Current Issue

School closings

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

turnarounds

January 06, 2012

In Thursday's edition of WBEZ's "Schools on the Line" program, Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard fielded questions from parents, teachers and students about everything from sex education to recouping more than a million dollars the district improperly paid to retired teachers.

January 05, 2012

The annual report by the Chicago Public Schools inspector general paints a district beset by fraud and employee misconduct, including $1.13 million in improper benefits paid to retired teachers and abuse of the federal free lunch program at a high school, the Tribune and other loca news outlets are reporting.

January 04, 2012

In January, Chicago Public Schools will hold hearings on the proposed closing of four schools and the turnarounds of ten others. The Chicago Teachers Union and many community activists and parents oppose these efforts. A group took their concerns to the Mayor's Office on Wednesday.

January 04, 2012

Parents and community leaders from several Chicago neighborhoods will conduct a non-violent demonstration in front of the mayor's office at 11 a.m. Wednesday to demand a halt to "planned devastating actions against their school," according to a news advisory sent out Tuesday afternoon.

December 07, 2011

When state legislators passed a law in 2009 requiring clear guidelines for school closings in Chicago, the goal was simple: to bring transparency and community input into decisions about vital public institutions. But the law didn’t stop complaints on the heels of the recent announcement that CPS plans to turn around a record 10 schools next year.

December 02, 2011

During December's "Schools on the Line" program on WBEZ, Chicago schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard fielded questions from parents, teachers and students about the proposed turnarounds and school closings the district announced this week.

November 30, 2011

Mayor Rahm Emanuel reacted angrily Tuesday to questions of whether it was a conflict of interest to award management of six new turnaround schools to the Academy for Urban School Leadership, whose former executives were handpicked by the mayor to help run Chicago Public Schools, the Tribune reported.

November 29, 2011

Chicago Public Schools leaders propose to “turn around” 10 schools next year, more than the district has ever done in a single year. The turnaround process, under which the principal is replaced and most teachers are fired, has now become a national education strategy.

October 13, 2011

CPS and the federal government are pumping millions of extra cash into a cadre of long-failing high schools, in hopes of finally improving them. But systemic obstacles still stand in their way.

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