Byrd-Bennett proposes 5-year ban on CPS closures after this year
Chicago Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett Monday announced plans to try to “right-size” a district with about 100,000 excess seats by fall and then declare a five-year moratorium on school closures. The plan is contingent on the Legislature allowing the district to extend its deadline for producing a proposed school action list from Dec. 1 to Mar. 31, Byrd-Bennett told the City Club in prepared remarks.
Lessons Learned: CPS teachers now better tailor education plans for students
Mr. Erik Young could try to explain the difficulties of urban migration to his AP Human Geography class. But what if he let Stevie Wonder do it? “Living for the City” popped into Young’s head once as a catchy way to introduce the complexities of mass migration of rural Americans to cities to his students at King College Prep High School. And now it’s part of a lesson.
School Board president lambasts teachers union for ‘spewing lies’
Chicago School Board members Wednesday accused Chicago Teachers Union officials of “spewing lies,’’ issuing threats and trying to “intimidate’’ them into not closing half-empty schools. One target of the attack — CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey — later shot back by accusing the board president of being “silly” and thin-skinned.
Illinois schools rate C’s for performance, education group says
An influential education group Tuesday gave Illinois’ effort in public education slightly improved grades — mostly Cs — despite a “disturbing” trend of mostly flat academic performance.
CPS report card pickup day for both grammar and high schools Tuesday
Tuesday is report card pickup day at Chicago public schools, and for the first time in more than a decade, elementary and high schools will be handing out report cards on the same day. Elementary and high school report card pickup times were consolidated to save on makeup days after the teachers strike ate up 10 originally scheduled school days, a school spokeswoman said.
New CPS chief Bennett seeks delay in school closing list release
Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett wants to delay providing a list of schools to close or consolidate. The list is due Dec. 1, but she plans to ask the state Legislature for an extension until March 31.
State officials bash federal education standard 98% of high schools don’t meet
More than 98 percent of Illinois’ high schools fell short of a federal benchmark in 2012, so many that state officials on Tuesday called the No Child Left Behind law governing education “severely deficient.”
82 Chicago principals get up to $20,000 in merit bonuses
Merit pay bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 apiece were awarded Monday to 82 Chicago Public School principals whose schools demonstrated “exceptional growth” in four key measurements of student success.
Teachers in Highland Park end strike
Students and teachers in North Shore District 112 returned to classes Wednesday following an early-morning announcement that a tentative contract settlement had been reached, bringing an end to a one-day strike.
Job-application system hacked in Plainfield School District 202
People who applied for a job in the Plainfield School District during the last several years got a nasty message over the weekend, courtesy of a computer hacker.
Teachers strike in North Shore School District 112
Teachers in North Shore School District 112 have called a strike for Tuesday after a seven-hour negotiating session failed to produce a contract settlement. All schools in the district will be closed on Tuesday with the exception of three facilities that will serve as activity …
Teachers call strike in District 112; schools closed Tuesday
(HIGHLAND PARK) Teachers in North Shore School District 112 have called a strike for Tuesday after a seven-hour negotiating session Monday failed to produce a contract settlement. All schools in the district will be closed on Tuesday with the exception of three facilities that will …
Ex-U.S education official knocks school closings as ‘destabilizing’
Closings public schools to reopen new ones destroys communities and does nothing to better educate children, education historian and New York University professor Diane Ravitch told the City Club of Chicago Monday.
ANALYSIS: Emanuel needs to give new CPS boss space
Second marriages — romantic or professional — can be better than the first, but only if you learn from and don’t repeat past mistakes.
Whether the professional marriage between Rahm Emanuel and Barbara Byrd-Bennett will last longer than the 17-month-long and newly annulled first marriage …
Next Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has done it all, from teacher to superintendent
Only some four months into her role as Chicago’s “interim” Chief Education Officer, Barbara Byrd-Bennett was tapped to sit at the contract negotiating table while Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard remained in his office, receiving only second-hand reports about events that topped the news night after night. Now, Byrd-Bennett will be moving into Brizard’s office.
