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Why Illinois’ budget is as clear as mud
Fixing Illinois’ budget crisis begins with understanding just how much money comes in and how much money is spent in a given year. Yet tracking the state’s massive budget is much more difficult than it seems, especially because of convoluted accounting practices. This lack of …Read More
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Teach to the test — or how to think?
Winners and losers. That’s how the settlement of the recent Chicago teachers union strike was scored. Americans love that sort of thing. It’s why we’re sports fanatics. The average person knows more about the NFL than he does about public education. He’ll expound on why …Read More
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Disability reform long overdue
Most police, fire and emergency medical responders are extremely hard working, dedicated personnel who should not be painted with a broad brush. But as the Sun-Times highlighted in its recent “Disability Pays” investigation, former police officers and firefighters have drawn large disability payments despite being …Read More
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Attack on Urban Prep Charter harms students and teachers
Last week, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Sun Times titled “School closings open door to charters.” Ms. Lewis criticized Urban Prep Academies, a nonprofit organization operating a network of charter public high schools serving mostly economically disadvantaged African-American …
CTU chief Karen Lewis is wrong on charter schools
What do 52,000 Chicago parents of charter school students understand that Karen Lewis doesn’t? In her Sunday Sun-Times screed against public charter schools, Lewis ignores one inescapable fact: Chicago parents are increasingly choosing to send their children to charter schools. In just the past five …
Not picking sides: a parent’s view on the strike
I was really hoping that my daughter would be back in school Monday. She misses her new teacher (and I miss and love the teachers at our neighborhood school, too). Am I disappointed? Yes. Monday morning, a parent friend from another state asked me, “Whose …
Why I love and respect teachers but hate this strike
I come from a long line of CPS teachers. My mother, aunt, mother-in-law, father-in-law (who taught high school for over 40 years), cousins and friends are all great CPS teachers. I should also mention that my father is a labor attorney who has been fighting …
Preschool begins road to reform
With the first Chicago teacher walkout in 25 years, the city’s public school system has been making national headlines as a starting point to discuss education reform. While a central issue in Chicago has been evaluating teachers, perhaps an equally important question to consider is …
School closings open door to charters
The Chicago school system is so cash-strapped that it plans to close and consolidate under-utilized schools, with rumors that it could be upward of 120 schools this coming year. Many people would consider this to be fiscally prudent. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is of course going …
‘We stand with our teachers’
The rhetoric in the media surrounding the motives behind the Chicago Teachers’ Union strike has been malicious, misguided and misrepresentative. Many a journalist has said that the teachers are striking against students and that their actions are doing more harm than good. This assertion could …
Why I stand with fellow teachers
I am a Chicago Public School teacher. What am I fighting for at this time? 1. I am fighting for schools in which politicians do not decide what is best for the children of Chicago; but where teachers and administrators have the power to make …
Standardized test scores are worst way to evaluate teachers
As a university professor and educational researcher, I sometimes feel like I’m in that old ’50s horror movie, “The Blob.” Remember that one, where an invader from outer space grows with everything it eats, until it is a giant monster that threatens the entire town? …
Why Chicago needs strong teacher evaluations
Let’s think back. Before the Chicago Teachers’ Union began striking over teacher evaluations and the teacher-recall process and other issues. Before the independent fact-finder proposed a settlement, and before the CTU took a hasty strike vote at the end of last school year. Let’s go …
Dems demand justice, paid for with other people’s money
Sandra Fluke’s claim to fame, aside from provoking Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic ire, is that she chose to attend Georgetown Law School, knowing full well that the Catholic university’s student health plan did not cover birth control, and then demanded that the policy be changed, under …
Hard facts behind union, board dispute
As a CPS alumnus of the strikes of ‘83, ‘85, and ‘87, and as a parent of two Chicago Public Schools students, I know how hard strikes are on students and families. But as a CPS teacher with 12 years of experience, I encourage my …
Teachers grousing about the wrong issues; students need help
On Sept. 9, the janitors leaving public schools across Chicago will lock the doors. For the first time in the last 25 years, it’s not clear when they will be unlocked. The Chicago Teachers Union plans to strike on Sept. 10 unless a settlement is …
When a teacher writes a racy book
Before students returned for the start of the 2012-2013 school year at Rich Township High School District 227, our teaching staff participated in our annual professional development institute on Aug. 9. As part of this program, we celebrated our successes, such as more than $10 …
A fewv pointers on reading political polls
During election season, poll results are everywhere. Did the Democratic National Convention give President Barack Obama a bump in the polls? How did Mitt Romney’s latest ad play among swing voters? Even in a state such as Illinois, where the presidential election result is not …
Upbeat Dems vs. GOP doomsayers
I wrote a few days ago that if the Democrats could maintain the enthusiasm they showed on the first day of their convention for all three days, Mitt Romney would be in serious trouble. They did, and he is. If this is not what the …
How should we handle charity?
President Obama’s re-election campaign has done a pretty good job of creating the impression that Mitt Romney, having walked through the doorway of American opportunity, quickly slammed it behind him. No doubt Romney would protest that it just ain’t so, that he cares as much …
