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Current Issue

Adolescent Literacy

A raft of past programs have failed to substantially improve the reading skills of middle grade and high school students. CPS is trying once again, as part of a federal project that aims to help teens learn how to analyze complex non-fiction.

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Catalyst Notebook

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 5:07pm

Chicago High School for the Arts: A good fit for Humboldt Park?

Tags: new schools

It is 4 o'clock on a Wednesday, and the wide halls of Lafayette Elementary
echo with competing melodies from cellos, violas and violins engaged in
orchestra practice. Lafayette’s sprawling campus is home to one of the largest elementary
school orchestras in the city, but its students only fill a third of
the building. That’s about to change, when 300 students from the
Chicago High School for the Arts move in and begin sharing the campus
in September.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 7:19am

In the News: Tuesday, March 30

By: John Myers

Chicago officials vow to overhaul special education services, starting with changes at the top. (Tribune)

District sources said the head of CPS' special education office, Deborah Duskey, will no longer fill that role, though officials would not confirm that any change had been made. Bond did say the reorganization would include changes that would make the $850-million-a-year special education program more "parent-friendly."

* Cuts rip into CPS sports department, including a pink slip for former Marquette University basketball star Maurice "Bo" Ellis. (Sun-Times)

* Stock Elementary local school council members campaign to keep their preschool open—one of only two Chicago early childhood programs serving students with disabilities. (Pioneer)

* Illinois lost out to Delaware and Tennessee for first round Race to the Top grants.

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Monday, March 29, 2010 - 5:04pm

Illinois loses out in Race to the Top's first round

By: John Myers
Tags: government and policy

Education Secretary Arne Duncan today announced two states, Delaware and Tennessee, have won nearly $600 million in first round Race to the Top grants. That leaves nearly $3.4 billion for what officials hope to be a spirited second round of vetting in June.

"We set a very high bar for the first phase," Duncan said in a prepared statement. “Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies.  And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students.”

Illinois, one of 16 first round finalists named earlier this month, placed fifth in the point totals awarded by judges; a ranking that should bolster state officials who wrote what many national observers labeled a surprisingly strong application.

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Monday, March 29, 2010 - 7:16am

In the News: Monday, March 29

By: John Myers

David Pickens, who managed a secret VIP list for CPS selective enrollment schools, has resigned. Meanwhile, budget cuts have claimed Greg Minniefield’s job; another aide who was questioned in the widening admissions scandal. (Sun-Times)

It’s all part of the great lengths parents will go to get their kids into good schools. (Tribune)

* Daley rails against a senate bill that would remove residency requirements for teachers, but remains mute on another bill that would grant 22,000 vouchers to CPS students in lowest performing schools. (Sun-Times)

Related: Gov. Pat Quinn says he’s generally opposed to vouchers. (WBEZ)

* A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against CPS, freeing up teachers union campaigning on school grounds. The request was made by former Chicago Teachers Union President Deborah Lynch, who is seeking reelection. (WBEZ)

* Illinois officials find out today if they are winners in the first round of Race to the Top vetting. (Statehouse News)

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Friday, March 26, 2010 - 4:48pm

Teachers union election battle heating up

By: Rebecca Harris

The Chicago Teachers Union election isn’t until May 21, but the campaign’s opening salvos were fired this week, and the election may turn into a contest over who has opposed district officials the most.

Incumbent president Marilyn Stewart held a press conference this week to hail a binding arbitration that could force the Chicago Public Schools to pay thousands of dollars in back pay to hundreds of teachers who were forced out of their schools.

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Friday, March 26, 2010 - 10:47am

Catalyst celebrates its 20th anniversary

By: Catalyst Staff
Tags: About Us

We at Catalyst would like to thank the more than 200 people who joined the Community Renewal Society at the Chicago Cultural Center Thursday evening in celebrating our 20th anniversary. We now would like to share with all our readers a slideshow on the history of Chicago school reform and of Catalyst. It begins in 1979 with the financial collapse of the school system. Dozens of you will see yourselves or your organization. (Warning: It runs for 16 minutes.)

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