Current Issue

School closings

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

parent and community engagement

October 05, 2012

I moved to the Beverly community (the 19th ward) for many reasons—the anchor one being the strong public schools.  Within months of moving, the attendance boundaries were redrawn and I no longer was zoned to a high-performing public school. Student scores are just one of the many indicators of the school’s success. 

We are now zoned to the school where barely a third of 3rd-graders are reading at grade level and only 18% of their 8th graders are proficient in math.

October 01, 2012

Now that the strike is over and parents, students and teachers are finally settling into the routine of the school year, many parents we talk to are wondering what will change in terms of how policies are shaped at the district level at Chicago Public Schools. The blogosphere is abuzz from East Coast to West with opinions on the value and meaning of this strike. Tomorrow, our teachers in Chicago will vote on whether or not to ratify the contract.

September 14, 2012

CPS officials have told a state legislative committee that they will expand the criteria for closing schools this year to include under-utilization, not just long-term academic failure.

Officials also have been going out to community action councils—CPS-organized groups of community stakeholders—and giving them lists of under-utilized, low-achieving schools, as if to prepare them for what might happen.

September 06, 2012

This story includes a link below to the list of sites for CPS' "Children First" program.

As CPS released new details on its strike contingency plan, pastors representing over 100 African-American and Latino churches demanded that CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union come to agreement on a contract, pledged to offer programs for students if teachers strike and charged that CPS has been slow to prepare for a possible walkout.

August 30, 2012

If the Chicago Teachers Union goes on strike, CPS has plans to open about one-third of public schools for a half-day, serving meals to students and offering some activities--but no instruction. Meanwhile, community groups are scrambling to see if they can pull together their own plans for students if teachers decide to walk out.

August 29, 2012

At a raucous town hall meeting Wednesday night, a diverse group of activists showed their support for the Chicago Teachers Union.

August 06, 2012

A coalition of community groups pushing to get an elected school board believes they have enough signatures to get a referendum gauging public support on the November ballot in 204 precincts, about 9 percent of the precincts in Chicago.

About 70 people, including students, teachers and parents, were on hand Monday morning as organizers walked the petitions with about 9,700 signatures, into the Chicago Board of Elections office. Phil Cantor, a member of Teachers for Social Justice and a CPS parent, said the group expects to have the petitions challenged.

June 21, 2012

Communities In Schools of Chicago Executive Director Jane Mentzinger said at this morning's Catalyst Conversation that the Diplomas Now program, which currently serves Chicago Talent Development High School, will expand to Hope College Prep and Gage Park High School in the fall.

June 20, 2012

CPS has postponed a Monday night meeting that was to inform parents about the status of district negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union.

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