My Blog

Category: Education

  • Gratuitous Spending at CPS

    An independent investigation into spending by Chicago Public Schools’ board presidents has uncovered more than $800,000 in questionable expenses in recent years, including thousands spent at lavish restaurants and hotels at a time when teachers and the district’s rank-and-file were being asked to cut expenses. (Full story here.) It’s worth the click to read this…

  • Parent to Blame for Education Problems?

    An Associated Press-Stanford University Poll on education found that 68 percent of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what’s wrong with the U.S. education system — more than teachers, school administrators, the government or teachers unions.  Only 35 percent of those surveyed agreed that teachers deserve a great deal or a lot of the…

  • Rahm on Education: Not Daley’s Fault

    Rahm Emanuel made a campaign promise last week that if elected mayor, he would install a new math and English language curriculum in Chicago’s public schools by the end of his first term. … Mr. Emanuel made clear that he meant no disrespect to Mayor Richard M. Daley, who assumed control of the city’s public…

  • This is What I’m Talking About

    This gent here has a new take on education.  The video is not short attention span theater, however it is an interesting… no compelling, look at what is wrong with our educational system. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkPvSCq5ZXk&w=640&h=385]

  • CPS Gets Help From Discovery Channel

    With tales of cannibalistic giant squids and endangered leatherback turtles that travel thousands of miles to lay eggs on the beaches where they were born, Philippe Cousteau, grandson of famed oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, tried to capture the imaginations of children at a North Side school Friday. … “It’s not about textbooks anymore,” said Cousteau, TV’s…

  • One Great School, Not Part of CPS

    [Providence St. Mel] The lauded West Side high school — profiled in “The Providence Effect,” a documentary that hit the big screen last year — has long been considered a national model for urban education, sending 100 percent of its low- to very low-income students to college for 30 years. Its uniformed students each morning…

  • Girls Getting Cheated at Sports at CPS

    The National Women’s Law Center filed complaints against 12 U.S. school districts where district data showed a double-digit gap between the percentage of female students and the percentage of female athletes. According to the complaint, that gap is 33 percentage points in Chicago high schools, the highest among the cited schools. According to the center,…

  • Chico’s Education Plan

    Just got back from Gery Chico’s presentation of his plan to revive CPS.  The 15 page plan handout can be found here if you’re interested. For those just looking for the bullet points: As the former head of the Chicago Public Schools Gery knows something about education.  Further, as the leader when the schools were…

  • IL High Schools Failing the College Bound

    Eight of 10 public high school juniors in Illinois weren’t considered ready for college classes in all subjects based on ACT testing last spring — and many students missed the mark even at posh suburban Chicago schools that graduate some of the state’s brightest kids. At Lake Forest, Deerfield, Northbrook and Hinsdale high schools, more…

  • CPS is Broke, State not Helping

    Two months into the school year, Chicago Board of Education officials Tuesday were already estimating next school year’s deficit at $700 million. … Chicago Board of Education officials Tuesday were already estimating next school year’s deficit at $700 million. During the meeting, officials revealed the state still owes CPS $164 million from last school year…