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State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, who worked to get the Illinois education reform measure known as Senate Bill 7 passed last year, says it's working. "It's just not yielding the results that CPS and the mayor wanted. And, so it seems the Chicago Teachers Union out-maneuvered the bill, Tribune reporter Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah writes.

The anxiety level of many parents across the city ratcheted up a notch last week as word emerged that both the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union had rejected a long-awaited fact-finder’s report on how to resolve teacher contract talks that have festered since November.  (Sun-Times)

Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard talks to ABC7 about negotiations between the teachers union and the Board of Education.

Substance News provides the complete text of the 70-page arbitrator's report issued last week and was ultimately rejected by the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education.

The Civic Federation says it opposes the Chicago Public Schools proposed $5.2 billion operating budget for FY2013 because the budget drains all General Fund reserves to help close a $665 million budget deficit. The Federation is an independent, non-partisan government research organization that provides analysis and recommendations on government finance issues for the Chicago region and State of Illinois.

In the battle over Chicago teachers' salaries, Crain's Chicago Business says "the mayor seems at times more intent on picking a fight with the union than reaching a settlement."

IN THE NATION
Many Texas school districts, including the state’s two largest, are reporting their third or fourth straight year of rising graduation rates — and the statewide average has climbed steadily since 2007, according to data kept by the Texas Education Agency. (The New York Times)

Under last year's law that curbed collective bargaining for public employees in Wisconsin, only changes to base wages are subject to negotiation, which seems to be making contract talks settle quickly.  It took just 15 to 20 minutes for teachers and the Whitefish Bay School District to reach an agreement, said Mark Kapocius, the district's director of human resources. (Star-Tribune)

Toledo Public Schools manipulated some students' attendance data to improve state report-card scores, the district's superintendent told the local newspaper on Friday. Under the practice, schools retroactively withdraw and re-enroll chronically absent students to erase their poor attendance records. (Toledo Blade)