It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving, time to get back into the classroom. School leaders everywhere will work hard to get students and staff refocused on the labor of love that is education. But, there will be something significant competing for attention in Chicago schools this Monday. A lot has happened since the last time teachers and students in the city…
Month: November 2015
CPS Students Set New Records on AP Exams with More Students than Ever Participating
Chicago Receives National Recognition for Participation Rate & Success of African-American and Latino Students on AP Exams. CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) today announced that more than 20,700 students took at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam last year, an increase of more than 4 percent from the previous year. Since 2011, CPS student participation in AP college-level coursework…
Is There Anywhere a Black Youth Can Be Counted as a Real Person?
Last night I did something I promised myself I would not do. I watched the tragic dashcam video in which a Chicago Police Officer fires 16 bullets into a 17-year-old kid with a switchblade in his hand. It was a hard experience. Much more difficult than I thought it would be. But, when it was over I was certain of…
Chicago Breaks My Heart…Again. #LaQuanMcDonald
“Shoot to kill.” -Mayor Richard J. Daley The first time I watched the video of Eric Garner being choked to death by NYC police, while desperately exclaiming “I can’t breathe,” I burst into tears. I cried so hard, I shocked myself. I have no relation to Eric Garner or his family, but I’d question the humanity of any individual who’s…
It Reminded Me of Old Times
It reminded me of old times. The CEO of Chicago Public Schools standing up in a forum like the City Club sounding off forcefully on the need for fundamental school funding reform in the state of Illinois took my mind nostalgically back to the years I served as the Field Director and Deputy Campaign Manager of A+ Illinois, a coalition of 500 organizations and 50,000…
Are We Missing Something?
This past weekend, Navy Pier played host to a large, citywide school options fair. The aptly named “Chicago School Fair” was presented by Parent Power Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, the Archdiocese Schools and the Illinois Network of Charter schools making it perhaps the only fair of its kind where parents and students could meet and compare schools from across the…
Mom of Kindergartner Shares Why the Educational Journey Is Never-Ending
Growing up in my household there was always a strong emphasis on education and the value of having a good education. My mom and my stepfather were examples to my brothers and I of what was attainable with a good education. Although they didn’t necessarily take the traditional route, they both went to college and thus emphasized getting good grades…
Sun-Times: CPS Seeks to Shut Down Four Charter Schools in June
From the Chicago Sun-Times, on November 5, 2015: Chicago Public Schools is moving to close four underperforming South Side charter schools in June and is encouraging parents of students to find new schools. CPS said Thursday they’ll shut down Amandla Charter High School, 6800 S. Stewart; Betty Shabazz – Barbara A. Sizemore Academy Elementary School, 6936 S. Hermitage; CICS –…