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: CPS selling surplus buildings
By: Cassandra West / August 02, 2012
CPS is putting eight surplus buildings up for sale.
The politically connected UNO Charter School Network said this week it has signed a lease with the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for the St. Scholastica space to house a new K-8 elementary school. The yet-unnamed school is one of two UNO is pushing to open for the start of the 2012-13 school year and the eighth school the network has started since 2008, according to the Tribune.
Five charter school groups in the city are getting a second helping of public money to help pay their capital costs. One of them is the UNO Charter School Network. (WBEZ)
Whet Moser in Chicago Magazine looks at the latest CPS skirmish: an elected school board.
Sandra Abrevaya, a press secretary for Arne Duncan at the U.S. Department of Education, is heading to Chicago to help with the expansion of Urban Alliance, a D.C. and Baltimore program that "empowers under-resourced youth to aspire, work and succeed through paid internships, formal training, and mentorship." (Chicagonow.com)
Tenured teachers displaced between June 30, 2010 and July 27, 2012 whose final ratings were Satisfactory or better are invited to apply for newly created elementary school positions pursuant to the interim agreement between the Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union. (Chicago Teachers Union)
IN THE NATION
Milwaukee Public Schools plans no teacher layoffs this year, due to teacher retirements and savings from changes made to the teachers' health insurance carrier, plan and premium, according to MPS. (Journal Sentinel)
New York and up to 25 other states are moving toward a system that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans and other materials. (The New York Times)
Randi Weingarten, re-elected recently for a third term as president of the American Federation of Teachers with 98 percent of the vote, wants her 1.5 million members to be open to changes that might improve public schools. (Reuters/Tribune)
North Carolina’s school board could increase the number of charter schools in the state by a third within the next year if it accepts a screening committee’s recommendations. (The Virginian-Pilot)
CTU's Kenzo Shibata has compiled Diane Ravitch's tweets from the recent AFT Convention. Read them here.
Quote of the Week
"Killing a neighborhood school is like driving a knife into a community...that's wrong." — Diane Ravitch via Twitter
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