decision to hold a vote now rather than "waiting for the recommendation of an independent fact-finder, which is due in mid-July as part of the contract talks."
IN THE NATION
Study: Only 27 percent of those who graduated from high school from 2006-11 have jobs. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Pink slips are going out to 260 Philadelphia School District employees Friday. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Students are least likely to choose to test themselves while studying, although it has been shown to be the most effective study strategy, according to researchers at the Association for Psychological Science conference. (Education Week)
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