Politics of Education Funding Reform

Our final report examines the politics behind education funding reform. Throughout the state people complain about lack of funding for their schools and lament high property taxes to pay for schools, yet when it comes to finding a solution to the school funding dilemma, politicians balk.

We talk with politicians from both sides of the aisle to learn why education funding reform efforts continue to fall flat. Chicago Public Radio’s Julia McEvoy reports.

Documentary: Re-forming Englewood
Produced by Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler

Select the photo to see more photos from the documentary.

Initiatives, reforms, changes in philosophy—the Chicago school district has been trying to bring better education to students for decades now. Yet less than 10 percent of Englewood High School students meet state standards and it's been that way for years. Our documentary looks at the history of education at Englewood Tech Academy, and the reasons for its subsequent label by Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as a “culture of failure.”

The documentary follows the transfer of Englewood students to Hyde Park, another low performing school, and the newest version of educational reform: charter schools. By exploring Englewood Tech Academy and its closure; the effect on Hyde Park; and the birth of Chicago's first all-boys charter school, Urban Prep, this documentary explores the past, present and future of education in a neighborhood with some of the city’s poorest test scores.

Related Links:
Urban Prep
Renaissance 2010

Originally broadcast October 3, 2006

The second report looks at special education in Chicago Public Schools. A recent round of budget cuts meant the laying off of more than 900 special education teachers and aides. But some schools actually increased the number of special education classrooms. Chicago Public Radio’s Jason DeRose reports.

Also, in collaboration with Catalyst Chicago, reporter Sarah Karp joins Eight Forty-Eight host Steve Edwards to discuss her investigation into whether special education students are meeting the No Child Left Behind standards.

Listen to Jason DeRose's reports from the spring.

Related Links
Access Living
Autism Society of Illinois

Chicago Public Schools Office of Specialized Services
Family Resource Center on Disabilities
Special Ed Advocacy Center
Winthrop Harbor Schools

Originally broadcast October 2, 2006

Our examination of special education funding continues this fall with reports from two financially–troubled school districts. First, our reporter visits far north suburban Winthrop Harbor. The small district spends less money per student than any other in Lake County. But since special education is a federal mandate, the district must provide expensive services to more than 100 students with special education needs. Chicago Public Radio’s Jason DeRose reports.

Originally broadcast September 28, 2006

Our second report focuses on career academies. Should every child be expected to go onto college? If not, what are schools doing to make sure high school graduates have the updated skills they need to secure a decent paying job in the new economy? Chicago Public Radio’s Jay Field concludes his report.

Web exclusive
		Listen to an extended interview with Catalyst Chicago's Lorraine Forte.

Originally broadcast September 27, 2006

Select the photo to see more from Jay Field's report.

More and more young people are entering today's job market lacking the qualifications needed to succeed. As public schools turn to the private sector for financial backing and support, business leaders want public schools to do a better job teaching the more specialized math, science and analytical skills companies require. Chicago Public Radio’s Jay Field reports.

Originally broadcast September 26, 2006

Part two on equity and technology in the classroom examines how high schools are using technology to improve student performance and why some schools have more resources than others. Edie Rubinowitz reports with Catalyst Chicago's Maureen Kelleher.

Related Link:
Jones College Prep High School
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman
The Consortium on Chicago School Research
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Education Week and Teacher Magazine: Edweek.org—Report on Technology

Originally broadcast September 25, 2006

Though the digital divide is clearly shrinking, the ways in which technology is taught from grade school to high school can either prepare students for a global, digital world or leave them unconnected. If technology is the new literacy, are Chicago Public Schools preparing students for the future? That’s the question our two-part report tackles in collaboration with Catalyst Chicago.

The first report looks at how elementary schools are using technology successfully in the classroom and the cost. Edie Rubinowitz reports with Catalyst Chicago’s Maureen Kelleher.




Slide Show from Edie Rubinowitz's Report

Incentive Pay
Julia McEvoy—Reporter

Great teachers can close the achievement gap. But they rarely choose to teach in low performing schools. We report on efforts to pay talented teachers more money to teach public school students who need them the most.

 

Prison School
Linda Paul—Reporter

In Illinois there are eight prisons for children called "Illinois Youth Centers." We describe the prison school experience and find out what it costs. If we spend over $60,000 a year on a juvenile prisoner, what portion of these tax dollars go toward his/her education?

 

JROTC Costs and Quality
Rob Wildeboer—Reporter

Chicago Public Schools are welcoming JROTC into an increasing number of public schools as a new strategy for educating children in need of greater structure in their learning environment. Is the military a new funding stream for public schools?

Little Kids, Big Bucks
Monique Parsons—Reporter

The Chicago Public Schools’ “Child-Parent Centers,”are federally-funded preschools aimed at low-income families. This story focuses on one Child-Parent Center, as well as some of its graduates. Are the little kids worth the big bucks?

 

Funding for a Critical Language—Chinese
Diantha Parker—Reporter

Chinese has become one of the most popular languages to study in this country’s public schools. And Chicago Public Schools’ Chinese Connection program is the largest in the U.S.: 3,500 K-12 students in 20 schools and counting. Who can afford to make this investment in learning Chinese in public schools and what's the payoff?

 

Those That Can…Do: Starving for Education
Personal Story
Amy Drozdowska-McGuire—Producer

Math teacher Patricia Buenrostro was born and raised in Little Village, until her father, concerned about the problems of the transitioning neighborhood, moved her Mexican-American family out to a largely white, middle-class suburb. As an adult, to her family’s surprise and confusion, she returned to Little Village to live and teach, believing in education’s ability to help poor, troubled kids. After getting involved with a local group of parents concerned about the city’s lack of progress in building a much-needed new high school, she found herself on the center stage of a hunger strike.

 

Desde Mexico to Waukegan—One Family, Two Countries, Two Schools, Part Two
Catrin Einhorn—Reporter

Part two of our Mexico-Waukegan connection story picks up in Waukegan where we follow students from Mexico as they adapt to our public schools. This report asks how Mexican students' needs shape public school budgets in Waukegan.

 

Desde Mexico to Waukegan—One Family, Two Countries, Two Schools, Part One
Linda Lutton—Reporter

Javier Echevarria Machuca attended kindergarten in Waukegan and is now a third grader in La Higuera, Michoacan.

A report from Mexico, which sends the largest number of new immigrants to Chicago area schools. How this neighboring country values education and schools its children has important ramifications for our local schools once the kids arrive here.

Click here to see more photos from La Higuera.

 

The Business of Tutoring
Jay Field—Reporter

The first installment in series of reports evaluating whether tutoring is the best use of dollars when it comes to improving test scores for at risk students.

 

The Science Sisters
Documentary
Lex Gillespie—Producer

L to R: Nancy Martinez, Sandy Hernandez, Arely Molina, and Juanita Castro—the Science Sisters

Farragut High School, a predominantly Latino school on the city’s southwest side, has four Latina students who’ve made it to the final round of the science fair. Their story is the backdrop for understanding how lack of funding for science teachers and labs is shortchanging our future scientists.

Click here for more photos of the Science Sisters and Farragut High.

 

Those That Can…Do: Fall of the Cool Teacher
Personal Story
Amy Drozdowska-McGuire—Producer

7th grade teacher Steve Hartley tells his story of struggling to be the kind of teacher they make movies about. He encountered all sorts of barriers that got in the way—access to resources, disinterested students, a Kafka-esque school system—and, most of all, his own ego.

 

Breaking the Mold
Jenny Lawton—Reporter

Some of Chicago Public Schools' most successful reform efforts have been achieved by incorporating the arts into a school’s curriculum. This story reports on Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education's struggle to change school culture by refocusing on educating “the whole child.”

Young and Gifted
Sandy Hausman—Reporter

A profile of a gifted student enrolled in a school without the strategies or resources to challenge its gifted students.

Funding Special Education—How Much is Enough? Part Two
Jason DeRose—Reporter

The second piece of a two-part report about special education costs: How has state and federal funding affected the quality of schooling provided to special ed students?

 

Funding Special Education—How Much is Enough? Part One
Jason DeRose—Reporter

How has state and federal funding affected the quality of education provided to special education students?

Those That Can…Do: Paint the Walls Hot Pink
Personal Story
Amy Drozdowska-McGuire—Producer

Parent and Lakeview resident Jacqueline Edelberg had a problem. She loved living in her urban neighborhood, but she had a young daughter about to reach school-age. Most moms in her shoes, convinced all city public schools were awful, chose at this point either to move to the suburbs, or resign themselves to a life of long, stressful car drives to distant private or magnet schools. Jacqueline tells the story of how she fought against this fate by working to transform the public school down the street into a place the neighborhood would notice.

 

Flatlined: How Illinois Shortchanges Rural Students
Documentary
Todd Melby and Diane Richard—Producers

The LaHarpe High School Sweetheart Dance

The 36 students who will graduate from La Harpe High School this spring didn’t have the same opportunities many suburban kids take for granted. This documentary shows how Illinois’ reliance on property taxes to fund schools can end up shortchanging rural students.

Click here for more photos from La Harpe.

 

 

What Money Can Buy…and Can’t
Gretchen Helfrich—Reporter

A growing number of businesses, private foundations, and individual donors are choosing to invest in public education. Why are they choosing to focus on education, and what does their money actually buy?

Click here to go to the Chicago Matters forum for an online discussion on this topic.

Bake Sales Are So…Passé
Johanna Zorn—Reporter

These days, more and more public schools are looking to large fundraisers to pay for essentials such as teachers' aids, text books, and even photocopies.

Related Chicago Matters: Valuing Education stories:
Cashing In, Getting Extras by Sarah Carp—Catalyst Chicago
Chicago-style Reform Sells by Maureen Kelleher—Catalyst Chicago

Not Just the Money
Sonari Rhodes Glinton—Reporter

There are several components integral to the successful education of low-income African American students. School administrator Tim King thinks he knows what they are.

Pay to Play
Lisa Miller—Reporter

Recess is a given at most well-funded schools, but Chicago Public School policy has curtailed recess in favor of more time spent on core subjects. This report examines the ramifications of the policy on students.

Against the Odds
Lynette Kalsnes—Reporter

Follow the Chicago Public School Kelly High School debate team as it prepares for and competes in the All-City Debate Competition against the city’s best, brightest, and most financially advantaged students.

Education Matters
Julia McEvoy—Reporter

Our expectations for public schools have evolved over time. Schools are being asked to accomplish more today than ever before. This report questions whether the way we fund public schools today will allow us to accomplish our goals.