Catalyst Notebook

The school improvement strategies highly touted by leaders such as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former D.C schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, have produced overwhelmingly disappointing results for the poor and minority children in Chicago, New York, and the District of Columbia, a forthcoming report written by a national group that favors a more holistic approach to improving public schooling, contends. (Education Week)

In the News: Top-performing school lands on closings list

By: Cassandra West

Tags: school closings

Calhoun North Elementary in the East Garfield Park neighborhood has logged some of the best math scores in the city, but CPS says it's significantly underenrolled and should be closed next fall in a sweeping cost-cutting effort pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

For the Record: Paying for school actions

By: Sarah Karp

Tags: CPS budget, school closings

To help sell their plans for a district shakeup, CPS leaders have touted a variety of school improvements. But paying for those improvements will mean taking the district deeper into debt at a time when the district is already facing substantial debt service obligations.

In the News: Hyde Park blogger mom parodies CPS

By: Cassandra West

Tags: CPS adminstration

A Hyde Park parent and blogger who goes by the name of Southside CPS Mom has launched a blog called Chicago Public Fools. She said she chose the title, which is a parody of Chicago Public Schools, to grab the attention of both parents and CPS administrators. (Hyde Park Herald)

Early education shakeup: Programs to lose teachers, students

By: Rebecca Harris

Tags: early childhood education

As the city shifts preschool seats to better programs in needier areas, at least nine community agencies that are losing their funding say they will likely be forced to replace their state-certified preschool teachers with child care staff who hold lesser credentials--associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees without teaching licenses, or no degrees at all.

In the News: CPS' displacement count disputed

By: Cassandra West

Tags: school closings

Two University of Illinois professors say the number of students who will see their lives changed by the proposed school shake-ups could be as many as 47,000—58 percent higher than the figures CPS has given, according to a Sun-Times editorial, which also says, "In its sales pitch for closing specific schools, CPS often deliberately paints an incomplete picture."

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