Chicago Schools Scramble to Deal with Lead Contamination
(Photo: Pixabay, Creative Commons) At Mather High School in Chicago’s West Rogers Park, Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool pledged to CPS, parents, and city officials that the financially-strapped district would pay whatever is necessary to eliminate the lead from water sources, to develop methods to test schools’ water on a regular basis, and to […]
Chicago Students Protests Lack of Education Budget
(Photo: WGNTV) Once again, Chicago students have taken to the streets to protest the school-funding catastrophe in the city in spite of the 90-degree heat. The students blocked the door to the James R. Thompson Center, carried signs, and chanted “Save Our Schools” to grab the attention of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. The rally began […]
From San Francisco to Chicago, Urban Farming Schools Appear
(Photo: Wikimedia, Creative Commons) A school in San Francisco is about to become the first urban farming public education setting in the country as students at the Golden Bridges School learn about the role that urban farms can play in the community. Katie Pohlman of EcoWatch writes that the new campus will combine indoor and outdoor learning areas […]
Chicago CEO Claypool: Schools Won’t Open Without Funding
(Photo: ABC) Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool has said that CPS will not be able to open in the fall if state lawmakers cannot approve an education budget: “Chicago schools would not open, and I suspect most of the schools in the state would not open.” The divisions among Democratic legislators who have control over […]
500 Kids Mistakenly Accepted to Top Chicago Public School
(Photo: Pixabay, Creative Commons) An “unidentified internal error” in enrolling transfer students in Chicago has ended with Chicago Public Schools telling hundreds of families that their children had been accepted for a seat in the exceptional North Side school this week when, in fact, they had not. LaSalle Elementary magnet school campus, located in the Old […]
After Chicago Teachers 1 Day Strike, City Gov’t Fires Back
(Photo: Christian K. Lee, AP) Chicago Public Schools (CPS) filed a charge against the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) with a state labor board over a one-day strike that occurred last Friday. The CPS maintains that the walkout staged by the union was illegal because it did not follow state law, which sets the rules for […]
Chicago Public Schools, Union, Clash Ahead of Friday Strike
(Photo: Brad Perkins, Creative Commons) Already picketing at schools before classes begin, the Chicago Teachers Union is planning an entire day of rallies and teach-ins in the city that will comprise a one-day strike on Friday that promises to close schools. The union encouraged its members to be a part of the walkout by publishing a […]
Chicago Teachers Vote to Walk Out on Friday, April 1
(Photo: Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune) The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body has approved a one-day walkout scheduled for April 1 that will effectively shut down all public schools in the city. Union leaders pushed for the one-day strike as part of an effort to force Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and state legislators to create a […]
Bill Would Usher In Elected School Board for Chicago
In a rare bipartisan move, the Illinois House passed a bill this Thursday to do away with a Chicago Board of Education that is appointed by the city’s mayor and change it to a board that is elected. Lauren Fitzpatrick and Fran Spielman report for the Chicago Sun-Times that if the bill makes it past the Senate, Chicago […]
Chicago Teachers to Vote This Week on Strike
On Wednesday, December 9, teachers who are members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) will take a vote on whether they will go on strike. The CTU’s contract with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) expired during the summer, and now it has been over 150 days that teachers have worked with no contract. CTU is pushing for smaller class sizes, […]