Current Issue

School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

high schools

September 07, 2010

At the two new turnaround high schools, the message of the first day of school was that this was a new day—one in which being out of uniform or bringing a cell phone will result in an immediate consequence.

August 26, 2010

Do more rigorous courses raise student achievement? Not necessarily, according to a study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research. A new policy brief from the Consortium, in effect, sounds a warning about the national push for tougher learning standards for all students.

June 09, 2010

Nationally, the small schools movement is pretty much dead. Turnarounds and charters are the focus now. In Chicago and elsewhere, the tens of millions poured into small schools by the Gates Foundation and other funders has dried up.

June 07, 2010

CEO Ron Huberman made the case last week that his signature “culture of calm” initiative is starting to yield results, with suspensions down at some of the district’s roughest schools and fewer students shot compared to last year. Yet interviews with school administrators show that money has yet to reach some schools, and they are just beginning to implement the programs that are part of the $60 million, two-year initiative. 

May 26, 2010

Fifty fewer CPS students have been shot and 10 fewer killed this school year, according to Chicago Public Schools officials.

May 25, 2010

Former dropout Tyrese Jackson left Farragut High School at age 17, served a brief time in jail and then enrolled in an alternative school the next year.

Taking part of in a film class gave him a better way to spend his time, he says. “Now I don’t like being around people who have me doing negative things,” says Tyrese, who is now a junior at the Academy of Scholastic Achievement.

April 12, 2010

An organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students is holding a rally Tuesday afternoon to ask CPS officials to enact a policy that will allow them to file formal complaints against school staff for harassment or other mistreatment.

March 15, 2010

As part of a larger effort to institute more rigorous graduation requirements, in 1997 CPS passed a policy requiring students to take three years of science instead of just one year. But for the most part, the increased coursework did little to raise science achievement overall, according to a study released today by the Consortium on Chicago School Research.

January 25, 2010

A former local school council member of Fenger and Carver high schools is trying to gain traction for a proposal to bring green jobs training for students and parents to seven low-performing high schools.

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