Catalyst wins national reporting award

Deputy Editor Sarah Karp and Data & Research Editor John Myers have won first place in the Education Writers Association’s 2009 National Awards for Education Reporting, the country’s most prestigious competition for education journalism. Karp and Myers won for “Reaching Black Boys,” our May/June 2009 issue of In Depth, which reported on the widespread use of harsh discipline against African-American boys in Chicago Public Schools, and the impact on their education. Karp and Myers won in the special interest/trade publication category. Scott Stephens, from our sister publication Catalyst Ohio, won a second-place prize in the beat reporting category.

In the News: Wednesday, March 10

The Sun-Times unearths thousands of changed grades at Hyde Park Academy, including more than 870 F’s that were boosted to passing marks.

Search through a database of changed grades by high school.

* Olympic Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno visits Smyth Magnet to discourage underage drinking and push healthy lifestyles. (Sun-Times)

* BackTalk notes the need for LSC candidates.

* Gov. Pat Quinn formally unveils his budget at noon and will invite reluctant lawmakers to pass tax hikes. But Quinn’s opening salvo includes little more than cuts, loans and deferred payments to help fill an estimated $13 billion hole. (Clout Street)

Continue Reading In the News: Wednesday, March 10 »

In the News: Tuesday, March 9

The US Department of Education has released final rules for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant, a stimulus-funded competitive grant aimed at school districts and nonprofits. (Ed Week)

* While the Supreme Court considers Chicago’s handgun ban, Mayor Richard Daley pushes statewide gun restrictions. (Tribune)

More from WBEZ.

* Students are filing college financial aid requests at a fast clip as state funding lags. Nearly 45 percent of CPS seniors have already done so. (Huffington)

* The Tribune Editorial Board applauds Urban Prep for its 100-percent college acceptance rate.

Continue Reading In the News: Tuesday, March 9 »

Chicago group set to take parent education campaign statewide

To outsiders, the fact that a school is performing poorly might seem obvious from the numbers readily available on state school report cards. But there’s a vast difference between the quality of education many parents think is taking place in schools and what students are actually experiencing, says Patricia Watkins, director of TARGET Area Development Corp. and founder of Parents and Residents Invested in School and Education Reform, known as PRISE.
Continue Reading Chicago group set to take parent education campaign statewide »

In the News: Monday, March 8

Dawn Turner Trice profiles a pre-med student who opts to teach in a South Shore elementary school instead. (Tribune)

"You know the social problems. But it's not just that," he said. "It's the school system's inadequacies. It's the budget constraints. It's the No Child Left Behind law. It's the almost exclusive focus on reading and math for standardized testing. Sometimes, it's bad administrators or a system so thick with bureaucracy it's almost impossible to get through."

* All 107 seniors at Urban Prep are are off to four-year colleges, a major milestone that drew praise and a surprise visit from Mayor Richard Daley. The school is the nation’s first all-boys public charter high schools comprised entirely of African American students. (Sun-Times)  

More from WBEZ and the Tribune.

* Grow Your Own program faces high funding hurdles in state’s fiscal crisis. (Chicago Talks)

* CPS students are plan more budget protests, this time over specific cuts to sophomore sports. (ABC7)

Continue Reading In the News: Monday, March 8 »

Students protest budget cuts Students from North Lawndale/Little Village and Julian high schools joined young people across the nation Thursday afternoon to protest budget cuts. Most of the students outside of Chicago were from universities and were angry at proposed tuition hikes and program slashing.
 



Continue Reading Students protest budget cuts »

In the News: Friday, March 5

State Supt. Chris Koch, addressing lawmakers during a special Senate committee hearing, predicts 13,000 job cuts if state reduces education budget by 10 percent. (SJR)

Illinois Issues provides a rough breakdown of those cuts: tenured teachers, 457; non-tenured teachers, 5,826; administrators, 505; service employees, such as counselors and social workers, 402; non-certified employees, 5,194.

More from the Herald-Review and Statehouse News.

* Little Village, Julian high schoolers protest school budget cuts at City Hall. (Substance)

* News that Illinois made the final cut in phase one of Race to the Top generated lots of coverage—mostly positive, with a few cautionary notes.

Continue Reading In the News: Friday, March 5 »

Illinois one of 16 finalists for first round of Race to the Top grants Once thought to be on the outside looking in, Illinois instead has joined 14 other states and the District of Columbia as finalists for Phase One of the Race to the Top grants. A victory could pour as much as an estimated $510 million into the state’s education coffers to drive sweeping reforms.
 
To be sure, Illinois has won exactly $0 so far.
 
"We are setting a high bar and we anticipate very few winners in phase one,” noted U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “But this isn't just about the money. It's about collaboration among all stakeholders, building a shared agenda, and challenging ourselves to improve the way our students learn.”
 
Illinois was considered a long shot last fall, when The New Teacher Project ranked it “somewhat competitive” in the Race to the Top. But a flurry of legislative activity in January, coupled with what some national observers have called a strongly written application, helped the state leapfrog ahead.
Continue Reading Illinois one of 16 finalists for first round of Race to the Top grants »

In the News: Thursday, March 4

Chinese classes now offered in more than 40 area school districts, part of spiking national interest. (Tribune)

The suburban offerings follow on the heels of the acclaimed Chinese program in the Chicago Public Schools, regarded as among the most comprehensive in the nation. It started in the late 1990s and has grown to 53 teachers in 43 schools, said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chinese Connections Program.

* Mayor Daley taps former Board of Education President Gery Chico to lead reinvention effort for Chicago City Colleges. (Sun-Times)

* CPS students from at least two high schools will protest budget cuts at City Hall today. (Substance)

* Eight Forty-Eight talks turnarounds with AUSL’s Donald Feinstein.

* Ald. Pat Dowell writes the Chicago Journal to urge constituents to stay vigilant and organized in the face of school shakeups. 

* Media roundup on news that 100 high-scoring students from 87 low-performing elementary schools will be admitted to the city’s top college prep high schools.

Continue Reading In the News: Thursday, March 4 »

Analysis of selective schools data shows poorer students have tougher time gaining admission
When CPS laid out its new magnet and selective enrollment admissions policy, the chief worry among community activists, lawyers and parents was that it would wind up favoring well-off students, who already have many advantages.
Continue Reading Analysis of selective schools data shows poorer students have tougher time gaining admission »

CPS declines to release data on selective enrollment, sets aside more seats for minority students

CEO Ron Huberman said Wednesday that he will not publicly release racial and socio-economic data on the students who received offers to attend the coveted selective enrollment high schools.

But, after his own review of the information, he is adding 25 seats to each of the freshman classes of Whitney Young, Jones, Walter Payton and Northside Prep and reserving them for students from the city’s worst elementary schools, all of which serve only black, Latino and poor students. These four high schools are the best ones in the district.

Continue Reading CPS declines to release data on selective enrollment, sets aside more seats for minority students »

In the News: Wednesday, March 3

Sen. James Meeks’ voucher plan moves on to Senate education committee. (Statehouse News)

* Sophomore sports cut according to confusing district memo. (Tribune)

* Schools Chief Ron Huberman leads clergy and other community leaders in rally for school funding reform. (WGN)

* The Supreme Court appears poised to strike down Chicago’s gun ban. (Tribune)

* In Chicago, lunches must be prepared on a $1-per-meal budget. (Medill)

* Black history glossed over in Chicago schools, some contend. (Medill)

* Former Orr High dropout tapped by Mayor Daley for top job at City Colleges of Chicago. (Sun-Times)

* Compensation for Illinois schools chiefs grows 4.1 percent as other school staff face cutbacks. (Tribune)

 

Continue Reading In the News: Wednesday, March 3 »

A primer on Chicago's teacher pension

Last week, CEO Ron Huberman started his doomsday budget press conference by saying, “You are going to hear me talk a lot about the pension.”

Pension costs have long been an issue for CPS, and costs have now skyrocketed to $587 million—three times what the district was required to pay into the teacher’s pension fund just three years ago.

As a quick fix, Huberman hopes to convince lawmakers to simply reduce Chicago’s additional payment by about $300 million, which would cut the nearly $1 billion deficit by about a third.

But Laurence Msall of the Civic Federation says Huberman is proposing a “slippery slope” for an already shortchanged pension system. Even under current requirements, he notes, the fund won’t be funded at the required 90 percent level for another 35 years.

Continue Reading A primer on Chicago's teacher pension »

Feds say Chicago's stimulus spending needs more oversight

A recent federal audit of stimulus spending in Illinois schools calls for improvement in state oversight, noting that two of the three districts examined by auditors—including Chicago—did not track any spending of so-called State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.

Moreover, the districts had yet to spend any of their Title 1 and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) dollars allotted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The slow start in spending has left auditors unclear as to whether good accounting procedures are in place.

At least one CPS budget watchdog, noting the promise for unprecedented transparency in stimulus spending, thinks not.

Continue Reading Feds say Chicago's stimulus spending needs more oversight »

In the News: Tuesday, March 2

Chicago’s handgun ban will be challenged in the US Supreme Court today, putting a spotlight on youth violence. (WBEZ/Tribune)

"We've turned our backs on common-sense gun laws in America and we continuously, unfortunately, continue shooting each other on a daily basis," [Mayor Richard] Daley told reporters.

At a separate news conference where [15-year-old Monica] Sanders spoke, Uhlich Children's Advantage Network, a Chicago youth-advocacy group, pointed to its national Teen Gun Survey as proof of that argument. The survey, which is conducted annually, found that more than one in four teens claim to know someone who has been shot, and one in three say they could get a handgun if they really wanted to obtain one.

* Paras Bhayani pitches his own Doomsday budget for CPS. (Huffington)

* Pay dashed for assistant track coaches and Ben Joravsky sifts through the budget for alternatives. (Reader)

* Click on Facebook, set off a CPS alarm. (Freakonomics blog)

 

* Ed Week bloggers say Illinois is a top contender in Race to the Top.

Continue Reading In the News: Tuesday, March 2 »

In the News: Monday, March 1

Chicago’s turnaround experiment attracts national attention. (CNC/NY Times)

Timothy Knowles, director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago, said the research on the turnaround approach was mixed so far. The Consortium on Chicago School Research is working on a turnaround study to be released later this year. Work done by the Academy for Urban School Leadership shows promise, but it is still early, Mr. Knowles said.

* The Sun-Times editorial board promotes a wage freeze for teachers.

Related: Mayor Daley says teachers need to “make sacrifices like those forced on the private sector and workers in other areas of government.” (Clout Street)

Greg Hinz wonders if the teachers union and City Hall are simply going to war. (Crain’s)

* On the health front: Tilden students make lunch in Springfield and West Side community gathers for pancakes and healthy schools. (Sun-Times/WGN)

* Police flier community seeking help in the murder investigation of a 15-year-old Jefferson Alternative School student. (Sun-Times)

Continue Reading In the News: Monday, March 1 »

In the News: Friday, Feb. 26

Chicago schools, shortchanged on learning time, seek creative substitutes for gym. (Tribune)

[Michelle] Glick runs Stretch-N-Grow, an in-class fitness program that operates in 22 Chicago-area elementary schools. It and other efforts that offer dancing, yoga and cardio training to Chicago Public Schools students help augment — or are a substitute for — physical education programs.

City school officials say budget constraints are to blame. Spokeswoman Monique Bond says the budget deficit — a half-billion dollars last year — has not improved and "crosses into almost every area of food service and physical education programs."

* Schools Chief Ron Huberman says Chicago faces $1 billion deficit and potential cuts to teachers, after school programs and other services.

* Parents scramble to get kids into popular Parks programs. (Tribune)

* Greg Hinz applauds Huberman’s turnaround push.

* 15-year-old Crane student shot and killed. (Tribune)

* Chicago pays $14.6 million in 17-year-old trampoline settlement case. (Tribune)

Continue Reading In the News: Friday, Feb. 26 »

Huberman sounds school budget alarm; confirms 500 more layoffs No stranger to doomsday budget predictions, CEO Ron Huberman issued a big one Thursday, saying that the state’s huge shortfall announced Wednesday will add to the district’s deficit, bringing it to nearly a billion dollars next school year.
Continue Reading Huberman sounds school budget alarm; confirms 500 more layoffs »

Chicago schools budget approaching the stimulus cliff

In an unusual effort to solicit public input on the budget, Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday proposed $2 billion in cuts to education along with grim revenue estimates for a state awash in $13 billion of red ink.

Notably missing from revenues are some $3 billion in federal stimulus funds sent to schools since 2009, a loss that is part of what national observers call a “stimulus funding cliff” that threatens school districts across the country. In Chicago, where Quinn's cuts would mean perhaps a $200 million shortfall, it’s unclear how well officials have prepared.

Officials hoped the one-time infusion of federal cash would be spent on efforts that would spark lasting reforms that wouldn't require ongoing funding. Catalyst Ohio highlighted a few examples in its latest report, including a plan in Cleveland to buyout older, higher-paid teachers and the creation of a school improvement planning team in Columbus.

Here in Chicago, details on stimulus spending are somewhat murky. Yet, district officials are able to point out only a few examples of spending that will propel reforms.

Continue Reading Chicago schools budget approaching the stimulus cliff »

In the News: Thursday, Feb. 25

Some parents disturbed, others intrigued by turnaround plans for Phillips. (Chicago Journal)

Related: Mary Mitchell defends the turnaround process with a look at Howe.

"It takes adults of like-mindedness with a shared belief about urban education to bring about true change," [said Howe Principal Keisha Campbell].

More than 85 percent of the students' parents participate in school activities, something that was unheard of at the old Howe..."We went to the parents. We introduced ourselves and engaged in several community walks," Campbell said. "We also used the local churches to connect with parents."

* Turnarounds are dominating headlines because the Board of Education stamped plans yesterday to close and turnaround eight schools.

* Honors student skipped over at Board meeting. (Sun-Times)

* WBEZ has unfiltered audio from the Board meeting.

* Former South Loop principal Pat Baccellieri—who recently served as the district’s Executive Director of School Performance Management—takes the helm at Pulaski IB.

* Homeless students more likely to have learning disabilities. (Medill)

* Jones College Prep students sign petition: diversity matters. (Chicago Journal)

* A teacher collapsed and died yesterday at Dunbar Vocational. (Tribune)

Continue Reading In the News: Thursday, Feb. 25 »