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Wednesday CTU, Board Meetings

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Forget about NATO, it’s already old news. It’s the big CTU meetup on Wednesday that’s really important, right?  I guess so.  Details here. There’s also a Board meeting — agenda here. Note the proposed attendance zone changes to Shields and Brighton II in addition to the South Shore ICP / CVS / Bowen changes we... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
today at 8:40 am
• 11 comments

CPS To Renew Food Vendor

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Some of today's big education news is the plan for CPS to renew with Chartwell as food vendor, as well as the planned 100 selective enrollment seats at South Shore ICP.  There's also a CTU press event later this morning and a WBEZ story about some of the amazing architecture found among CPS buildings. Tomorrow is a Board meeting day, don't forget, and also a big CTU gathering day.  Anything else?  Let us know in comments or shoot me an email.  ... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
today at 7:54 am
• 19 comments

CPS Refutes Hiring Spree Claim

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Every Friday, Seth Lavin rehashes lots of things you've already seen or heard about here during the week but he also comes up with some items that are new or original.  Here, for example, is a response Lavin got from Becky Carroll about the issue of whether CPS's communications staff is much larger than it used to be, as well as a few other tidbits.  Or, just enjoy the Alien Spelling Bee.  ... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
Monday at 1:14 pm
• 15 comments
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NATO, Newsweek

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Today’s news includes coverage of the NATO summit and related strikes, which include some labor and education issues, plus the entirely unsurprising news that Payton, Whitney Young (pictured), Northside, etc. are on the Newsweek list of top high schools.  Pretty much the same list as the US News list from a few weeks ago.  Lots... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
Monday at 7:46 am
• 6 comments

Meet The "PRI"

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A day later we know a little -- but not much -- more about the big 100-school CPS initiative that was revealed in the Tribune yesterday thanks to some materials that have been shared with me on background.  How does it work?  Will it work?  Here are some of the few things I can tell you... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 18, 2012 at 7:25 am
• 14 comments

Friday NATO Day

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Today’s news includes coverage of the NATO conference (CPS is staying open), North Chicago’s financial woes, and Eric Zorn’s complaints about school robo-calls. At bottom you’ll also find coverage of a study showing that 7.5 million kids are absent every day and that attendance averages hide chronic attendance problems focused on a handful of students. Yes... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 18, 2012 at 7:11 am
• 5 comments
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100 New Schools (60 Charters)

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UPDATED 11:50AM;  Finally some details on the proposed 100 schools we were hearing about last month, via the Tribune (here).  The gist is that CPS wants to create 60 more charters over five years, effectively doubling the percentage of Chicago kids who go to charters to 25 percent, plus 40 more other schools to make... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 16, 2012 at 11:57 pm
• 31 comments

The Very Public Execution Of Marc Wigler

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Today’s news is a hodge-podge of this and that, but the story that grabs my attention is the expulsion of Marc Wigler from CTU. First off, I want a copy of the 15,000 CPS emails that CTU got via FOIA — Jesse, you know my email. Second, I want to know the backstory here —... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 16, 2012 at 7:46 am
• 42 comments

Arne Duncan & Gay Marriage

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I am perhaps alone in believing that Arne Duncan’s candid admission that he agreed same sex marriage should be legal contributed to President Obama’s decision to announce his support publicly last week.  Pretty much everyone else credits Joe Biden, who came out in support of gay marriage the day before. I am also perhaps alone... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 15, 2012 at 10:25 am
• 8 comments
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NATO Nonsense

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Today’s news:  It’s NATO time, and that means protests and some school closings. Lowly student surveys turn out to be as good or better as the million–dollar observation rubrics that have been developed, so districts like CPS are going to start using them to help rate teachers.  Rahm’s poll results are out — not great... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
May 15, 2012 at 7:44 am
• 4 comments