The class action lawsuit was denied on Monday, cuts could affect community schools most of all, Safe Passages remains a question mark, and more….
Court challenges to school closings flunk test Chicago Tribune: They were filed by Chicago Public Schools parents whose children would be affected by the closings. In a 26-page opinion released late Friday, U.S. District …
Chicago School Closings Worry Poor Neighborhoods AP: To Carolyn Lang, West Pullman Elementary is more than the school across the street her children attended a quarter-century ago. It’s where she turned for help when the lock on her front door froze and where school workers watch from their windows to make sure she doesn’t fall victim to crime in an impoverished corner of the city wracked by violence, including two men found shot to death in a car just days ago.
Emanuel Takes on Powerful Teacher’s Union as Chicago’s Woes …Newsmax.com: The reason for the bold cutbacks is the $1 billion deficit facing Chicago Public Schools, with about 40 percent of the total shortfall in pension obligations.
Community schools in jeopardy with budget cuts Catalyst: Chicago’s 150 community schools provide after-school and specialty programs in partnership with outside organizations. The goal is to provide expanded learning opportunities for children—most in lower-income neighborhoods—as well as programs to address students’ health and social-emotional needs. Families are part of the mix, too; some community schools offer GED classes or other programs for parents.
Filed under: Daily News Roundup
North Side principal says she's spending $30K on recess -- from the computer technology budget http://ow.ly/nTovq
All the posts and blogs about budget cuts and layoffs are all over the place. Let's not forget the wonderful REACH evaluations and ratings that laid off hundreds of PATs who are now just drifting thanks to CPS.
I received a letter in May that I was "not on track to proficiency" and was being non-renewed. My non-renewal letter stated that when summative ratings with student scores came out and if I was found "proficient", I would be reinstated in my position.This was before all of my four evaluations took place and before submitting my "professional artifacts". At the end of the school year, I got no rating for these artifacts that I spent hours working on and turning in. I did not get BOO from my administrators or the Board.
Well, it's now a few days before teachers return for PD and the new RLS (reflect and learn system) is not up and running even though these ratings were to be available on August 8th. CTU just put this out for PATs:
Chicago Public Schools has delayed the dissemination of SY 2012-2013 summative ratings for all teachers. The CTU will communicate the new date that SY 2012-2013 summative ratings will be available for all teachers to view on the new Reflect & Learn System (RLS) as soon as that date is finalized. (Teachers can log on to RLS using their existing CPS username and password at https://reflectandlearn.cps.edu/.)
How's that for professionalism, integrity, and accuracy on behalf of CPS??
Are they eventually going to reinstate these teachers in the middle of the school year causing more chaos? Is the Union going to stand by all the PATs wrongly evaluated?
I too was given the "non-renew" in May, after only one (maybe two) observations. Likewise, I got in all of my required items for Domain 4, etc. and have been waiting for my summative. Not that I really care about getting the job back. The administrator I worked for didn't have a clue how to evaluate or lead (I wasn't one of those "newbies" - having over 20 years of experience but new to CPS). What a horrible, dysfunctional mess CPS is!!! At this point, why would I even want to come back? They can go ahead and pay me my unemployment. I can sub a couple of days a week (outside of CPS, of course) and tutor off the books and make ends meet just fine. In the end, who is it that loses? It's the kids, of course!!
I agree with you on that one. I have no intentions of going back also. I'm not a newbie. Worked for CPS for 15 years, then moved out of state. Recently came back and what a welcome. The administrators at my school didn't know how to lead either. Sad and pathetic, yet they get to decide our fate. I'm looking to file for unemployment next week and doing the same thing you're planning on doing. Things will be fine for me, it's my students I left behind that lose out. They'll think I abandoned them not knowing what really happened.