Catalyst Notebook

Now under investigation by two state agencies, the United Neighborhood Organization is also facing tough questions on Wall Street from investors who lent tens of millions of dollars to help pay for the rapid expansion of UNO’s charter-school network, according to the Sun-Times, which broke the story about UNO using state funds to pay companies owned by two brothers of a top UNO executive.

In the News: Latino students narrow gap, pass milestone

By: Cassandra West

Tags: charter schools

After lagging behind other Americans in education for generations, Latinos have significantly narrowed the gap, and last year they passed a milestone, with new Hispanic high school graduates more likely than their white counterparts to go directly to college, according to a new study. (The New York Times)

In the News: Colleges give more aid to affluent

By: Cassandra West

Tags: colleges

In their relentless pursuit of prestige and revenue, American private and public four-year colleges and universities are increasingly using financial aid to attract the best and most affluent students rather than to help low-income and working-class families pay for college, according to a new report released Wednesday by the New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program.

In the News: Battles rage over direction of ed policy

By: Cassandra West

Tags: education policy

In statehouses and cities across the country, battles are raging over the direction of education policy—from the standards that will shape what students learn to how test results will be used to judge a teacher's performance. Not since the battles over school desegregation has the debate about public education been so intense and polarized, observers say. (Education Week)

CPS won't take recommendations against closings

By: Sarah Karp

Tags: CPS administration, school closings

CPS officials on Tuesday mostly dismissed the conclusions by independent hearing officers that the district should not close 11 schools, without addressing safety concerns and questions about the academics at the receiving schools.

Speaking on background, the officials said that the hearing officers--who concluded that CPS did not comply with state law and therefore should not close the schools--either did not understand or over-stepped their role.

In the News: Teacher pay cut, frozen in last 4 years

By: Cassandra West

Tags: school closings

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, the vast majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts took a pay cut or saw their pay frozen at least one year between 2008 and 2012. (The New York Times)

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