Category: Education
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Chicago Teachers Union: It’s About Children Greed
According to the Chicago Tribune key issues separating Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union: SALARIES AND BENEFITS. The district offered 16 percent increase over four years and “modified step increases that both reward experience and provide better incentives for mid-career teachers.” The union said it’s closer on pay but is still concerned about…
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St. Charles School Group Hates Class Rankings
Members of the St. Charles District 303 school community want to eliminate class rank at the high schools and expand foreign language and technology offerings at all levels, according to a report released Monday. The information was compiled from several community meetings this year. via chicagotribune.com. Well this is easy right? About 2% of the…
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CPS To Raise Property Taxes The Maximum
For the second year in a row, Chicago Public School officials under Mayor Rahm Emanuel will raise property taxes for schools to the maximum allowed by law, yielding the cash-strapped system $41 million. The 1.5 percent increase should cost the average homeowner $28 a year, school officials said Wednesday. via Chicago Sun-Times. Well isn’t this…
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Illinois lags in science, tech, engineering, math grads
Bad News: Illinois is producing fewer graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math than the national average, according to the June release of the Illinois Innovation Index. … According to the Illinois Innovation Index, the number of STEM degrees granted to Illinois graduates hit a high-water mark of 20,248 in 2003 before dropping…
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Teens Employment Lowest Since WWII – Obama Not Helping
This article was published yesterday about the same time that Obama was in the Rose Garden making the situation worse: Fewer than 3 in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment…
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Parents Not Happy with Blue School
Back in April I wrote about the Blue School. By some measure it’s not doing so well. Parents are yanking their kids out of the “progressive,” $32,000 per-year private school founded by the Blue Man Group — which has no books and no tests — because their kids are barely learning to read, The Post…
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CPS’s Safe Haven Funding Slashed
With money tight,Chicago Public Schools’summer Safe Haven program will be scaled back and serve fewer students.Last year, the district used $975,000 in federal stimulus funds for Safe Haven, which encompassed 100 churches working with 5,000 students on issues including conflict resolution and anger management, as well as reading programs, tutoring and arts. via Chicago Tribune.…
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Half of Florida H.S. Students Fail Reading Test
Nearly half of Florida high school students failed the reading portion of the state’s new toughened standardized test, education officials said on Friday. Results this year from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test showed 52 percent of freshman students and 50 percent of sophomores scored at their grade levels. Students in the 10th grade must pass…
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CPS Director Accepted Gifts from Top Vendors
Now, [CPS Chief of Food Services Louise Esaian] and two members of her staff are accused in a report by CPS inspector general James Sullivan of accepting perhaps thousands of dollars in gifts from Chartwells and another vendor, Preferred Meals Systems, that have combined food contracts at CPS in excess of $75 million. Esaian told…