Current Issue

School closings

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

charter schools

November 30, 2011

Mayor Rahm Emanuel reacted angrily Tuesday to questions of whether it was a conflict of interest to award management of six new turnaround schools to the Academy for Urban School Leadership, whose former executives were handpicked by the mayor to help run Chicago Public Schools, the Tribune reported.

November 30, 2011

For the first time, the state is releasing today new school report cards for charter campuses, with test scores and data on student and school characteristics compiled in the same format used for traditional public schools. 

November 22, 2011

Chicago Public Schools announced it will give $75,000 grants to 36 charter schools so they can lengthen their school days in January and be studied before all traditional CPS schools switch to a longer day in the fall of 2012, according to the Sun-Times.

November 16, 2011

Community groups around Chicago have begun revving up for what likely will be a fierce battle to keep neighborhood schools open as CPS prepares to announce this year's list of school closings and consolidations. (Tribune)

November 09, 2011

The newest battleground in the citywide conflict between the teachers’ union and charter schools has emerged at a parcel of vacant land near Chicago’s far northwest edge, Chicago News Cooperative reports.

November 01, 2011

The Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which has sponsored a prize for the top urban public school districts for the past 10 years, is starting a similar award program for the nation's charter schools.

October 27, 2011

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that most charter schools eligible for the financial incentives to lengthen the day by 90 minutes have quickly signaled that they are ready to jump on board. But the location of his announcement--a school with a longer school day and a poor academic track record--shows the complexity of the issue.

October 27, 2011

Chicago Public Schools soon will adopt a more rigorous internal evaluation system that judges schools on how well they prepare students for college, a move that could lead to more school closings in the years ahead, the Tribune reported this morning.

October 25, 2011

Chicago Public Schools is considering offering financial incentives to charter schools willing to adopt a longer school day this year, even as the attorney general's office prepares to petition Cook County Circuit Court to stop the extended day from being implemented in more neighborhood schools, the Tribune reports.