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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

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Catalyst Notebook

Monday, May 10, 2010 - 7:40am

In the News: crime down, budget stalled

By: John Myers

Chicago violent crime is down. (Tribune)

* Aldermen, University Village Association consider options for Jackson Language Academy expansion. (Gazette)

* Parents rally to stave off McCorkle’s consolidation into Beethoven. (Gazette)

* Consortium founding co-director Penny Bender Sebring discusses Chicago school improvement efforts on Beyond the Beltway.

* Despite poor facilities and budget cuts, Lane Tech’s women’s soccer squad wins. (Tribune)

* Caremark wins $800 million pharmacy contract with Chicago Public Schools and other city agencies. (CNC)

* Attorney General backs teachers’ request for CPS budget documents. (CORE blog)

* State budget apparently on hold until June. (WBEZ)

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Saturday, May 8, 2010 - 9:59am

Union election nears in a time of instability

By: Rebecca Harris
Tags: teachers

Facing a gauntlet of threats – from layoffs to performance based evaluations – Chicago teachers will go to the polls May 21 to elect a union president for the next three years.

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Friday, May 7, 2010 - 6:30am

In the News: budget endgame, Goodall awards

By: John Myers

Primatologist Jane Goodall hands out community leadership awards to seven Chicago students at Al Raby High ceremony. (Sun-Times)

* Greg Hinz takes note of the divisions in GOP ranks that helped sink the school voucher bill. (Crain's)

* In a highly partisan vote, state senators approved a budget early this morning. But the measure has stalled in the House, where some Democrats are objecting to delayed pension payments. (Sun-Times)

* For a sixth year, Rockford school officials are visiting Spain to recruit bilingual teachers. (RR Star)

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Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 11:28am

Catalyst reporting on Reaching Black Boys receives another national award

Tags: About Us

“Reaching Black Boys” has won more honors for Sarah Karp and John Myers.
This issue of Catalyst In Depth, published last June, just received a
public service award in the magazine category of the 2009 Sigma Delta
Chi national journalism competition. Earlier, it won the one and only
award that the national Education Writers Association bestows on
specialty and trade publications, and locally it won a Peter Lisagor
award.

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Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 7:37am

In the News: budget protests, ComEd plan dies

By: John Myers

Chicago students hit the streets again to protest budget cuts. (ABC7)

* Museum of Science and Industry teams up with Illinois Institute of Technology to offer masters degree in science education. (Sun-Times)

* Rev. Jesse Jackson calls on Obama administration to create jobs program aimed at reducing Chicago youth violence. (Sun-Times)

* As Ed Sec. Arne Duncan pursues more federal dollars for parental involvement in schools, PURE’s Julie Woestehoff laments his track record in Chicago. (Examiner)

* Ald. Richard Mell and his daughter, state Rep. Deb Mell, call on the Reader’s Ben Joravsky to discuss tax-increment financing reform.

* New study outlines benefits of single-sex schools for boys of color, including a close-up on Chicago’s Urban Prep. (Ed Week)

* A state pensions borrowing scheme is dead and ComEd has withdrawn plans to exchange rate guarantees for $500 million in school funding. (Sun-Times)

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - 6:25pm

Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote

By: John Myers
Tags: government and policy

After a lengthy debate on the House floor, lawmakers voted 48-66 against state Sen. James Meeks’ controversial school voucher bill. The plan would have granted private school tuition vouchers of about $3,300 to perhaps as many as 46,000 students in some 50-70 low-performing and overcrowded Chicago schools.

House sponsor Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Worth) technically postponed the bill for later consideration. But lawmakers will have little time in this session to return to the matter. They must now turn their attention to the 600-pound gorilla in Springfield: passing a state budget before the end of the week.

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