Current Issue

School closings

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

discipline

June 27, 2012

For the second year in a row, CPS will raise property taxes to the max in order to fill a budget deficit, projected to be between $600 and $700 million.

Homeowners with houses valued at $250,000 will pay $28 more a year, according to CPS. The move will bring in about $41 million.

In a press release, Board President David Vitale said the money will help the district keep class sizes stable, implement a longer school day and invest in preschool.

“We don't take an increase lightly,” he said.

June 26, 2012

In advance of Wednesday’s Board of Education vote, CPS today released its proposed revisions to the Student Code of Conduct. But the revisions, though making changes such as eliminating automatic 10-day suspensions for even the most severe offenses, did little to quell the dissatisfaction of student and community groups with how the district handles discipline.

June 25, 2012

Over the past 12 months, we have learned a lot about school discipline in Chicago. The Consortium on Chicago School Research, the U.S. Department of Education, and the students themselves have painted a very clear picture for us:

Extreme measures like suspensions, expulsions, and arrests don’t make our schools safer—and can in fact make things worse, by damaging the trusting student-teacher relationships that are the foundation for a safe learning environment.

They disproportionately impact the educational futures of our Black, Latino and special education students.

April 24, 2012

The student group Voices of Youth in Chicago Education held a City Hall press conference Tuesday to urge CPS to stop having students arrested for misdemeanor offenses, citing its analysis of school arrest data and claiming that the city arrests 25 students, on average, every day.

March 22, 2012

SPRINGFIELD--Noble Street Network of Charter Schools Superintendent Michael Milkie brought a busload of parents and alumni with him to a Senate Education Committee hearing at the Capitol in Springfield on Wednesday. The affection the group had for Milkie was obvious.

They sat through three hours as the committee debated multiple issues, listening attentively and looking proud as Milkie parried with senators who challenged him at every turn. They gathered around at the end of the day, posing for group photos with Milkie in the center.

February 13, 2012

The civil rights advocacy group Advancement Project is considering a legal challenge to the discipline policy of Noble Street Charter School campuses, which charge students $5 each time they are issued a detention.

“As civil rights lawyers, we are exploring our options to challenge this practice,” said Advancement Project staff attorney Alexi Nunn Freeman.

January 25, 2012

A youth advocacy group is calling on Chicago aldermen to pass a student safety act similar to one in New York City that forces the school district to reveal the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions per school every quarter.

January 25, 2012
October 13, 2011
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