We need a fully diverse teacher workforce. We need racial, ethnic, and gender diversity to help our teachers look more like our students.
Tag: Illinois
We Can Teach Black and LGBTQ History at the Same Time. In Fact, We Should.
My social media feeds were drenched with homophobia this week. People were saying how they really felt about my state, Illinois, joining other states mandating the teaching of LGBTQ history in schools. And ignorance about the required teaching of African American history in schools made me feel like I was drowning in idiocy and hypocrisy. Hateful and disgusting questions infuriated me—like Fred Williams’ question…
A Career and Technical Education Program That Is Getting Kids Jobs
Across the Chicago region and the Rust Belt, thousands of small to medium-sized manufacturing firms have been soldiering on through decades of outsourcing and disinvestment. Many are led by aging owners struggling to find qualified and willing employees or successors to run their companies. Into the breach comes Manufacturing Connect, a program based in Austin College and Career Academy on…
Real School Choice Means We Need Good Neighborhood Schools Too
I believe in school choice. But I believe in it like I believe in capitalism or college football. It’s a cool idea and I’m glad it’s around, but it doesn’t always work quite as well as advertised. Capitalism needs regulations and external guardrails to operate in any sustainable, fair way, and college football needs…well, I don’t have room to go…
3 Tips to Survive College From Someone Who Made It
Editor’s Note: This is a condensed version of Samantha Smylie’s speech to the 2018 graduating class at John Hope High School in Chicago. Hope is one of the high schools that will be closing as part of the plan to create a new high school in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Smylie is a Hope High School graduate who earned a bachelor’s…
We Need School Discipline Reform But We Also Need to Protect Teachers
Tonight, Educators for Excellence Chicago will lead a town hall on disparities in school discipline. Illinois recently passed a low that commits the state to maintaining a focus on reducing disparities, using the federal guidance on discipline issued under the Obama administration. Tonight’s Town Hall runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan. Bringing equitable discipline…
Will I Have a Job Next Year? #TheClockIsTicking
It’s late June and school has been out for two weeks. I should be enjoying my summer, vacationing, resting, and preparing for fall enrollments. Instead, I’m spending the days concerned if I’ll have a job in 2 months. I work at a charter school in Chicago, in the special service department, working with children with various disabilities and inspiring other students…
Gov. Rauner, Don’t Call Yourself a Charter School Supporter Until You Fund Our Schools
The war between Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats in the state’s General Assembly has claimed its first charter casualty: Chicago’s Galapagos Charter School. More than likely, more will follow. That’s because charter schools are public schools, and in Illinois, that means they too are subject to our inadequate, unfair school funding formula and our record-setting budget stalemate. If Chicago Public Schools takes the…