Current Issue

School closings

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

teacher retention

July 31, 2012

As Mayor Daley did nine years ago, Mayor Emanuel realized he had to compromise with the Chicago Teachers Union in an effort to avert a strike. Whether it worked, we won't know for a few more weeks.

August 12, 2010

Charter schools had to replace an average of more than half of their teachers between 2008 and 2010, a turnover rate on par with some of the most troubled district-run schools.

Experts say that high teacher turnover is associated with a school in turmoil and that instability often hampers student performance.

Of the 10 charter schools with the highest turnover, only one—LEARN Charter—had the majority of its students score at or above the state average on the ISAT.

June 24, 2008

Just under 300 CPS teachers at the six turnaround schools faced the same dilemma this spring: Reapply for jobs at their schools, or go elsewhere.

Only 38 teachers were rehired. That sent about 245 teachers into the job market.

 

March 09, 2008

The district's alternative certification initiative has changed dramatically over the last three years: Some programs that worked with CPS have ceased operating or been scrapped, and prospective teachers no longer receive tuition subsidies.

October 01, 2007

Thank you for printing an excerpt of Catalyst Chicago's interview with me in your September issue. You continue to shed valuable light on the issues of teacher quality that are central to The New Teacher Project's mission.

One aspect of our conversation that did not come across clearly in the printed interview is the extraordinary progress Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has made in recent years on teacher hiring and transfer.

August 24, 2007

The 10 schools slated to pilot a merit pay and professional development program for teachers this fall have given the edge to their own faculties when hiring lead teachers for the initiative, according to interviews with principals.

At nine schools Catalyst spoke with, 10 of 13 lead teachers already hired came from within school faculties.

Schools are still hiring for the pilot, which will include 17 lead teachers and 32 mentor teachers, says Sylvia Flowers, senior manager for the program.

August 20, 2007

Chicago's teacher hiring and transfer policies, which allow principals to fill their own vacancies and teachers to choose where they want to work, are the envy of other urban districts, says Timothy Daly, president of The New Teacher Project. But CPS needs a big-picture strategy to hire and keep the cream of the teaching crop, Daly says. The New Teacher Project, which recruits urban teachers, recently completed a study of the district's personnel practices. Daly spoke with Deputy Editor Lorraine Forte and Data and Research Editor John Myers about the report and his recommendations.

November 29, 2006

Chicago Public Schools snared its biggest federal grant to date when it won $27.5 million to pilot a merit pay initiative for teachers, making Chicago the largest district in the country to experiment with performance-based pay.

September 06, 2006
By: Ed Finkel

Every fall, John Green watches the looks on new teachers' faces fade from sunny and warm to cloudy and chilly along with the weather.

"They come in with all this anticipation. You look around in October, November, and it wanes," says Green, a 23-year retired veteran of Chicago Public Schools who taught 8th grade at Fuller Elementary in Grand Boulevard and served as assistant principal at three schools.