Chicago Education

Tougher Tests Just the First Step to Improving Chicago Schools

Lorraine Forte | Posted 08.10.2009 | Chicago


Lorraine Forte

Transform every school into a charter and you'll still have to solve the equation: How to educate students, especially students who often face troubled home lives and come to school woefully unprepared to learn.

Education in Chicago: Wringing The Passion Out Of Higher Learning

Bill Sweetland | Posted 07.18.2009 | Chicago


Bill Sweetland

Here is the unacknowledged truth of undergraduate life in 2009: Everyone, students included, feels alienated and bored by what we have made our universities.

Career Education a Must in Today's Job Market

Lorraine Forte | Posted 03.16.2009 | Chicago


Lorraine Forte

Here's a sobering scenario: Each year, about 7,000 seniors earn a diploma from CPS, but don't enroll in college and have no preparation for work. That is a road to disaster.

Duncan Should Stay. But He Has to Go.

Alexander Russo | Posted 01.04.2009 | Chicago


Alexander Russo

Should Chicago schools superintendent Arne Duncan go to Washington if he's asked to head the U.S. Department of Education, or should he stay in town?

Tuition Rising At City Colleges

Chi-Town Daily News | Peter Sachs | Posted 01.02.2009 | Chicago


City Colleges students can expect to pay 10 percent more on their tuition bills starting this summer. The increase is the first in two years, and tui...

CPS Changing Magnet Schools Admissions Policy

Chicago Public Radio | Linda Lutton | Posted 12.20.2008 | Chicago


Chicago Public Schools says it may use income rather than race to enroll students in its popular magnet schools. That's if a federal judge ends the di...

School Funding Protest Spawns Friendships And Action

Chicago Tribune | Tara Malone | Posted 12.19.2008 | Chicago


With grins and a familiar nod, a dozen teenagers came together this weekend for what has become a standing date since nearly 1,000 Chicago students sk...

Minority Enrollment Down At Top Magnet Schools

Catalyst Chicago | Sarah Karp | Posted 12.14.2008 | Chicago


Kenneth Green knew he wanted to send his daughter to a magnet school, Chicago's oldest schools of choice. He spent hours enveloped in research and tou...

Is School Choice Failing Kids?

Catalyst Chicago | John Myers | Posted 12.14.2008 | Chicago


With the end of 8th grade in view for James Baker, three of Chicago's top public high schools turned him away--rejections that caught the straight-A s...

Watchdog Group Says School Manipulating Enrollment

Chicago Public Radio | Mike Rhee | Posted 12.13.2008 | Chicago


An education watchdog group is accusing a Chicago elementary school of manipulating its student population to improve test scores. Sherman Elementary...

CPS Expanding Pre-School Programs

ABC 7 | Posted 11.29.2008 | Chicago


CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Public Schools is expanding pre-school programs to include 1,500 new students across the city. The announcement was made Wed...

Merit Pay For Principals?

Catalyst Chicago | Debra Williams | Posted 11.23.2008 | Chicago


In recent years, Chicago Public Schools has rolled out bonus pay for administrators and teachers. Now, the district is considering merit pay for prin...

Third-World Math Scores In Chicago: Study

Chicago Sun-Times | Dave Newbart | Posted 11.23.2008 | Chicago


Chicago's public schools do as badly as schools in some Third World nations in math, a first-of-its kind study released Wednesday has found. The comp...

12 New Schools To Open Next Fall

Chicago Public Radio | Chip Mitchell | Posted 12.20.2008 | Chicago


The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approved plans for 12 new schools to open next fall. The 12 are among dozens of small, autonomous schools...

Thousands Of Teachers May Be Sent Back To School

Chicago Tribune | Carlos Sadovi | Posted 12.20.2008 | Chicago


As many as 5,000 middle school teachers in Chicago could be required to go back to school for additional training to continue teaching under a plan ex...

City Colleges Leave Public In The Dark

Chi-Town Daily News | Peter Sachs | Posted 12.20.2008 | Chicago


Once a month, the City Colleges of Chicago trustees hold a public meeting to approve new hires, shift money from one account to another and okay thou...

High Schools Faltering: 70% Fail Reading Standards, Even More Fail Math

Chicago Public Radio | Linda Lutton | Posted 11.06.2008 | Chicago


Chicago public high school students lost ground in Illinois' latest round of standardized tests. Last month, Mayor Richard Daley was on hand for the ...

What Do Bob Dylan, Bill Clinton, and French Cream Puffs Have in Common?

Flora Lazar | Posted 10.25.2008 | Chicago


Flora Lazar

Legendary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus were at Flashpoint Academy this week for a screening of a new film they're making about the coveted "Meilleurs Ouvriers de France."

CPS Paying For Good Grades

Posted 10.12.2008 | Chicago


"Up to 5,000 freshmen at 20 Chicago public high schools will get cash for good--and even average--grades as part of a new, Harvard-designed test progr...

Prayer for the First Day of Chicago Public School

Kevin Coval | Posted 09.29.2008 | Chicago


Kevin Coval

Get Arne Duncan out of the health club. Let him and the progenitors of Renaissance 2010 do more than revamp failed plans. May they consider the whole student body of CPS, not just those with clout and high tax bases.

Meeks Offers Deal To Stop Boycott

ABC 7 | Andy Shaw | Posted 09.26.2008 | Chicago


With so many Illinois Democrats at the DNC, it's no surprise state business is being conducted in Denver. Illinois State Senator James Meeks said he'...

Illinois SAT Scores Drop

Chicago Tribune | Tara Malone | Posted 09.26.2008 | Chicago


The state's high school class of 2008 posted slightly lower average scores on the SAT exam this year, slipping in all three tested subjects, but Illin...

Chicago Teachers Union Ousts Vice President

Posted 09.20.2008 | Chicago


The Chicago Teachers Union voted late Tuesday to find Vice President Ted Dallas guilty of financial impropriety charges and expel him from the union, ...