WBEZ | Board of Education

CPS limits coverage from closing schools

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:03:00 -0500

On Wednesday, the Chicago Board of Education will decide whether to close 54 schools it says are failing or underutilized.

Since the recommended list of closures was announced in March, the city has been in a heated debate about whether some schools should be taken off the list. Media access to these buildings has been almost impossible, and some worry decisions will be made without a thorough inspection.

Arturs Weible is a music teacher at Lafayette Elementary School in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. He directs the only string orchestra at a CPS elementary school.

“We have 85 kids participating in the program. And these kids have higher expectations to keep their grades up. They have to keep their behavior in order,” he said. “And so these kids are basically doing above and beyond pretty much anything that’s being asked of an elementary school child.”

Lafayette is slated to close because CPS considers it an underutilized building. Weible disagrees, and says all parts of the building are in use, but maybe not at all times of the day.

He says he wants the public to see the school before a decision is made.

“To not allow media coverage within school hours is not fair to these parents. They don’t have a voice otherwise. The media is the voice of the community,” he said.

Before CPS CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett announced the closings list, Weible said journalists got into Lafayette easily. Now, it’s like a black out with the exception of heavily restricted visits.

The district said since late March, every media outlet has had access to a proposed closing school and/or receiving school.

CPS says with less than a week until the board vote, it’s denying media access to the closing schools because it would be too disruptive. But a number of news organizations including WBEZ and Catalyst magazine say they’ve been denied access to closing schools since the list was made public.

Some reporters have successfully entered closing schools through other means.

“I was invited to come to Garvey by a parent,” said Kate Grossman, deputy editorial page editor for the Chicago Sun-Times.

She toured Garvey Elementary on the city’s South Side earlier this spring. It’s another school proposed to be closed because of underutilization.

She said there are numbers to back up CPS’s closing recommendations, but there’s also the reality of what’s happening inside.

“You can see that by going to these schools and seeing that they have quite a lot to offer kids even though on paper they’re underused,” she said. “So I think it’s a crucial part of the decision making when you’re deciding to close a school and consolidate it with another to know what you might be losing.”

Grossman said her visit to Garvey was very different from when she was invited by CPS to tour a receiving school with CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett.

“It was lots of people, and you can’t really do a lot of in-depth reporting when you’re following a school CEO around. And the principal might not be comfortable speaking her mind,” she said.

A student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism also tried to gain access to schools without permission. CPS threatened to sever ties with Medill if it happened again.

Professor Marcel Pacatte agreed the student was wrong, but said the district’s response was extreme.

“A student was told yesterday there would be no more audio recording at closing schools. So that’s a fairly draconian issue,” he said.

Pacatte said now he’s making sure students are going through the proper channels to ensure Medill can continue covering the schools.

“I get where they’re coming from but I still don’t understand how they think it’s beneficial for the citizens of Chicago or the students in the schools of the district in the city itself to prevent stories from being told,” he said.

Media restrictions aren’t uncommon for urban school districts.

But Emily Richmond with the National Education Writers Association says too many restrictions can force reporters to find another way into the schools.

“There’s really no substitute for being able to just step back and watch what’s happening around you and have that first hand observation. And who knows what stories they would find in there,” she said.

Richmond says with an historic number of schools that could be affected, news coverage needs to go beyond statistics and present a clearer view of what’s happening.

Susie An covers business for WBEZ. Follow her @soosieon.

School board approves $363 million spending package for system restructuring

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:58:00 -0500

The Chicago Board of Education approved a $363 million spending package Wednesday that will help pay for Chicago Public Schools massive restructuring plan.

CPS wants to close 54 schools—the most any school district has ever taken on in a single year. In all, the plan will affect 132 schools and each action will be voted on by the school board on May 22.

Initially, district officials said the move was necessary to address CPS’s ballooning deficit. But any savings won’t come for several years because the district plans to go further into debt in order to fix up the receiving schools and others that need upgrades.

CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said she wants classrooms at the remaining schools to “pop,” so that students want to come to school.

But when Garvey third grader Asean Johnson stepped up to the microphone, barely able to peer over the podium, he rattled off a list of the things his elementary school already has—a “well-stocked library, an award-winning garden,” an art room, a computer lab and several science labs.

“These are things you say that you want all schools to have but intentionally left these facts out of the fact sheet given to the parents in the community,” Johnson said. “Why would you take Marcus Garvey away from us?”

Garvey elementary is slated to close and students will be sent to nearby Mount Vernon—a move parents, teachers, and even the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board say is questionable.

Board members became slightly more outspoken on the closings issue during Wednesday’s meeting. Mahalia Hines, a former principal and current board member, pressed CPS officials on what specifically they would be doing to help students with special needs.

Hines raised concerns about the utilization formula not accounting for special education programs and told district officials they would need to review the safety plans at some of the schools. She said she took a few of the routes from closing to receiving schools and was shocked.

“That’s not a route I’d send my child,” she said, referring to the walk from Melody to Delano Elementary. “They are going to have to come back with some better options that that… There is no way, no way, I would send my child (on that walk). And I’m not voting for anything I wouldn’t vote for for my child. OK?”

It was clear that board members have been visiting the schools on the list of closures. At one point, board president David Vitale thanked a woman from Henson Elementary for showing him around the school last week. Henson is slated to close and students will move to Langston Hughes Elementary.

‘Community engagement’ shorter for some

For months, parents, teachers and other community activists have been fighting to pull their schools off the chopping block. CPS is on its fourth round of community engagement and many of the same faces came out again Wednesday for a final push. Formal public hearings end next week.

But for some groups, this latest round of public forums is the first chance they’ve had to speak out. That’s because a number of schools affected by the restructuring were not on any of the previous lists of schools eligible for closure.

Courtenay Elementary is one of them. A small school with lottery admissions on the North Side, it is slated to merge with nearby Stockton Elementary and move into the Stockton building. Courtenay parents are upset not only that the basic structure of the school will change into a large, comprehensive neighborhood school, but also because they didn’t see the proposal coming.

“I strongly oppose the merger of Courtenay and Stockton,” said Mila Cohen, whose daughter is in Courtenay’s special education program. “The mayor says the time for negotiation is over. This is insulting because there was no negotiation. There was no notice. No dialog and certainly, no transparency. Courtenay was never on any action lists and why should it be?”

Cohen said the only reason the school is not Level 1, the highest performance rating CPS gives, is because there wasn’t significant growth above the school’s already high scores. “By this logic, CPS would downgrade Harvard for not improving every year too.”

Dueling Protests

There is a sharp divide in the debate over school closings and improving the school system and the scene outside CPS headquarters before the meeting started Wednesday illustrated the tensions.

Outside, students, many of them juniors who were boycotting the second day of state testing, chanted “Education is our right, we won’t go without a fight!” while indoors, a large group of parents from UNO, Noble and Chicago International charter schools chanted, “Padres unidos, jamas de a vencidos!” (Translation: The parents united, will never be defeated!)

The groups had starkly different messages. The students said they want CPS to stop using their standardized tests to justify shutting down schools. While, the parents argued that the performance, mostly measured by standardized tests, is reason that CPS should open more charter schools.

The charter parents, decked out in T-shirts and bright yellow stickers, are part of a new group called Charter Parents United, or CPU. A press release about the group ASGK Public Strategies, a firm founded by David Axelrod, says the group formed to “voice the concerns of one group whose views have been missing from the recent debate about fixing Chicago Public Schools.”

CPU also argued that charter schools should be funded equally. But in the district’s most recent budget cycle, CPS touted the fact that charter schools got equitable funding as a result of the Gates Foundation’s District-Charter Compact. In all, charters got a $76 million increase in funding from CPS this year.

But parents protesting with CPU didn’t agree and continued to argue that the schools were not funded fairly. Yeni Jiminez has four children, two at UNO-Carlos Fuentes, one at Noble-Golder College Prep and another in college.

When asked by a reporter what programs she felt were missing from her children’s schools, Jiminez said, “I have to go right now, but I do believe that children definitely deserve equal funding.”

‘NO’ votes

School board members rarely vote against any of the district’s proposals, but yesterday, Mahalia Hines and Carlos Azcoitia voted ‘no’ to expanding some of the city’s charter schools.

Both voted down a proposal to add seats to Chicago Virtual Charter School. The resolution ultimately passed 4 to 2. After the meeting, Hines said she’s not against the school, or any school, but doesn’t think it’s wise to expand at a time when the district is trying to “right-size” itself.

Azcoitia also voted against adding a KIPP charter school in Englewood and the expansion of KIPP’s ACT campus.

The measures ultimately passed, and next year several new schools are set to open.The board also approved a high school expansion for UNO-Rogers Park, despite a state investigation into the network’s finances.

CPS plans to open about a dozen new schools next year.

Becky Vevea is an education reporter for WBEZ. Follow her @WBEZeducation.

The incredibly grating and annoying bias of Hawk Harrelson

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:40:00 -0500

Lead story: A recent study of Major League Baseball announcers revealed something absolutely shocking: the White Sox crew is almost five times as biased as all other announcing crews. Of course, most of those comments can be attributed to Hawk Harrelson (while Steve Stone continues to be a consummate professional in the color commentary seat). Admittedly, there are issues with the study by the Wall Street Journal, not the least of which is that the sample size is simply one game. And yet it still perfectly nailed why Harrelson is, far and away, worse than all the other announcers. It doesn't take a full season of viewing to understand Hawk's bias and how that gets in the way of his ability to actually call a good, clean ball game. Admittedly, Len & Bob aren't exactly the most dynamic pair on television (mainly because the team rarely gives them reason to be excited) and they have moments of hometown bias, but they're at least consistent in their abilities to be objective and call a good, clean ball game. It’s no surprise to see Hawk top the list nor that he absolutely loves it, too. I admit my own bias as a Cubs fan may be interfering here, but this goes beyond team allegiance. I know plenty of Sox fans who roll their eyes at Hawk. He lacks the humor of Uecker and the knowledge of Scully. Heck, Stone is a fantastic commentator in his own right who sometimes sounds like he barely restrain the urge to tell Hawk to shut it. As far as any correlating properties between bias and quality go, well, I’m just going to leave this and this and this right here.

Also: With the teachers strike fading in the rearview, it seems both sides want to move on to other things, now. At a monthly meeting yesterday, both members of the CTU and the Board of Education expressed their desire to move on and enter into the redundant sounding “truce of peace.” Still, there are still tensions present as the union has asked for a list of schools the Board plans to close, but the board denies the existence of such a list. And so as the struggle begins anew, the conversation continues as to who “won” the recent strike. Crain’s Greg Hinz points to a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality that gives a slight edge to the Board over the CTU. As for the PR battle, even former mayor Richard M. Daley couldn’t resist a few subtle digs back at Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel had laid some of the blame for the tense situation between the Board and CTU at Daley’s feet. Daley initially refused to comment on the situation but still snuck in a few shots at Rahm, saying, “When I took over that, I didn't blame teachers. I said it's our responsibility to make a difference. It's not going to be done overnight. We had to make a difference.” And, thus, Daley was the one who made the most sense which shows you how messed up the situation has been.

And then: Things keep getting weirder in the Drew Peterson case which is strange in itself since the trial has been over for weeks. In the wake of his guilty verdict, Peterson has already fired the one defense attorney who actually knew what he was doing. Now, the rest of his defense team has asked for a delay in sentencing because they’re still squabbling amongst themselves. The infighting is so bad, apparently, it’s keeping the team from working sufficiently to complete a motion for a new trial. And, of course, the previously fired attorney was the one who did most of the work on those kind of motions. No matter how weak the state’s case against Peterson may have been, his own team has done a pretty good job of digging his hole pretty deep without any outside help.

RIP: James Horwitz, creator of the drug AZT, at the age of 93. Created in 1964, Horwitz originally intended to use the drug to treat cancer. After that didn’t work, Horwitz set the drug aside until, in 1986, he earned federal approval to start treating AIDS patients with it (the drug is also used to treat hepatitis and herpes). Horwitz passed away on September 6 but word of his death didn’t spread until last week.

Elsewhere

China now has an aircraft carrier but no planes capable of landing on said carrier.
The nation’s SAT scores are at their lowest level in 40 years which is probably not at all related to the rise of things like planking.
A proposed law in New Jersey dubbed the “Snookiville Law” aims to regulate reality shows filmed in the state after the commotion caused by the Jersey Shore crew.
Want to look inside Einstein’s brain? Thanks to an area medical museum, there’s an app for that.
Gawker sets out to name America’s most racist city.

Looking Ahead:

A state prosecutor is on leave after a weekend incident at an adult toy store when she showed up allegedly drunk and, when asked to leave the store, bit a worker on the leg.
First ward alderman Joe Moreno is still not sure what he’s going to do about Chick-Fil-A’s proposed restaurant in his ward which is a good enough reason for me to keep frequenting Popeye’s.
Gapers Block takes a look at the ongoing kerfuffle at WZRD, Northeastern Illinois University’s radio station that was taken from the students this summer.
That’s not the only issue at NEIU as the Reader examines the controversy surrounding the school’s search for a new provost.
Yet another organization is calling for more police officers on the streets of Chicago.

Sports

The NFL stands by the erroneous call made by replacement refs during Monday night’s game between the Seahawks and Packers that cost the Packers the game.
Sox Watch: A bumbling 4-3 loss to the Indians coupled with a Detroit win has dropped the Sox into a tie with the Tigers for first place.
A new Cubs-themed bar has opened up at O’Hare because spending hours stranded at the airport after a delay made you miss your connecting flight isn’t enough suffering.
Notre Dame is exercising an option to get out of its ongoing rivalry series with Michigan; the last game between the two schools in their current deal will be 2014.
Yet another Canadian NHL team is apparently contemplating relocation to the U.S., this time Edmonton to Seattle.

Finally
Because road rage PSA are both cuter and more effective when using British children.

Former long-time WBEZ general manager, Carole Nolan, dies

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:45:00 -0500

The former long-time General Manager and founding CEO of WBEZ has died.

Carole Nolan ran the station for 25 years beginning in the 1970s.

Nolan was a former teacher, who came to WBEZ when it was still operated by the Chicago Board of Education.

Here she is in 2007 talking with Richard Steele about her decision to buy WBEZ from the Board of Ed for $1 million.

"It was a risky business, but when I looked ahead, I thought, 'If we stay with the Board of Education, we won't be able to really achieve our mission.' And so we had to bite the bullet and say, 'We have to be on our own,'" she said.

Nolan expanded programming to 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

WBEZ's former program director Ken Davis calls her WBEZ's "founding mother." He said Nolan also helped get NPR off the ground by carrying Morning Edition and All Things Considered early on.

NBC Chicago news anchor Phil Rogers said, "if it had not been for Carole Nolan and WBEZ, I very likely would have been out of the business. This kind, gracious woman took a big chance on me, and I have never forgotten."

Annoying Music Show host Jim Nayder recalled one Christmas when the Board of Education wasn't able to issue paychecks and Nolan paid him from her own pocket.

Nolan had been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and Parkinson's. She was 80.

At the time of her death, Nolan was working on a book about her experiences in public radio. Here is the rough draft of her first three chapters.

WMAQ-TV's Phil Rogers had this to say about Nolan:

"We all remember someone in our career, or in our lives, for that matter, who literally provided a turning point. For me, that person was Carole Nolan. I arrived in Chicago from Oklahoma in 1978, unemployed, with no prospects, and every commercial outlet slammed their collective doors in my face.

WBEZ was putting together a news department and they gave me a job. In those first few weeks, I played witness from that rudimentary cubbyhole at the Banker's Building, to the discovery of bodies at John Gacy's house, the Blizzard of '79, and the election of Jane Byrne as mayor. But through a comical series of events I got crossways with the program director and he fired me.

Unemployed again, I wrote Ms. Nolan a letter, offering my thanks for the job, and a few thoughts on what the news operation could be. She called me, and asked me to come see her. In less than an hour, she rehired me, as news director. She assured me she would give me her full backing and she meant it. She called in Joe DiFranco and told him to get me whatever we needed, and together Joe and I built WBEZ's first newsroom. We started actually covering news, and putting real live news makers on the air! They were great times.

A few months later, I was offered a job at WBBM. When I went in to tell Ms. Nolan, she was unbelievably gracious. Her only question was, if I knew anyone who might be interested in the job. I didn't hesitate: Ken Davis. Ken got the job, and the rest, as they say, was radio history.

True story.

WBEZ is a giant in the public radio firmament and is so vital to Chicago. And look at what Ms. Nolan did to save it. What a legacy she leaves!

But for me personally, that turning point back in the seventies changed my life. I was at WBBM for 14 years. I have been at Channel 5 for 20 more. If it had not been for Carole Nolan and WBEZ, I very likely would have been out of the business. This kind, gracious woman took a big chance on me, and I have never forgotten."

Annoying Music Show host Jim Nayder had this to say about Nolan:

"Carole Nolan hired me 1977 (despite then PD Tony Christopher saying "I don't want that kid") --and gave me so many radio opportunities--I could list for hours.

She let us all wear so many hats--hosting/producing whatever it took--and held the door open for everyone from Scott Simon to Ira Glass & so many more.

When Jane Byrne's Board of Ed couldn't issue paychecks one Xmas season, she pulled out her checkbook-and loaned me money on the spot (my wife worked for CPS at the time, so we were without two paychecks!)

We both lived in the Marquette Park (71st) neighborhood, and I was fortunate to spend many hours at her home planning radio adventures. If she loved an idea she would never say "no!" -and then find the people & $$ resources to get it done.

What a teacher, mentor & friend.

Thank you Carole for all of the opportunities. I love you & already miss you."

Bruce DuMont:

We didn't have any air conditioning. There were no TV lights or exposure.

There wasn't 50,000 watts of power. Some times we had no callers. Guests complained about the last flight of stairs. There wasn't much money--and checks at times were delayed...and advertising and promotion were unheard of.

But there was Carole Nolan --- and her go ahead in 1980 to my idea for a 13 week experiment with a new type of talk show -- one for and by political junkies changed my life.

That was 32 years ago.

Personally, my time at WBEZ has been the highlight of my professional life. The most fun times and the most rewarding in so many ways.

What Carole launched in 1980 was the turning point in my career and for others as well. Remember those days Scott Simon?

The team of talent she brought to WBEZ was indeed a family. Not a phoney promotional family --but a real group of talented and dedicated people who loved radio and who were nurtured and inspired by Carole's quiet, never ending encouragement and twinkle of her smile.

Her vision was clear, her mission was focused and her legacy is fixed with all those who passed her way.

Karl Wright, former WBEZ reporter:

It's a sad day full of wonderful memories for me.

I owe Carole a huge debt of gratitude for meeting with me when I got out of college and hiring me as a "cub reporter" even though I only met with her because my mother said, "just see what she has to say, there may be something there for you." My plan was to come out to Hollywood and struggle and sleep on any friend's floor to try and "make it" at a time when there really weren't that many opportunities for blacks in Hollywood unless you were Eddie Murphy.

Instead I found a home at WBEZ and stayed for almost 12 years, growing from every challenge Carole and Ken threw at me; becoming the youngest co-host on the air working with my buddy Shel Lustig on "The Question Show" & "Airplay;" hosting "Morning Edition" (even though I am NOT a morning person); creating my OWN show "Backstage Pass" to celebrate Chicago's arts and entertainment scene and eventually trusting me to be "the voice of the station" doing all the on-air funding announcements. I will never forget one of those "Ask the Management" sessions during the fundraiser when Carole defended her decision to put me on in the morning against some listeners who thought I couldn't hack it. She never wavered, instead she agreed with one caller who said I was, "the best thing in the morning since Coca-cola." She was always my champion and for that I will always be grateful.

Now as I sit in my home office in SoCal recording auditions for VO gigs, I realize that it is thanks to Carole that I can do this with confidence.

Carole Nolan was the perfect person to "mother" WBEZ thru it's growing years because she was a teacher at heart and she knew how to nuture talent. She brought together an amazing team of people over the years who all worked together as a family to make something very special out of the little station that could. I am so honored and proud to tell people that I worked at WBEZ with Carole Nolan and all of you.

Love you Carole!

NPR Reporter Allison Keyes:

There are no words for what Carole meant to my life and career. She took a chance on a wet behind the ears city news bureau/skokie life reporter and put me on the radio!

My life would not have been the great adventure that is has without her faith in me -- and so many others whom she helped and supported. She will be missed - and my gratitude to her is eternal.

Thank you Carole ... for everything.

WGN anchor/ reporter Micah Materre:

Like Karl, I met Carole when I went looking for a job in broadcasting after college. It was also my mother who set up that meeting.

Little did I know that the interview would lead to the beginning of my career in broadcast journalism. I am and will forever be eternally grateful to Carole for hiring me, first as an intern with “The Question Show”, and eventually putting me on the payroll to produce a show with Bob Greenberg and CPS teachers. After that she gambled again and gave me my very first job as an actual reporter, producing features for “The Question Show” later renamed “Airplay”.

Where would I be without Carole taking a chance on a naïve, inexperienced college grad who’d never put together a piece before in her life!!!!

I thank her for that, I think she had a knack for recognizing talent, or at least someone who thought they had talent. J I owe her a great deal of gratitude for believing in me and in so many others with whom she gave a chance.

She will be greatly missed! Rest well dear Carole.

Micah

Bob Edwards

I’m so sorry to hear about Carole.   She was a fine leader and always nice to me.

She was indeed an unlikely person to become a public radio station manager---but there were others like her who came from other cultures and found themselves players in something way beyond their local responsibilities.   I’m sure that Carole felt dealing with the Chicago School Board and the Daley Machine was quite enough for any one person----and then along comes NPR, a little network trying to explode itself overnight into a national institution.   To do that, NPR needed strong leadership from the stations in all major markets and looked to Carole to be a forceful voice for NPR from Chicago.   She delivered---yet I’m not sure how many people at NPR in Washington knew what she was up against.   I saw it first-hand when I worked out of WBEZ for a week in October of 1976.   I was producing and hosting a week of political news and features for All Things Considered in advance of the Presidential election that year.   WBEZ was populated by a lot of ladies who had worked for Chicago schools for a very long time.   They were fond of ending their day at 3:00 in the afternoon because that’s when school teachers went home.   Getting the station through evening drive time did not interest them---and here I was trying to feed thirty minutes of live programming to Washington at 4:30pm Central time.   With Carole’s intervention, it got done.

Obviously the current sleek and fabulous Chicago Public Radio on the Navy Pier bears no resemblance to the school board’s WBEZ in an ancient building on Wacker Drive.   (At least I think it was on Wacker).   But today’s public radio franchise in Chicago was not built on nothing.

I DID have a hotel problem in Chicago, but I was not kicked out of a Holiday Inn.   NPR was so penurious in those days that it booked me the very cheapest room it could find in the whole city----without bothering to check out what the place might be like.   Thankfully I’ve forgotten the name of this place, but it was a flophouse where men routinely urinated in the hallways.   It’s not my favorite memory of Chicago---or NPR.

All the best,

Bob Edwards

State to send financial oversight panel, consultants to North Chicago

Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 -0500

More state control is coming to the troubled public schools in suburban North Chicago.

The Illinois Board of Education voted Thursday to put a five-member panel in charge of North Chicago school finances.

State schools Superintendent Chris Koch said the district is facing “all sorts of potential train wrecks financially.”

Earlier this week, WBEZ reported on state involvement in the struggling district and Koch’s plans to remove the locally elected school board. A separate state-appointed board will take its place.

The financial oversight panel is similar to others in districts across the state. Currently, the Cairo, Proviso and Venice school districts have such panels. Last month, the board voted to appoint one in East St. Louis, where the local board also will be replaced.

No one has been appointed to the finance panel or the new board yet, but state law says the financial oversight group must include two people from the community.

Last year, North Chicago board members signed an agreement with the state to work together to improve its struggling public schools.

But in recent months that agreement has fallen apart.

Another state-appointed board is one of two new additions to the state’s strategy in North Chicago.

Earlier this week, the state indicated plans to hire The Vallas Group, run by former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas, to help improve low-performing districts, including North Chicago.

Vallas' was one of five groups that responded to the request for proposals. The preliminary contract would pay the organization just under $1 million for three years.

Board votes unanimously to close, restaff schools

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:16:00 -0600

Listen to Linda Lutton discussing Wednesday's meeting on Eight Forty-Eight

Chicago’s school board voted unanimously late Wednesday to close seven schools and completely re-staff 10 others. The vote comes after months of protests from parents, teachers and activists and a spate of final pleas to board members to save the schools.

People began lining up at CPS headquarters 4 a.m. for a chance to address board members, and the school district stopped allowing the public in at one point, saying board chambers and an overflow room were at capacity.

Nearly eight hours after the meeting began, board members cast their votes and were immediately boo'd, protesters shouting, "Shame on you!" Votes were not taken on each school individually; instead, board members voted on closing 7 schools, then on dismissing all staff at 10 schools; then on handing 6 of the 10 schools to an outside nonprofit to run.

Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis called the vote a "travesty," with no board member dissenting on even one school.

Earlier in the day, Lewis kicked off three hours of public testimony before the board, warning that Chicago is at the "epicenter of the education justice fight in America." She said the nation is watching.

"Children who need the most resources get the least. Parents who cry out the loudest have their voices drowned. Schools that deserve the most support purposely get little," she told them.

Lewis said closing schools and turning them over to nonprofits to manage is part of a broader political agenda to destroy public schools. Lewis was joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who blasted inequities in the school system and a lack of resources.

"This is Little Rock, 1957," Jackson told the board. "This is apartheid."

A string of speakers criticized CPS for disregarding community concerns and failing to . Several predicted spikes in violence as students make their way to new schools across gang lines. "The Board of Education needs to work and help pay for some of these funerals that the families will have to go through, said Rev. Paul Jakes.

School district CEO Jean-Claude Brizard characterized the school closings process is the most respectful he's ever seen.

Brizard also said the district has listened to community concerns. He said he’s charged with carrying the voices of nearly a half million students, and sometimes difficult decisions must be made on their behalf. He said students are suffering, with many in the "academic emergency room."

Chicago Public Schools says 7,500 students will get a better education next year thanks to the board's vote.

Two board members spoke after the meeting about their decisions. Board member Mahalia Hines said she considered information from the district, then went to the schools and community herself before voting. "While the decision I made was a tough one—you probably can hear it in my voice—it was an informed one," she said.

Vice president Jesse Ruiz said he saw the vote as "an opportunity today to do something for those children."

"There’s been a record of these schools not performing and not serving our students as well as they should for years," said Ruiz. "And that’s unfortunate. It’s also unfortunate there are more schools like them. The worst thing I felt bad about today is that we couldn’t do this for more kids."

Local school council members at the affected schools have filed a lawsuit to keep the closings from going through. A bill that would place a moratorium on school closings is currently in the Illinios General Assembly. Asked if there might be more sit-ins or "occupied" schools in the future, community organizer Jitu Brown said, "Stay tuned."

CPS extends longer day incentives to charter schools

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:28:00 -0500

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is announcing a partnership he says will give the city's students more time in the classroom.

Emanuel will make the announcement Thursday morning at a charter school on the city's South Side.

A national group says Chicago's public schools have the shortest school day and one of the shortest school years among the nation's 50 largest districts.

Emanuel will be allowed to lengthen the district's school day next year under a new state law, but he's said he doesn't want to wait.

On Wednesday, the city's Board of Education voted in favor of a CPS plan to award up to $75,000 to a charter school that adopts the extra 90 minutes this year. Teachers from those schools could also get an $800 stipend.

He's persuaded 13 schools to waive their union contract and add 90 minutes to their school day this year in exchange for cash incentives. But the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board voted last week to block Emanuel's administration from negotiating with more schools.

The Chicago Teachers Union is currently disputing a similar incentive program in the Cook County Circuit Court. Charter school teachers are typically not unionized.

Aren't public memorials supposed to be permanent? Not in Chicago.

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:15:00 -0500

The purpose of a public memorial is to let a later generation know that someone was important enough to remember. Memorials are supposed to be permanent and unchanging.

Not in Chicago, pal.

For one example, let’s look at a particular public school.

In 1896 the Chicago Board of Education opened a new grade school at Central Park and Armitage in the fast-growing Logan Square community. Many of the neighborhood people were German. The Board named the school after Otto von Bismarck, the first prime minister of a united Germany.

Bismarck School educated young Chicagoans for two decades. Then, in April 1917, the United States went to war against Germany in World War I.

Remember a few years ago, when some zealots were angry at France, and started calling French fries “freedom fries?” That sort of thing happened in 1917. German measles became “European measles.” Sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage.” The noble dachshund became the “liberty pup.”

Bismarck was the symbol of Prussian militarism. He wasn’t a good German like Goethe, or Beethoven, or Humboldt. Therefore, his name had to come off his school.

General Frederick Funston had recently died. He’d been a hero in the Philippines conflict and in the San Francisco earthquake. If he had lived, Funston probably would have led the American Expeditionary Force in the new war. He was the logical person to honor.

It wasn’t that easy. Some members of the school board thought the re-naming business was silly. The matter dragged on for a year. Finally, on May 1, 1918, Bismarck School was officially changed to Funston School. The name remains Funston 93 years later.

And 93 years later, perspectives have shifted. Some historians have re-examined Funston’s career and concluded he wasn’t such a sterling character. And compared to Hitler, Bismarck no longer seems so scary.

I don’t think Funston School should go back to being Bismarck. But I do have a plan that would address changing historical fashions, and also help school finances.

The Board of Education should sell naming rights to its schools.

Think of all the money that could be raised from corporations, or advocacy groups, or political candidates! And as a tribute to a departed loved one, a public school building is more accessible than a lunar crater or a star. Then, after 20 years or so, the Board could auction off the name again, and raise more money.

It worked for Northwestern U. and Ryan Field.

Cheat Sheet: Chicago Board of Education approves new charter schools

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:13:00 -0600

Time again for another edition of Cheat Sheet – your quick and dirty guide to Chicago’s monthly school board meetings. If you were anywhere in the Loop Wednesday morning, you might have heard there was a Board of Education meeting going on--literally!

There were dueling protests on the streets and a sea of yellow scarves in front of Chicago Public Schools central office. There was the longest list of speakers ever – or at least since Cheat Sheet's been keeping track.

Eight Forty-Eight talked about the big turnout and heard from folks who spoke with WBEZ's education reporter, Linda Lutton.

Click on "EXTRAS" below to listen to unfiltered audio from the January 2011 Board of Education meeting.

A case for mayoral control over public schools

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:38:00 -0600

Mayor Daley is one of a few urban leaders with control over his city’s public schools. In Chicago that adds up to a lot of power: Chicago Public Schools is the country’s third largest school system.

The mayor selects the head – or CEO – of CPS, and appoints members to the board that oversees the entire system. Recently, a coalition of Chicago groups began a campaign to change that.

Tuesday, one member, Jitu Brown spoke with "Eight Forty-Eight." Now, an argument in support of mayoral control from Marcus Winters. Winters researches education policy, including such topics as school choice, high school graduation rates, accountability and special education. He's also an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Music Button: Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown, "Green Grass", from the CD Varmint, (Cuneiform)