Budget, Heat, Boycott?

By Alexander Russo, August 28, 2013 at 9:33 am
Budget, Heat, Boycott?

Today’s big news is discussion about whether calls for parents to pull their kids out of class are appropriate or effective, as well as the CPS Board meeting and budget consideration (Access Living opposes), the heat, the Mayor’s response to Brizard criticism, and more.

There was also some heated comment and Twitter discussion last night following an anonymous reader comment suggesting that CTU and ILRYH were being too critical of CPS when they should be contributing to the start of the school year. 

BOYCOTT?

No celebration: Chicagoans protest police, schools Newstips:  Two dovetailing protests will mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington in Chicago on Wednesday — a march on the Board of Education by a citywide coalition of community groups at 10 a.m., and a march on City Hall demanding accountability for police killings directly afterward.
Rahm Emanuel pleads with parents: Don’t boycott school Wednesday Sun Times: Community activists have called for a boycott of Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. They say nearly 50 school closings concentrated in predominantly black South and West Side neighborhoods are a local civil-rights issue.
North Side Students, Parents to Join CPS Boycott, Protest DNAI: North Side Action for Justice is urging parents to keep students out of school Wednesday.

CPS boycott called for tomorrowCrain’s Chicago Business: They still don’t like how Chicago Public Schools are being run, so they’re taking it to the streets, again. That’s the word from a group here named Journey for …

Community activists from across the city have called for a boycott of Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the march …

BUDGET

First day brings questions of safety, academics, resources Catalyst: CPS data show that while most students from closed schools enrolled in designated welcoming schools, more than 1,200 students spread out to another 200-plus schools.

CPS parents worry about days ahead as school begins Tribune: Walking to O’Toole Elementary in Englewood for the first day of school, fourth-grader Asharie Wesley got the Safe Passage-plus treatment Monday as she strolled past a group of firefighters helping out on the designated route along Damen Avenue.

CPS to vote on budget amid rally, boycott of schools Chicago Tribune: Just past the heightened scrutiny over security and school consolidations brought on by the first day of school, Chicago school officials will voteWednesday on a $5.58 billion budget that promises teacher and program cuts and has generated additional…

CPS budget cheats kids with severe disabilities, advocacy group says Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago Public Schools’ new “student-based” budgeting shortchanges kids with severe disabilities who need additional resources, an advocacy organization for…

Wolcott School opens doors Wednesday Chicago Tribune: For Mollie Aeder to meet her educational needs, she had to attend a boardingschool six hours away in Michigan, her parents said. The couple wanted a highschool wholly dedicated to teaching students with learning disabilities like their 14-year-old’s

Shuttered Schools Chicago Tonight: What’s in store for the closed Chicago Public Schools buildings? The chair of a new committee shares some details about what’s ahead.
With The Spotlight Dimmed, Hard Work At Chicago Schools Begin CBS Local: As the second day of school in Chicago dawned, the television cameras were gone, the parents were back to work or at home–and the real work of blending new groups of students from two schools began.

SAFETY

Man shot near CPS Safe Passage route on West Side Chicago Sun-Times: The shooting happened about two hours after school let out on the second day of classes forChicago Public Schools students, and about a block from a Safe …
What Are The Safest Neighborhoods In Chicago? Chicagoist: Whet Moser analyzed crime data and found the safest neighborhoods in Chicago are on the Northwest and Southwest sides where cops and other civil servants live.
Have Our Standards Lowered that Much? CPS Chatter: The longer school day was called a success by some because it was indeed longer.  The first day of school was called a success because no students were shot in a safe passage zone in front of the media.  I am sure that sending our children to school in August when it’s 95 degrees in many CPS classrooms will be considered a success because school did in fact start a week earlier.

HEAT

Chicago area schools feeling the heat WGNTV: Chicago Public Schools are dealing with the stifling heat. Some schools are now equipped with window units, but some schools don’t have air conditioning at all …

Schools Canceled As Heat Wave Sweeps Through Midwest NPR: It’s hot in parts of the Midwest this week, and student and teachers just back to school are suffering.

Students sweat it out in classrooms without air conditioning Chicago Sun-Times: Districtwide, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett sent directions to principals and their bosses instructing hot schools on days like Tuesday, when temperatures were predicted to hit 95, to do things like: ◇ Drawing shades in rooms to keep out sunlight …
Heat forces some early school closings Tribune:  Chicago flirted with record high temperatures Tuesday, causing some schools without air conditioning to cancel or close early for the day. Students at other schools felt cheated. “It’s feeling much more like summer than it had, so (some students)..

Parents Fuming About CPS School Without PowerNBC Chicago: Chicago Public Schools children had to be evacuated on the second day of school after a transformer exploded outside Mollison Elementary School, knocking …

BRIZARD

Rahm Emanuel Brushes Off Criticism on Micromanaging DNAI: Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at least former CPS boss Jean-Claude Brizard appreciated his sense of humor

Rahm refuses to take Brizard’s baitVoices: Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday used his trademark sarcasm to slough off the advice of his oustedChicago Public Schools chief. Nearly one year after being …

MISC

Asean Johnson: The 9-Year-Old Who Captivated a Nation BET: His mother, who works for Chicago Public Schools, was on strike last year and her young son took extraordinary interest in the issues. “I’m not an activist nor …

Comings & Goings: Travis, Allensworth Catalyst: The Consortium on Chicago School Research gets a permanent director, and two foundations get new program officers.

Thousands commemorate March on Washington’s 50th anniversary Catalyst: The Chicago Reporter traveled to Washington, D.C., to document some of the festivities surrounding the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The CTU plans to change the political landscape in Chicago. In These Times: In April, as the union waged an unsuccessful fight against school closures, CTU President Karen Lewis declared: “If the mayor and his hand-picked corporate school board will not listen to us, we must find those who will.”

 

Filed under: 125 S. Clark Street, Daily News Roundup, Parents and Parenting

Comments

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  • Alexander Russo said August 28, 2013 at 12:00 am

    Mayor Emanuel: a tough leader for a tough city, or just an a-hole? @joravben Chicago Reader http://ow.ly/olMNN

  • The Retired Principal (RP) said August 29, 2013 at 12:00 am
    In reply to Alexander Russo:

    Alex, Emperor Emanuel is just an a-hole!

  • Alexander Russo said August 28, 2013 at 12:00 am

    University of Chicago Lab School teacher rates local & national education writers - via @dianeravitch http://ow.ly/olRfC

  • sammy said August 28, 2013 at 12:00 am

    Sad to say but I think A-Hole is the answer I'd have to give. It's really not the issues because they are tough. It's the demeanor and the fact the man has no finesse. Brizard said a mouthful the other day. I cannot discern why folks with no knowledge of a particular area would want to make decisions when they have no clue as to what they're doing. Nor do they realize who is hurt.

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