Illinois legislators have a major decision to make: should the state adopt policies that will enable it to become a future hub of education innovation or should it institute laws that needlessly delay the policies necessary to create a school system that embraces technology? Thus far, Illinois has chosen the latter path. In fact, Gov. Pat...
by Josh Dwyer Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union both patted themselves on the back this week for a two percentage point increase in CPS’s graduation rate over the past year, up to 63 percent from 61 percent. Here’s what they said: “We are happy to see increased graduation rates for CPS. It proves those...
by Josh Dwyer In an article on EdReach – a website that provides a platform for education innovators – Christopher Nyren, founder of Educated Ventures, listed a number of reasons why Chicago should be one of the “most prolific ed-tech hotspots on the planet.” Here are some of the facts Nyren shared: The Midwest boasts two of the...
by Josh Dwyer The big news from the Chicago Public Schools school board meeting is that Ericson, Garvey, Jackson and Manierre schools will remain open. Still, 50 other schools are on the chopping block. Forty-eight schools will close in June. Canter Elementary will get a one-year reprieve and Attucks Elementary will close at the end of...
by Josh Dwyer According to a 2009 study conducted by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, 42 percent of Michigan’s charter schools outperformed traditional public schools in math and 35 percent outperformed them in reading. Only 6 percent underperformed relative to their traditional public school counterparts in math and only 2 percent did so in...
by Josh Dwyer When Chicago Public Schools first announced that it was closing schools, the primary justification it gave was to save money – upward of $500,000 to $800,000 per school. It needed the money to address the looming pension cliff the city is facing next year. When people began questioning those numbers, CPS’s story...
by Ted Dabrowski* With a bill that blocks the authorization of any new virtual charter schools, state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, aims to slow Illinois’ move into the 21st century. Her law, House Bill 494, calls for a one-year moratorium “on the establishment of charter schools with virtual-schooling components in school districts other than [Chicago...
Meet Emilia Melendez – a mother of four from Milwaukee. She didn’t finish high school and works at a private school where she earns just enough to take care of her family. She desperately wants her children to have the educational opportunities she never had, but realizes that she doesn’t have the means to help...
The Illinois House took another step in the wrong direction last week by passing an amendment to House Bill 494, which institutes a one-year moratorium on new charter schools with virtual learning components located outside of Chicago.
Under the agreement, union organizers would be allowed to make their pitch for unionizing to teachers on school property, and would even be given personal information for teachers.
Illinois Policy Institute, in partnership with the Union League Club of Chicago and its Public Affairs Committee, is hosting the Digital Learning Symposium in Chicago.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Early last week, members of the Illinois House Education Committee voted to allow an amendment to House Bill 494, which aims to establish a three-year moratorium on virtual schools in Illinois, to go to the House floor.
Making sure we identify poor teachers and have them exit the teaching profession should be of the utmost importance. This is because teachers, by far, have the single biggest impact on student success.