Catalyst Notebook

On page 36 of the long-awaited draft of the district’s 10-year master facilities plan is this revelation: The district will only save $437 million in capital costs by closing schools, significantly less than the original figure of $560 million.

The updated figure is the result of new assessments being done to prepare the final version of the 10-year master facilities plan, says CPS spokeswoman Kelley Quinn. Also, the $560 million figure included some mistakes that district officials have now corrected.

In the News: Emanuel vows casino funds for CPS

By: Cassandra West

Tags: Rahm Emanuel

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is amping up support for a Chicago casino by vowing that all revenue would go to city schools. Emanuel released a video Wednesday showing footage of students and teachers and ending with a promise that 100 percent of revenue would go to education. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Arbitrator counting union votes at UNO Charter

By: Rebecca Harris

Tags: charter schools, teachers union

UPDATED: Teachers at UNO charter schools have voted 87 percent in favor of joining a union, an Illinois Federation of Teachers spokeswoman said.

The announcement comes just days after scandal prompted the state to cut off capital funding to UNO charter schools, and it means the city's charter teachers union will roughly double in size. According to the Illinois Federation of Teachers, more than 20 percent of charter teachers in Chicago will now be union members.

In the News: Construction halts on UNO high school

By: Cassandra West

Tags: charter schools, UNO

Construction stopped Tuesday on a new, state-funded charter high school being built on the Southwest Side for the state’s largest charter-school operator, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, after the project’s general contractor said UNO has fallen behind in its payments for the work, according to the Sun-Times.

Closings point up the dangers of geography

By: James Reddick of The Chicago Reporter

Tags: school closings, youth violence

Lametrios West has made a point to separate himself from the trouble around him. Despite heavy rain and steady cracks of lightning, the 14-year-old Kershaw Elementary School student made his way on a recent afternoon to the nearby Teamwork Englewood, a community organization whose after-school programs draw boys and girls from the surrounding area. Here, he holes up to “get out of the neighborhood.”

In the News: PURE seeks deeper look at UNO funding

By: Cassandra West

Tags: charter schools, PURE, UNO

Parents United for Responsible Education are asking the state Executive Inspector General to broaden its investigation into the use of state funds by the United Neighborhood Organization Charter Network, according to a news release.

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