The Starter League teaches beginners how to code, design, and ship web applications. (Press release)

SURPRISE, YOU'VE GOT SUPPLIES!: A hundred CPS teachers were each surprised at a South Side school on Thursday with $1,000 worth of school supplies by CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, OfficeMax CEO Ravi Saligram and Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall. The teachers received paper, pens, pencils and a digital camera. The event was part of OfficeMax's A Day Made Better program. (CPS media advisory)

IN THE STATE
SECURITY UPGRADES: New security cameras, an advanced intercom system and panic buttons are part of the security upgrades coming to Glen Ellyn District 41's five schools. Officials said the improvements are not directly related to recent school shootings. (Daily Herald)

IN THE NATION
RACE TO THE TOP STRUGGLES: A majority of winners in the $4 billion Race to the Top competition are struggling with evaluation and data systems, the U.S. Education Department's second annual progress report on the program says. (Education Week)

But in emphasizing that Byrd-Bennett has experience managing a major urban school district, Emanuel took a subtle approach in pointing out a hole in Brizard’s background, one that might have proved lethal.

When Emanuel appointed Brizard 17 months ago, many wondered how he would transition to CPS, with a student body 11 times the size of the school district he came from in Rochester, New York.  

Among the criticisms of Brizard was that he had too many top office chiefs, so many that no one was sure who was in charge of what. Brizard had 17 chiefs, double the number of the previous administration, according to a Catalyst Chicago analysis. 

Yet Brizard also was burdened with directives coming from Emanuel’s office, and the mayor took a heavy hand in steering the district. Emanuel, in fact, picked Brizard’s top deputy--his first chief education officer, Noemi Donoso--at the same time he chose Brizard.

Emanuel, however, chose to praise Brizard for raising test scores and the graduation rate, as well as implementing the longer school day. Emanuel also blamed rumors that Brizard was going to be fired, saying the rumors thwarted his ability to do his job--an ironic contention, considering that high-level officials in Emanuel’s own administration were responsible for those rumors (reported by the Chicago Tribune on August 31).

Emanuel and Board President David Vitale said Brizard came to the conclusion himself and offered to bow out. But in Brizard’s statement, released at a little after midnight Friday, he offered no explanation and said he leaves the job with “great sadness.”

Brizard’s exit is a costly one. He signed a three-year contract in June 2011 and, according to the terms, the severance package is a 60-day notice, which must be paid, and a year’s salary of $250,000.

Byrd-Bennett already on board

Byrd-Bennett has been serving as chief education advisor for CPS since May and already has been paid $152,000 as part of that consulting contract, according to a board report. CPS officials have not yet said how much she will be paid. Brizard’s salary was $20,000 more than his predecessor.

Byrd-Bennett said she will not immediately appoint a new chief education officer. She said she plans to take a look at the current structure of the central administration and assess what types of people are needed and who can play an “incredible role.”

If she does shake up the central office, it will be the second time in a year. With the exception of Alicia Winckler, the chief of human development, no one is a holdover from the previous administration.

In contrast to Brizard, Byrd-Bennett is seasoned and comes with a list of credentials leading complicated bureaucracies. She led Cleveland public schools for eight years and was chief academic and accountability manager for Detroit Public Schools at a time when it was being run by the state of Michigan. Byrd-Bennett also worked as a teacher, principal and administrator in New York.

When she left Cleveland in 2005, Byrd-Bennett was making $278,000. She was criticized for micromanaging and using private money for first-class travel and meals at expensive restaurants, according to a report on governance and urban school improvement by The Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers University.

But the main reason she left was that she failed to convince Cleveland voters to approve two tax levies. This led to a $30 million deficit and the elimination of many of Byrd-Bennett's programs, according to the report. 

Unlike Brizard, for whom the job was an obvious promotion, Emanuel portrayed Bryd-Bennett as someone in the later years of her career with enough laurels to rest on.

“She could have hung up her jersey,” Emanuel said.

Byrd-Bennett, who is 62, will be the fourth CEO since Arne Duncan left in 2008. She said there is no reason to worry that she will jump ship quickly.

“I plan to be here for the long haul,” she said.

In Cleveland, New York and Detroit, most of Byrd-Bennett’s work has been focused on working to improve traditional public schools and not on encouraging the proliferation of charter schools.

David Bergholz, former president of The Gund Foundation, the largest family foundation in Cleveland, said during her tenure there Byrd-Bennett was more interested in “pushing to reform public schools.” Though he worked closely with her in Cleveland, he has since lost touch with her and doesn’t know her current positions on education issues.

Emanuel is pushing for CPS to become a full-fledged portfolio school district, one in which parents have a lot of choices about where they send their children. He has called for an increase in charter schools.

Though charter schools were barely mentioned at the announcement, Byrd-Bennett said “I could not be more aligned to the vision of the mayor and this board.”

Byrd-Bennett also didn’t shy away from the discussion about closing schools. There have been reports that CPS officials plan to close down as many as 100 schools in the next few years, as many buildings are underutilized.

She acknowledged that CPS has more seats than children. But she said no plan exists detailing which schools to close.

“It is about building community trust and it is a process, not a plan,” she said. Emanuel and Brizard were sharply criticized during last year’s school actions for seeming to ignore community input and even paying people to come to hearings to support school actions.

Bergholz said Byrd-Bennett was adept at establishing strong relationships with the community while in Cleveland. He described her as warm.

“She was liked so much that people said she should run for mayor,” he said. “At one time, she was probably the most popular public figure in Cleveland.”

This ability to build relationships helped Byrd-Bennett this fall. During contentious teacher contract negotiations, she took a lead role, while Brizard faded into the background.

Byrd-Bennett said she forged a connection with CTU President Karen Lewis during this time. Though Lewis called Brizard’s departure evidence of chaos at CPS, Byrd-Bennett said Lewis was the first person she called and that Lewis was supportive.

“We share the same vision. I have walked in the same shoes as a teacher,” she said.

Not only were union relationships one of her strengths in Cleveland, but Bergholz said she also was able to work with Mayor Michael White. Coming into Cleveland, White was a new brand of mayor with a take-charge personality, much like Emanuel.

“They were able to be a team,” Bergholz said. “She was clearly the superintendent and he was clearly the mayor. If Emanuel is capable of working with another strong personality, then they could do a remarkable job.”

For Emanuel, that is a big if.

But when Chicago Teachers Union Recording Secretary Michael Brunson came up to the podium, he issued a bit of a warning, saying the television ad featuring Mayor Rahm Emanuel touting the supposed wins in the contract is not helpful.

The contract still needs to be ratified by members and it is still in a delicate stage, Brunson said.

“Stop the flexing,” Brunson said. “Stop the saber-rattling.”

Tuesday is the last day that the ad will run, says Rebeca Nieves Huffman of Education Reform Now, the outside advocacy group that paid for the ad. Huffman would not say how much the ad cost or why it was wrapping up its run.

Huffman said the organization thought that it was important to run the ad for two reasons. Emanuel, a Democrat who pushed through education reforms, needed to be highlighted, she said. “Democrats haven’t wanted to get in front of these issues because they are fearful of union backlash,” Huffman said. “We wanted to show a Democrat who survived the fight.”

Also, she said Chicagoans needed to know that there were “some great wins for kids in this tentative contract.”

But virtually none of what Emanuel talks about in the commercial can rightly be called “wins” in the negotiations.  The successes claimed by the mayor were actually accomplished as the result of state legislation and, to some degree, Emanuel’s role as chief of staff in the White House.  

In the ad, Emanuel says that as a result of the contract, students will have a “full” day of school, principals will have the freedom to hire the best teacher, parents retained the right to choose the best school for their kids and student achievement will be part of a teacher’s evaluation. Yet items 1 and 4 are driven by state law. School choice, as far as anyone knows, was not even on the table in negotiations.

The longer school day was a foregone conclusion under Senate Bill 7 (which Emanuel did lobby for). Senate Bill 7 made the length of the school day a “permissive item” in bargaining, which means that the employer is not required to discuss it with the union. This meant that Emanuel could impose whatever length of day he wanted, without discussing it with the union.

During negotiations, CPS did allow discussions over the length of the day, but did not budge on the time they wanted (though the mayor had earlier, under pressure from parents and community activists who felt the district had no clear plan for the longer day, scaled back from 7-1/2 hours per day to 7 hours).

Instead, under pressure to pay teachers more for the additional time they would have to work, CPS agreed to shift schedules and to hire 500-some additional teachers so that regular teachers would not have to work longer. Planning and collaboration time for teachers—something that many experts say is essential to having good instruction and a cohesive curriculum—was lost in the compromise.

Emanuel also says he won on giving principals full discretion over teacher hiring, though principals have long had hiring freedom dating back to the landmark 1988 school reform law. The union had wanted principals to be compelled to hire a displaced teacher if three qualified teachers applied for a position. Instead CTU got a promise from CPS to force principals to interview three displaced qualified, highly-rated teachers and, if none are hired, to provide the reason to the Office of Talent Development.

It is questionable whether giving preference to displaced teachers would really amount to stripping principals of hiring discretion.

Emanuel did play a part in getting student growth on standardized tests factored into teacher evaluation, but his influence had nothing to do with the contract talks. During the strike, Emanuel pointed out that he helped Education Secretary Arne Duncan write the bill that created Race to the Top, the federal grant program that offered up millions to states that adopted policies and strategies favored by the U.S. Department of Education. One of those policies was tying teacher evaluation to student achievement on standardized tests.

In response, Illinois passed the Performance Evaluation Reform Act, which required that school districts tie a certain percentage of a teacher’s evaluation to student growth on standardized tests and performance tasks. CPS officials originally wanted to tie teacher’s evaluations to a higher percentage than the law requires.

But the deal calls for the minimum during the three years of the contract, though CPS has said it plans to go beyond the minimum in an optional fourth year of the contract (both parties have to agree to a fourth-year extension). That statement led CTU President Karen Lewis to say the union will likely reject an extension to force CPS officials to haggle with them.

In a letter to the editor, Don Rose writes: "It’s obvious why Mayor Rahm Emanuel is airing boastful commercials that you correctly term “a poke in the eye” of the Chicago Teachers Union. He is trying to rehabilitate himself with the public that overwhelmingly supported the striking union — while a mere 19 percent thought he was handling the situation properly." (Sun-Times)

What was up with CEO of Chicago Public Schools Jean-Claude Brizard during the teachers' strike? He says he was driving from school to school talking to striking teachers. "I spent a week doing that," he told The Huffington Post in his first lengthy interview since the strike ended on Sept. 18.

IN THE STATE
Though expulsions and suspensions have decreased over the past three years in the Springfield School District, the percentage of black students receiving those punishments has stayed the same. (State Journal-Register)

IN THE NATION
One new study draws attention to the large numbers of Detroit children who have been exposed to lead, and suggests ways schools can help those who struggle academically. (Education Week)

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott, announced two programs to expand early childhood education for underprivileged youth. (The New York Times)

In a political-style TV and radio ad blitz launched Wednesday, Emanuel says "change is never easy" but declares the outcome "the right deal for our kids." The ads are being paid for by a nonprofit arm of a political action committee started by Wall Street hedge fund managers who believe the creation of privately run charter schools is the best avenue to reform. (Tribune)

Ed Reform Now, a group with overlapping funders with Democrats for Education Reform bought a million dollar ad buy on Chicago television to spin the recent teachers strike as a win for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, writes blogger Mike Klonsky.

The deal that ended a seven-day Chicago teachers strike will be up for union approval on Tuesday, Oct. 2, Chicago Teachers Union officials said Thursday. (Sun-Times)

Influential businessman and adviser to Mayor Emanuel Bruce Rauner says unions protect bad teachers. He and CTU vice president Jessey Sharkey duked it out on WTTW Thursday night. Watch the interview here, but be sure to read the online comments below.

"The settlement of the Chicago Public Schools strike is the latest example of foolishness in public management," writes Charles F. Falk in a letter to the Tribune. "CPS agreed to provide nearly $400 million it does not have in rewards to a teachers union that has produced one of the least-effective big-city school systems in the nation. In so doing, CPS joins the scores of governmental units that have navigated their respective ships of state onto the reefs of financial un-sustainability."

One of the things that some folks learned during the strike is the extremely low percentage of white students in Chicago Public Schools, writes Whet Moser in Chicago Magazine. "It's not terribly unusual for big-city schools, but 9 percent did come as a surprise to many, even people who follow politics and civic issues closely."

IN THE NATION
The Schott Foundation for Public Education released "The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males," which finds that only 52 percent of Black male and 58 percent of Latino male ninth-graders graduate from high school four years later, while 78 percent of White, non-Latino male ninth-graders graduate four years later. The report suggests that without a policy framework that creates opportunity for all students, strengthens supports for the teaching profession and strikes the right balance between support-based reforms and standards-driven reforms, the U.S. will become increasingly unequal and less competitive in the global economy. The foundation also provides individual reports on each state. Read the report for Illinois here.

Public school teachers seeking to recall Gov. Bobby Jindal and House Speaker Chuck Kleckley said Thursday that they failed in their efforts to oust the Republican leaders. The teachers were angered by Jindal's education reform that will push more students into private and charter schools. (The Times-Picayune)

On Monday, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Peter Flynn declined to hold a hearing on the city’s motion for an injunction to “immediately” get students back in school, questioning why a hearing couldn't wait till Wednesday, when the strike could be over.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday night that he was directing city lawyers to file for an injunction after union delegates decided to take a day to review the proposed contract. He called the strike "illegal" because of state law that prohibits Chicago teachers from striking over matters other than pay and benefits.

Meanwhile, delegates went out to their schools and talked to teachers about the deal that was presented to them Sunday afternoon. Several delegates say they were hearing from teachers that they felt comfortable going back to work on Wednesday and letting union leadership hammer out the details of the contract.

Susan Hickey, a delegate for clinicians, says the emphasis is on suspending the strike, not canceling it. “We trust the union leadership,” she says. 

When teachers went out on the picket line on Monday, some teachers were worried that the community would peel back support, says David Stieber, the delegate for Team Englewood High. But instead, a lot of people let the teachers know they are still behind them. 

After picketing, Stieber and his teachers went to a local library and gathered in a room to discuss the contract. At times, they even called union officials to ask specific questions. 

By the end, Stieber says he felt comfortable letting the process go forward, meaning he will vote Tuesday to suspend the strike and let the union leadership finish hammering out the details. Once the contract is written in full, all members will vote on whether to approve it.

Some delegates say they used the online service Survey Monkey to gauge the opinions of their colleagues, while others took formal votes. Jay Rau, a delegate from Benito Juarez Community Academy, says that he is going to leave his decision on Tuesday up to the staff.

“I will bring a ballot box Tuesday morning at the picket line,” Rau says. “I don't know how other people are going to operate, but that's what I am going to do. I am going to let the staff decide if they want me to do it or not.”

Adam Geisler, the delegate from Batemen Elementary, won’t take a formal vote or survey. He says he talked to his colleagues and told them that if they had any specific concerns or points he should bring up, they should call him. 

Adam Heenan, who is the delegate for Curie High School on the Southwest Side, says he spent Monday morning talking to his colleagues about what was won and what was given up.

He says one of the “clean” victories was the ability of teachers to file a grievance over their evaluation. Yet Heenan says teachers were upset that the union couldn’t win more of the items that would improve schools for students. 

“Nothing was in there as far as [smaller] class size for students, and they are still worried about the impact of testing on the school day,” he says.

Yet there is some recognition among teachers that the contract dispute might not be the right place to resolve these issues. 

“Some of them must be taken to Springfield and some to the Department of Education in Washington D.C.,” Heenan says. 

Stieber also says his teachers were disappointed that there was no promise of lowering class size and providing more services for students. On Tuesday evening, he will participate in community meeting in an attempt to get residents more engaged in fighting for these things for students.

Geisler, a delegate from Bateman Elementary, says members at his school were concerned about the wellness plan.  In the deal, CPS agrees to freeze health care contributions, which they originally attempted to increase.  In exchange, employees have to sign onto the city’s wellness program or pay $600 to opt out.

Move for injunction “not surprising”

The delegates say the move for an injunction will not sway them one way or the other. Yet they are upset about it. 

“It just shows we have a mayor who will do everything possible to fight against better teaching and learning conditions for students,” Heenan says. “Teachers will decide what is best for teachers and students.”

Dunbar Academy delegate Shari Nichols-Sweat agreed, saying “[The mayor] does what he does, we do what we do.”

Hickey says that the injunction was “not surprising.” “I think the CTU was half-expecting it,” she says. “They have been very careful about what we were striking for.”

Getting the injunction is not a straight forward issue. Emanuel and CPS are accusing the CTU for striking on issues that the state law does not allow them to strike on: job recall rights and teacher evaluation. They also say the strike poses a health and safety risk to students.

In a statement, CTU leadership says they believed CPS’ attempt to get an injunction was misdirected. Rather than the courts, CTU leadership says the district must file a complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.  

John Brosnan, special counsel to the IELRB, says that the issue is not clear-cut. The law specifies that an employer can ask a judge to file an injunction if there is a clear and present danger to the public health and safety. Count two of the complaint asking for the injunction is based on CPS’ opinion that the safety of students is compromised by the strike. 

However, count one of the complaint alleges that the CTU is striking over issues that the law says they cannot strike over, and Brosnan says that complaint is under the jurisdiction of the IELRB.

Why is this relevant? The lack of air-conditioning in some schools is just one of the issues that have been raised by teachers in the current strike. In Track E schools, students were in non-air conditioned schools during several days of over 100 degrees and weeks of over 90 degrees. Were the kids there to actually learn, or to make the Board of Education feel good that they’re providing extended school hours for them?

The extended school day is another issue.  It's fine to say we need longer school days to meet current educational standards. It's not fine if you have no curriculum for those extended days-- no art, no music, no physical education, no recess.

Plus, everyone agrees that teachers should be evaluated. Teachers want evaluation so they can improve their teaching skills. But how do we know if a teacher is good? If kids like the teacher? Some kids don’t like good teachers because they enforce discipline and make them work. If the principal likes the teacher? Some principals play favorites, or penalize teachers who have spoken up about things that aren't going well. If the test scores go up? Surely test scores are unbiased data points, right?

Well, let's examine that. My kid’s school has great test scores. It also has great teachers, kids who are motivated, parents who are supportive, a new building, textbooks, computers, art and music classes, and PE. But take the same school, the same teachers and principal, and plop them down in a violent neighborhood, take away the selective enrollment, and what happens? Test scores go down. Are the teachers suddenly less qualified, less talented, less caring, and worse at teaching? No. The environment has radically changed. Introduce factors like poverty and crime, and suddenly it becomes very difficult to teach and for students to learn at the same rate.

Then what happens when a school “fails?” It's shut down, and likely re-opened as a charter school with non-union teachers. Undoubtedly, some charters are better than the schools they replaced—but overall, charters are no better.

Why disrupt neighborhoods, close schools and fire teachers just to open charter schools that perform no better?  Seems like the answer is 1) to bust the union -- the trend these days is very much towards blaming public sector unions for all our financial ills; and 2) turning public money into profit centers for individuals and corporations.

However, if you fire all the teachers, who will be left to teach? If you fire just the bad teachers, can you replace them all with good teachers? Or will you find mediocre teachers, compliant teachers, disengaged teachers, and call it an improvement? Who will go into teaching if the Board of Education and the mayor routinely put down the entire teaching profession and call into question their honesty, their commitment to their students, their quality as teachers? Who will go into a profession that demands constant continuing education if you are just told that your education and your degrees are worthless and you are paid too much?  And why is a middle-class income too much money to pay our teachers?

Failure of leadership, not teachers

When you talk to teachers, what you find is a deep anger over cuts in education funding and the feeling that the children are not being served well by the system. They argue that every school needs a social worker and a school nurse, and text books on the first day of classes, not six weeks in. They argue that the emphasis on testing forces them to teach to the test and to teach students how to fill in little circles on a form—not to teach them critical thinking, or creativity, or love of learning.  They argue that kids need art, because it unleashes creativity. They argue that kids need music and physical education, because these are lifelines for students who are otherwise drowning in the stress of their daily lives. They argue that no one should be expected to work 24% more per day and then take a pay cut. They argue that cutting health benefits means more sick days for teachers, more disruptions in the classroom. They note the major disrespect they feel from the mayor and his hand-picked Board of Education. They've been made to feel that they are at fault for everything that is wrong in the schools.

Meanwhile, Illinois is 50th in the nation in education funding. Let that sink in. And TIFs have been a major force in siphoning off money from education and into the hands of private developers, with little accountability for how those TIF dollars have been spent.

So perhaps the current situation isn’t all the teachers’ fault. Perhaps it is a major policy failure on the part of every single politician who has ever voted for a budget in the state, city, and county. Perhaps the appointed Board of Education is at fault for applying business models to education, with no basis in any research in education that has ever been done.

Perhaps the failure comes from the leaders, not the teachers.

Meanwhile, CPS parents have routinely seen their concerns dismissed by that same Board of Education. CPS parents have attended public hearings to argue forcefully against having their neighborhood schools closed, against sending their kids to other public schools and either placing them in unsafe environments or forcing them to travel through unsafe environments.  The board has consistently gone ahead with their predetermined plans for school closures, teacher dismissals, principal dismissal and the labeling of schools as “failures” even as significant improvements were being made.

For all these reasons, I think the mayor is just plain wrong and at fault for the current strike. I think he set out to demonize the teachers, imply they were overpaid and under-performing.  I think he wants to break their union so he can stop paying middle-class wages to public employees, and instead create profits for his friends in the charter industry.  I think he’s a Democrat in name only-- just like Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, he wants to break all public unions, and the police and fire-fighters unions are next on the list.  He thinks he can get away with it—but here’s hoping that he doesn’t.  

Do non-union schools perform better? Richard D. Kahlenberg, writing for the New Republic, notes otherwise:

“The theory that a non-union environment, which allows for policies like merit pay, would make all the difference in promoting educational achievement never held much water. After all, teachers unions are weak-to-nonexistent throughout much of the American South, yet the region hardly distinguishes itself educationally. Indeed, the highest performing states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey—and the highest performing nations, such as Finland—have heavily unionized teaching forces.”

Thank you to the Chicago Teachers Union for teaching us all this past week about what the real issues are, and what the "education reform" movement is all about.  We don't need Democrats who mimic Republican talking points on education or fiscal policy.

Melissa Lindberg is a CPS parent.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday disregarded a fact finder's recommendation that teachers receive a 15 to 20 percent pay bump next year, saying the idea is "not tethered to reality." (WBEZ)

Chicago's teachers could strike a blow for organized labor globally. (The Guardian)

Here's a timeline compiled by the Tribune on CPS/CTU contract talks.

Arbitrator scolds CPS, teachers union for stubbornness as threat of strike looms. (Tribune)

IN THE STATE
A federal mediator is assisting Niles Township High School District 219 and its teachers union with settling next year’s contract, according to a joint statement from the two parties. (Lincolnwood Review)

IN THE NATION
Los Angeles Unified and Future Is Now, a reform organization led by charter pioneer Steve Barr, announced a partnership to create "hybrid learning" middle and high schools for the 2013-14 school year. (Los Angeles Daily News)

Educators and advocacy groups across California are eyeing a class-action lawsuit filed by dozens of laid-off Sacramento teachers who say their school district unlawfully deviated from strictly following seniority-based layoffs. (The Sacramento Bee)

The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students' achievement in science, technology, engineering and math. (Daily Reporter)

Representatives from several large suburban districts announced they are forming a coalition to represent the unique needs of the nation's large countywide school systems. (Education Week)

"I'm for educational excellence," Emanuel said. "Any one of those jockeys that get us there, I'm for it."

In releasing its one-year and five-year capital plans late Wednesday, CPS stressed that the district is first trying to meet critical health and safety requirements and support student learning at the same time that it faces a deficit next year of up to $700 million. CPS also unveiled a new website with links to summaries of the plans, as well as an  interactive map, with links that allow users to download a dataset that includes detail by school, ward and area network, although not by fiscal year.

In a series of three “Teaching, Learning, and Power” discussions held at Chicago Public Media's Community Bureaus throughout March 2012, the Project on Civic Reflection, through their special program called the Teachers’ Inquiry Project, partnered with WBEZ to create opportunities for teachers to explore the conditions that make learning possible. Click here to listen to the conversation.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard appeared on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" on Thursday to talk about the district's budget deficit and contract negotiations.

Chicago Public School lunchroom workers will receive a 2 percent raise for at least two years and see a five-year freeze on converting “cooking” kitchens to “warming kitchens” under a deal announced Thursday. (Tribune)

IN THE STATE
The Illinois Senate voted Thursday to end the abuse-ridden legislative scholarship program, which for more than a century has enabled lawmakers to dole out free college tuition to the children of campaign donors and other political insiders. (Sun-Times)

Former Grayslake Elementary District 46 board member Michael Linder, whose engineering consultant contract with the school system came under scrutiny earlier this year, has resigned that position. (Daily Herald)

IN THE NATION
More than 400 Texas school districts have signed a resolution to take a stand against the current testing system in which every Texas public school is graded. (KXAN)

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley, in an interview Monday night on WLS-Channel 7 News, said he doesn't think a longer school is the answer to providing a better education for Chicago students.

Chicago Public Schools announced Monday that Barbara Byrd Bennett, a national education consultant, will take over as the district's chief education officer on an interim basis following the resignation of Noemi Donoso. CPS also announced on Monday a replacement for Barbara Bowman as Early Childhood Officer. Beth Mascitti-Miller worked with Brizard in Rochester, N.Y., where she was a deputy superintendent of teaching and learning. (Tribune) Here's Catalyst Chicago's story.

A South Side grade school student’s father is suing Chicago Public Schools, claiming faculty failed to keep his son safe from a bully who attacked him in gym class. Darryl L. Starks Sr. filed the suit Monday on behalf of his son, Darryl L. Starks Jr., who was a student at Adam Clayton Powell Academy when he was attacked on May 2, 2011. (FOX News)

A source with close ties to Chicago's public education establishment has confirmed that Mayor Rahm Emanuel may close 100 Chicago public schools, according to the Chicago Daily Observer.

IN THE NATION
Magnet schools today have been forced to evolve, given legal barriers that bar using race to determine school enrollment and increasing pressure to provide more public school choices. And many large districts like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Baltimore County have maintained high numbers of magnet schools, even amid the economic downturn, and others are using magnets as a strategy to meet new goals around improving school quality. (Education Week)

Enterprising teachers have long scoured the Internet for ways to improve on their textbooks or local curriculum. Now, though, lessons accessed via Google are proliferating in the classroom as never before and are challenging the position of the powerful education publishing industry in public schools.  (Washington Post)

High school students will have the 7.5 hour day four days a week, but will be released 75 minutes early once a week.

Emanuel said he never contended that 7.5 hours was a magical number, but that CPS’ current 5 hours and 45 minutes was short-changing children. He refused to acknowledge that he gave in a little to pressure, but insisted that with a 7-hour day he will reach still reach his goal of more classroom time.

Emanuel also pointed out that the new school calendar, passed at March’s Board of Education meeting, adds 10 more days to the year by eliminating some holidays and days when students are not in school because of professional development and report card pickup.

CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said the decision was made after meeting with more than 60 groups of parents.

“We want them to know that we didn’t just listen, we took action,” he said.

The decision comes amid mounting opposition to extending the school day to 7.5 hours. Different groups had slightly different reasons for their opposition, but had a unifying concern that the district doesn’t have enough money to fill the day with high-quality, engaging activities.

CPS officials announced in March that the district is facing a budget deficit in the range of $700 million this year. Soon, principals will receive their school-level budgets.

Given the projected deficit, it is difficult to see how the school budgets could include much extra money for activities in a longer day. Officials have alluded to the fact that they plan to give principals more discretion.

Emanuel said that the emphasis has been getting money out of central office and into schools. “It is about prioritizing,” he said.

Costs still in question

Jonathan Goldman, a member of Raise Your Hand, said that he thinks that Emanuel’s announcement is “a step in the right direction.” “At least CPS is recognizing that parents want to be at the table,” he said.

But he and his fellow group members still have reservations about how the district plans to pay for the longer day. In meetings, CPS officials have acknowledged that extra time will not automatically result in better learning, but that the additional time must be coupled with quality classes.

Maureen Cullnan, who is part of a group of parents from the 19^th Ward on the far South Side, said that when Emanuel talks about having time for every subject, including science, it is disingenuous if no money is attached.

“Do you know how expensive science labs are?” she said.

Steven Guy, a member of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization whose grandson attends Fuller Elementary, questioned whether even the 7-hour day would be an improvement.

“How is it going to make a difference if you add an hour to something when you’re not financing what the kids need [now]?” he said. “How are they going to pay for it?”

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis reiterated the union’s call for more money in its report “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve.”

“Today, the mayor moved his toe half an inch from the starting line,” she said. “The mayor still needs to tell us how he intends to pay for this.”

Parents on both sides

At the press conference announcing the change, Emanuel and Brizard were flanked by politicians and principals and parents from schools that had pioneered a 7.5-hour day. Thirteen schools were given grants of between $75,000 and $150,000 to go to the extended schedule this year, before the pilot program screeched to a halt when a judge ruled that the district’s program violated fair labor practices.

Disney II Magnet Elementary teacher Adrienne Garrison said the extra time gives her space to differentiate instruction. She uses some of the time to allow her 3^rd-graders to do independent research. They ask question and find the answer and put the results on the “wonder wall.”

Schools that adopted the extra time, like Disney II, must alter the schedule so it fits within the 7- hour time frame. Principal Bogdana Chkoumbova said she isn’t sure what the school will cut back on next year, though she suspects it will be “specials,” and not core subject instruction.

“It is to be determined,” she said.

Skinner North parent Chris Gladfelter, whose school also was part of the pilot program, said that many parents at his school will be relieved by the decision. A survey of parents at the school found that less than half liked the 7.5-hour day.  Those who didn’t like it were divided among wanting to move to a 6.5-hour day and a 7-hour day.

Gladfelter said he took his 2^nd-grader out of some afterschool activities so that she would have time to come home, do homework and play. “We get to 7:30 at night and we have done nothing all day but school,” she said.

Gladfelter, however, admits Skinner North may not be a great barometer for whether the longer day is needed or successful. The students arrive at the school already achieving at high levels.(Skinner North is a classical school.)

Mary Anderson, executive director of the Chicago chapter of Stand for Children, said she thinks the vocal opposition is not representative of most parents. Anderson said her group still wants to see a 7.5-hour day implemented.  

“We are going to hold them accountable to their original proposal, she said.

Anderson said her group represents the silent majority. This weekend, the Chicago chapter will have a kick-off event and Anderson said 200 parents from all over the city will attend.

“We are concerned about the 120,000 students in failing schools that need the extra time,” she said.

Chicago Public Schools is dramatically expanding a program originally designed for the children of diplomats, WBEZ reports. Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Friday the city will open five more of the IB programs in high schools across the city.

Despite new CPS scandal, governments are reluctant to establish zero-tolerance policy.

An Oak Park elementary school principal is stepping down as state education officials begin an investigation into allegations that teachers at her school violated procedures while administering the Illinois Standard Achievement Test. Oak Park Elementary District 97 submitted a report to the Illinois State Board of Education regarding alleged improper testing procedures at Horace Mann Elementary School, district officials said Friday. (Tribune)

IN THE STATE
Outgoing University of Illinois President Michael Hogan would be paid $285,000 a year when he moves to a faculty position under an agreement expected to be approved by school trustees. (Sun-Times)

Elgin Area School District U-46 and the Elgin Teachers Association reached a tentative contract agreement, according to a joint statement Saturday night. (Daily Herald)

IN THE NATION
A year after a financial scandal rocked Seattle Public Schools, the two top officials fired in its aftermath have landed lucrative administrative jobs in high-profile school districts. Former Seattle Schools chief Maria Good