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School closings

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

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CPS administration

Tougher principal selection process in the works February 17, 2012 By: Rebecca Harris Chicago Public Schools is embarking on yet another revamp of its controversial principal eligibility process, based on a new set of principal skills that will also play into new state-mandated principal evaluations. The changes could take effect as soon as this summer, but it’s not clear yet what they will be. The current process includes an application with essays and an initial interview; a scenario exam; a school data case study; a more in-depth interview; and a mock teacher observation. (Those could still be part of the revamped process.) Read More \| (22) Comments	Protesters shut down School Board meeting December 14, 2011 By: Sarah Karp Just as CEO Jean-Claude Brizard took to the podium to start a presentation at the December School Board meeting, in a booming voice, activist Adourthus McDowell tore into the proposed closure and turnaround of 14 schools, ending with the chant of “those are our children, not corporate products.” Read More \| (7) Comments
As questions arise, more charters planned for Chicago December 12, 2011 By: Sarah Karp CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has said that charter schools will not escape tough scrutiny of their performance--including the threat of closure--and that School Board members would consider taking action against one or two charters at the December board meeting. Read More \| (6) Comments	Dozens of schools meet closings criteria November 15, 2011 By: Sarah Karp About 140 schools, most on the South Side, meet all the key components of the district’s draft criteria to be eligible for closing. Read More \| (15) Comments
School closing opponents turn out to meeting November 14, 2011 By: Rebecca Harris CPS' new point man on school actions faced an angry crowd of about 60 people at the first community hearing on proposed guidelines for school closings. Read More \| (2) Comments	Union challenge to teacher screening test faces hurdles November 01, 2011 By: Rebecca Harris The controversial TeacherFit assessment that Chicago Public Schools uses to screen teacher candidates has come under fire from the Chicago Teachers Union, which has filed an unfair labor practices charge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. Read More \| (1) Comments
Hundreds of CPS employees face potential layoffs to save $16 million September 22, 2011 By: Sarah Karp The promised reorganization of the top and middle layer of the CPS bureaucracy has been underway for the past few weeks, with hundreds of staffers receiving word that they no longer have a guaranteed position and won’t know for sure if they have a job til mid-to-late October. Read More \| (9) Comments	Common Core standards tests starting this fall August 29, 2011 By: Rebecca Harris Chicago Public Schools will begin testing 2nd- through 8th-grade students on the new Common Core State Standards this year, although no one knows yet what official tests based on the standards – which are being developed by a multi-state consortium and will likely replace current state assessments starting in fall 2014 – will look like. Read More \| (0) Comments
For the Record: Longer school day costs, benefits August 23, 2011 By: Cassandra West With Chicago Public Schools’ announcement today that it plans to extend the school day by 90 minutes and the school year by two weeks, the district and the Chicago Teachers Union are making competing claims about whether longer school days benefit students, with the union calling for a “better” school day rather than a longer one. Read More \| (19) Comments

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