Opinions

January 19, 2010

During the week in which we finished this issue of Catalyst In Depth, Mayor Richard M. Daley went on record promising more chapters in Renaissance 2010. Meanwhile, teachers, principals, parents and students awaited the announcement of this year’s list of schools slated for closure or turnaround.

October 16, 2009

As a writer and editor, I have a rule: Avoid the use of catch-phrases, clichés and jargon in articles whenever possible. Readers are better served by vivid illustration—with anecdotes, data, telling details or colorful quotes—than by overused or vague expressions.

July 08, 2009

Recently, Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman told school principals that the district plans to focus on data analysis as a first step toward improvement. There's one statistic that the district ought to immediately turn its attention to: suspensions and expulsions of African-American boys.

June 26, 2009

African-American boys face a peculiar dilemma in Chicago’s public schools: how to get a solid education when, more than any other group of students, they are singled out for harsh punishments and sent packing for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time. Some are expelled—even in elementary school—for a year or longer. Many folks assume that these punishments are deserved. Isn’t it true, they ask, that black male students are more likely to behave in ways that warrant such sanctions?

May 18, 2009

Our nation is making unprecedented investments in supporting young children’s development and well-being. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides more than $2 billion in one-time funding to expand and improve Head Start and Early Head Start; more than $2 billion for high-quality child care for parents seeking employment or pursuing higher education; and a significant earmark for early intervention and special education services for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. States are also eligible to receive additional stimulus dollars for early childhood education.

April 23, 2009

It took years, some would say decades, to get universal preschool off the ground in Illinois. So when Preschool for All got a green light three years ago, it was cause for celebration, especially among early childhood education advocates who had worked assiduously behind the scenes and on the frontlines to make it happen.

But then, a curious thing happened. In some places, shiny new preschool classrooms set up shop, and nobody came.

April 09, 2009

With the recent announcement that Illinois will receive close to $3 billion in stimulus funds earmarked for education, the debate over how best to use that money has reached a fever pitch. As a leader in advancing the teaching profession in Illinois since 1985, Golden Apple Foundation offers the following recommendations for getting the biggest bang for Illinois’ new education dollars:

March 11, 2009

There are many parts of President Barack Obama’s March 10 speech on education to applaud, though some of it will make education leaders uncomfortable.

Obama’s call to the nation’s youth to enter teaching is certainly laudable. The president’s remark that “the most important factor (to a student’s) success... (is) the person standing in front of the classroom” echoes the sentiments Golden Apple has proclaimed for decades, and we hail those that heed his call.

February 05, 2009

It’s the straw that broke the grassroots back: the appointment of Ron Huberman to head the Chicago Public Schools.

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