Author: Maureen Kelleher

Chicago Unheard blog manager Maureen Kelleher also serves as a senior writer and editor at brightbeam, a nonprofit network of education activists demanding a better education and brighter future for every child. Before joining the brightbeam team, she spent a decade as a reporter, blogger and policy analyst. Her work has been published across the education world, from Education Week to the Center for American Progress. A former high school English teacher, she is also the proud mom of a middle-schooler. Find her on Twitter at @KelleherMaureen.

NYC May Make Dramatic Changes to Its Gifted Program—Should Chicago Do the Same?

Kira Dault and Maureen Kelleher on October 14, 2021

New York City’s Bill de Blasio announced recently that the NYC Public School system will phase out the Gifted and Talented Program. Beginning next fall, no new kindergarteners will be enrolled into gifted elementary school classes, which accounts for about 16,000 students. Of those students, about 75 percent are white or Asian American (who make up about 25 percent of…

Native American facing away

A CPS Third-Grader Got in Trouble for Stating Truths about Columbus

Maureen Kelleher on October 11, 2021

A Chicago Public Schools third-grader knows the real deal on Columbus and Indigenous Peoples Day. Do you?

Hamline mural

Bumbling No More: Transfer Accomplished

Maureen Kelleher on October 6, 2021

While I’m delighted that all this effort put Youngest in a better situation, it shouldn’t be necessary. Every neighborhood school should be a Great Neighborhood School.

Pulliing on a rope

Bumbling through CPS Transfer, Part IV: Safety Transfer vs. Pulling Strings

Maureen Kelleher on October 1, 2021

Youngest shouldn’t have to be a brand-new kid in school this year. But what will it take to get him back to his old school?

planning on a whiteboard

Bumbling through CPS School Transfer, Part III: Backup Plans

Maureen Kelleher on September 30, 2021

Before I take our arrangement to Great Neighborhood School, I need to run it past another CPS principal to see if it flies.

Keep Going Mama!

Bumbling through CPS School Transfer, Part II: Comadres

Maureen Kelleher on September 29, 2021

In which Youngest’s mom and I decide to make our comadre relationship official.

Sade Smooth Operator

Not-So-Smooth Operator, Or How I’m Bumbling Through the School Transfer Process, Part I

Maureen Kelleher on September 28, 2021

When a kid is in trouble and needs to change schools, understanding how to get a transfer is like playing chess in 3D. Here’s my story.

Morning circle at Hamline

‘I’m Here:’ Hamline Starts off Strong

Maureen Kelleher on September 7, 2021

At Hamline Elementary in Back of the Yards, showing up and wearing masks are a snap. But can Hamline pinpoint students’ academic holes and fill them?

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