A federal judge said Friday he won’t order a halt to the 50 school closings Chicago Public Schools officials announced in March. The Associated Press reported: “In a 54-page ruling posted Thursday, US. District Judge John Lee says parents who requested an injunction stopping the closures hadn’t shown kids forced to attend new schools would be...
Studies have shown that paying teachers for earning a masters’ degree is one of the worst ways to spend money in education. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said as much in a 2010 speech: “Doing more with less will likely require reshaping teacher compensation to do more to develop, support and reward excellence and effectiveness,...
In the wake of the Detroit bankruptcy, the media have paid a lot of attention to the effects of Detroit’s massive population loss – increased corruption, ineffective public safety and an unsustainable pension system, to name a few. But among the hundreds of articles written about the city after it declared bankruptcy, no one has...
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a landmark budget bill last week – one that is full of education reforms, including the end of teacher tenure in the state. Tenure doesn’t guarantee a teacher a job for life. But it does make it much more difficult for a district to let go of a...
As Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union continue to argue about the reasons for the district’s recent school closings, one thing is clear – parents have largely been excluded from the conversation. But they don’t have to be – a new law appearing in seven states across the country, if adopted in Illinois, would...
Buried beneath the news of Chicago Public Schools’ dismal Illinois Standard Achievement Test scoreslast week was another bombshell: students from receiving schools – those schools that students from closed schools will attend next year – saw less than half of the gains on the ISAT as the rest of the district. In other words, thousands of displaced...
When Chicago Public Schools officials announced Thursday that the district will be laying off more than 2,000 employees – including 1,036 teachers – Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis issued a press release that made no mention of the role the CTU played in creating CPS’s $1 billion deficit. These important facts were missing: The CTU supported all of...
Illinois parents have been hoodwinked once again. Two years ago, the Chicago Tribune revealed that Illinois’ graduation rates weren’t as impressive as once reported. Now comes news that the state has been inflating district test scores for more than a decade. New Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT, scores released Tuesday by Chicago Public Schools officials, prove as much....
by Josh Dwyer Illinois’ education system is struggling. Fewer than half of public school students are college-ready in reading, math and science, and last year82 percent of Illinois districts failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress – a key measure in No Child Left Behind that gauges school success. What’s even more startling is that these poor outcomes...
Nearly every week, I receive a call from an Illinois parent asking about whether the state has a school voucher program. Last week it was a single mother from the South Side of Chicago. Her daughter just graduated from elementary school and will attend one of the city’s worst high schools if her family can’t...
In May of 2010, the Illinois House of Representatives voted down the 2010 voucher bill. My hopes had been high for this bill, because I knew what school choice would mean for Illinois families. Vouchers mean freedom from failing schools; the possibility of students and families choosing their own path instead of being stuck with...
Public worker compensation is a major factor in the debate over pension reform. Teacher’s salaries are particularly important because the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, is a major driver of the pension crisis. The total unfunded liability for TRS is $53.5 billion, more than half of the state’s total shortfall. TRS maintains more than 130,000 active...
by Daniel Anthony Chicago has the potential to become a nationally recognized center of ed-tech excellence. Many organizations, such as New Schools for Chicago, 1871 and Shedd Aquarium, are helping make this happen. Shedd Aquarium’s digital learning efforts are helping reduce the barriers to teachers’ professional development through its innovative Teacher Badging Program. The Illinois Policy Institute is excited...
Families and students in Illinois would benefit most from a total voucher system in which parents are empowered to choose an educational provider that works best for their unique needs.