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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.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel

February 01, 2013

Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week announced a new partnership between Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago-based startup The Starter League to provide new web development courses that will reach thousands of Chicago students at the city’s five Early College STEM high schools, the city’s Technology Magnet Cluster high schools, and the City Colleges.

October 12, 2012

In officially announcing that Jean-Claude Brizard was resigning and Barbara Byrd-Bennett was taking over, Mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to say how his first hand-picked school leader fell short.

But in emphasizing that Byrd-Bennett has experience managing a major urban school district, Emanuel took a subtle approach in pointing out a hole in Brizard’s background, one that might have proved lethal.

September 25, 2012

In the wake of the recent teachers’ strike, the September board meeting started out as mostly a congratulatory session among board members, district officials and the union leadership, who lauded each other for working long hours to craft a deal.

But when Chicago Teachers Union Recording Secretary Michael Brunson came up to the podium, he issued a bit of a warning, saying the television ad featuring Mayor Rahm Emanuel touting the supposed wins in the contract is not helpful.

September 25, 2012

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's post-strike TV commercial, which has been getting lots of airplay and is said to have cost around $1 million, seems not to match up with reality, says Chicago Now blogger Barb Moreno.

September 21, 2012

With help from his well-funded political allies and the resources of the Chicago Public Schools system that he controls, Emanuel is describing the tentative contract that emerged from the seven-school-day strike as a hard-fought victory for children.

September 17, 2012

On Tuesday, one of two things will happen in the ongoing Chicago teachers strike: The House of Delegates will suspend the strike, or they will send their leaders back to the negotiation table—a move that will likely kick off a complicated legal battle over whether the strike is legal at all. 

On Monday, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Peter Flynn declined to hold a hearing on the city’s motion for an injunction to “immediately” get students back in school, questioning why a hearing couldn't wait till Wednesday, when the strike could be over.

September 17, 2012

My kid is in a Chicago public school—a really good one, with selective enrollment, great teachers, and a great new “green” school building that is LEED-certified - but has no air conditioning. And here’s the thing: It's getting warmer earlier--in the 80's last March, and hot in school. You know what? It's hard to learn and to teach when it’s too hot. The heat makes it difficult to concentrate.

July 18, 2012

The Sun-Times says Mayor Emanuel is learning a lesson from teachers in the union contract flap, after two legislative moves he championed—the 75 percent strike authorization threshold and the fact-finding process—both blew up in his face.

May 04, 2012

In a wide-ranging discussion Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed down the NewSchools Venture Fund-Aspen Institute Summit on Education Innovation Wednesday in San Francisco. During a speech and interview, Emanuel repeatedly said he was not in favor of charter schools, or turnaround schools, or magnet schools, but whatever schools get results.

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