Catalyst Notebook

Construction stopped Tuesday on a new, state-funded charter high school being built on the Southwest Side for the state’s largest charter-school operator, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, after the project’s general contractor said UNO has fallen behind in its payments for the work, according to the Sun-Times.

Closings point up the dangers of geography

By: James Reddick of The Chicago Reporter

Tags: school closings, youth violence

Lametrios West has made a point to separate himself from the trouble around him. Despite heavy rain and steady cracks of lightning, the 14-year-old Kershaw Elementary School student made his way on a recent afternoon to the nearby Teamwork Englewood, a community organization whose after-school programs draw boys and girls from the surrounding area. Here, he holes up to “get out of the neighborhood.”

In the News: PURE seeks deeper look at UNO funding

By: Cassandra West

Tags: charter schools, PURE, UNO

Parents United for Responsible Education are asking the state Executive Inspector General to broaden its investigation into the use of state funds by the United Neighborhood Organization Charter Network, according to a news release.

Prison costs in Humboldt Park double spending on schools

By: Angela Caputo of The Chicago Reporter

Tags: school closings

Torrance Shorter stands in the rain outside of Martin A. Ryerson Elementary School one recent afternoon in a last-ditch effort to keep the grammar school from being merged with the nearby Laura S. Ward Elementary School next fall.

In the News: CPS closure czar is alderman's sister

By: Cassandra West

Tags: Ald. Pat O'Connor, Rahm Emanuel

Catherine Sugrue, the sister of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Council floor leader, Ald. Pat O'Connor, has been hired by the Chicago Public Schools to help with the controversial closures of dozens of schools, according to the Sun-Times.

In the News: State cuts off funding to UNO

By: Cassandra West

Tags: charter schools, UNO

Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration has cut off funding to the state’s largest charter-school operator, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, over insider deals it says violated terms of a $98 million state grant, according to a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

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