Current Issue

School closings

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

CPS administration

June 14, 2012

With money tight, Chicago Public Schools' summer Safe Haven program will be scaled back and serve fewer students. (Tribune)

June 12, 2012

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday afternoon that Back of the Yards High School, slated to open in fall 2013, will offer a “wall-to-wall” International Baccalaureate program and house a neighborhood library branch in its building.

He had announced in March that the city would open 10 new IB programs – five whole-school programs, including one at Back of the Yards and another at Senn High School in Edgewater – and five new programs in existing neighborhood high schools.

May 25, 2012

In a victory for CPS, a judge has dismissed for the second time a lawsuit filed by parents who sought to stop school closings and turnarounds.

May 23, 2012

Board of Education members granted the wishes of two organized community groups in making polar opposite decisions about newly-built schools.

South Shore International College Prep will have no neighborhood boundaries, starting in September. Meanwhile, a new elementary school at 48th and Rockwell will be reserved for attendance-area students.

These decisions are the culmination of battles that began long before the current administration and board. They also show how different communities and parents look at schools in the current environment regarding choice.

May 15, 2012

The Logan Square Neighborhood Association is establishing the Logan Square School Facilities Council to make sure no closed-door decisions are made at the Board of Education about the future of Ames Middle School.

May 11, 2012

Last week Chicago Public Schools issued to all principals an elaborate memo outlining how all teachers were being required to "verify" the students they had taught in the previous year — even down to estimating how much of the "learning" these students did should be attributed to the individual teacher, Substance News reports.

April 30, 2012

Less than one business day after revealing that Chief Education Officer Noemi Donoso is leaving, CPS officials announced that she will be succeeded by Barbara Byrd Bennett, a veteran educator who ran Cleveland schools for seven years.

Though Donoso’s resignation is not effective until May 31, Bennett will be in town working in an advisory role for a month, spokeswoman Becky Carroll says. Bennett will then serve as interim chief education officer.

April 30, 2012

CPS officials are saying the district will implement a coordinated bell system to "assure a smooth transition as it moves to a full school day" while improving student safety and streamlining bus transportation.

April 28, 2012

Less than a year after Mayor Rahm Emanuel hand picked Noemi Donoso as the chief education officer, the brusque administrator who hailed from out West is resigning.

A statement released Friday evening said that Donoso is leaving to pursue a national project to train the next generation of urban leaders. She said she has “profound respect and appreciation for this district’s commitment to young people.”

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