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.

Chicago Public Schools’ Failure to Plan Is Failing Families

Maureen Kelleher on January 5, 2022

Parents are furious over CPS leadership’s staggering lack of planning in the face of Omicron. Today’s CTU labor action can be traced to the district and Mayor Lori Lighfoot’s repeated failure to plan ahead.

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

Maureen Kelleher on December 28, 2021

When I met with my daughter’s teacher and her principal, I came with the historical facts and information from the teachers’ site to educate students on Indigenous Peoples Day. My daughter’s teacher just hadn’t taken the time to read the material.

Books and Blooms toward a diverse library at Montessori School of Englewood

Kira Dault and Maureen Kelleher on November 22, 2021

The Montessori School of Englewood—a charter school that offers free education to children from some of Chicago’s most at-risk communities—is working to raise $10,000 through an initiative called Books and Blooms.

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…

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?

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.

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?

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.

Author: Maureen Kelleher

Chicago Public Schools’ Failure to Plan Is Failing Families

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

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Books and Blooms toward a diverse library at Montessori School of Englewood

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

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

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Bumbling No More: Transfer Accomplished

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

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Bumbling through CPS School Transfer, Part III: Backup Plans

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