This hustle culture in school sets children up for an adult life that attaches value to productivity, and devalues rest and care. Such a culture—rooted in white supremacy—kills creativity and divergent thinking, precisely the skills our children need, growing up to a future that promises bigger, more complicated problems by the day.

This CPS Sub Will Be Keeping Her Masks On, And Hopes Others Will, Too
We’re all struggling with heightened anxiety these days. And for subs, the nature of our job is not conducive to relaxation. Simply being a substitute teacher in Chicago Public Schools is not a job for someone who relies on order and predictability. Most of the time you are expected to just jump in and get to work, making sure that 15 or 30 or 50 children somewhere between the ages of 4 and 21 have a relatively successful school day and learn something, and that nobody gets hurt or dies in the process.

How Many High School Counselors Now, like Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Then, Are Still Telling Black Teens ‘Don’t Set Your Sights So High?’
As we as a nation watch the confirmation process that Judge Brown Jackson will traverse over the next few weeks, we should use this as an opportunity to reflect on our nation’s education system. If our public and private k-12 education system was up for confirmation would we have the courage to acknowledge its faults and take deliberate and purposeful action to solve the inherent built-in inequities that deny Black and Latino students their ability to fulfill their full potential?

Hope Chicago Starts Strong, Faces Challenges
Hope Chicago expects its $1 billion in college money to transform neighborhoods and help Chicago Public Schools enrollment bounce back from years of decline. Could this big bet work?

Slow Start for CPS Tutor Corps
Despite a slow start, members of the new CPS Tutor Corps say they remain hopeful their tutoring will make a big difference for kids.

Research affirms full-day pre-K boosts attendance, but will Chicago make it more accessible?
Two new studies from the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research have confirmed what working parents already know – that when pre-kindergarten programs offer a full-day option, enrollment and attendance rates at those programs increase, especially among Black and Latinx families. The research comes in the midst of widespread labor shortages, with women representing a disproportionate number of those…

Public Education needs to be reimagined, but who has the energy?
The exhausted adults have to cling to whatever tools they have because they are too tired and burned out to try something new. The much-sought-after innovation cannot possibly happen in this environment.

Chicago Elementary Students Presented Speeches at 3rd Annual MLK Jr. Oratory Competition
Sawyer went on to reference a 2019 statistic that only 42.1% of African-Americans owned homes, the lowest rate of any racial group in the country. She noted, “This percentage has not really changed from the 1960s when only 38.4% of African-Americans owned homes. There is still a lot of work to be done to reach Dr. King’s goal for economic justice.” She continued, “I believe he would remind us we all must keep working together to make America a peaceful and non-violent place, where everybody is treated equally, and no one is stereotyped based on the color of their skin.”