CTU’s school closing delusions
CTU’s school closing delusions
The newest education fight in Chicago is over school closings.
Sweden shows that school choice works
Sweden shows that school choice works
If you’ve ever heard Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis give a speech, you know she has a thing for Finland. She points to it as a shining example of how an education system should work. She extols its collaborative teaching environments, its tenure system and its short, four-hour workday. Now, school choice supporters have...
How teachers’ salary schedules make pay increases misleading
How teachers’ salary schedules make pay increases misleading
If you want to begin to understand what’s wrong with our current public school system, look no further than teachers’ salary schedules. Public school teachers unions across Illinois have clung to these outdated pay schemes, despite evidencethat shows salary schedules reward teachers for things that have little to do with improving student outcomes. Still, it is...
Education straitjacket: how teachers’ salary schedules limit meaningful reforms
Education straitjacket: how teachers’ salary schedules limit meaningful reforms
Like the school calendar, teachers’ salary schedules are a relic of the past. They were originally created in the 1920s to address the concerns of female elementary school teachers who thought that their secondary school counterparts – who were overwhelmingly male – were making more because of their gender. Now they are being used to...
The backdoor CPS bailout
The backdoor CPS bailout
Chicago Public Schools cannot erase its $1 billion budget deficit alone – it’s going to need some help. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the school board know the situation is dire. This is why they have proposed closing 120 schools next year, a move that could save $500,000 to $800,000 per school closed. But, to...
Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education
Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education
Unlike four years ago, a vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama was not about change. It was about maintaining the status quo. This is no truer than in the issue of education, where Obama will continue to use the federal government’s purse strings to incentivize states to pursue his top-down agenda. The two...
Georgia paves way for more charter schools
Georgia paves way for more charter schools
Georgia parents spoke loudly last night. They want more school choice. By a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent, Georgia voters approved a new constitutional amendment, granting the governor, lieutenant governor and the state House speaker the authority to appoint a board that will be in charge of approving new charter schools in the...
Education spending skyrockets while test scores still disappoint
Education spending skyrockets while test scores still disappoint
Despite a struggling economy and a backlog of unpaid bills, per-pupil education spending in Illinois rose to an all-time high this year. Instructional expenditures per pupil – costs associated with teaching – reached $6,284, a 46-percent increase since 2002. Operating expenditures per pupil – costs associated with operating a school district – rose to $11,664,...
Supply without demand: public school hires increase while enrollment drops
Supply without demand: public school hires increase while enrollment drops
There are too many people working in America’s schools. From 1950 to 2009, the amount of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees grew 386 percent while the amount of public school students only grew by 96 percent, according to a recently released report from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Excellence. Looking even closer at the data reveals...
Despite Evergreen Park union resistance, evaluations included in ratified contract
Despite Evergreen Park union resistance, evaluations included in ratified contract
A couple of weeks ago I noted that a performance incentive program for teachers and staff was one of the bones of contention in the Evergreen Park teacher strike. These proposed incentives were based on district-wide performance on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) exam, which measures students’ academic growth. The bonuses were tied to...
Dispelling the class size myth
Dispelling the class size myth
As teachers’ strikes continue to spread across Illinois, union officials are pushing back against criticisms that they are not doing enough to raise student achievement. One of the most common excuses they use to explain the lack of results – apart from claiming that low-income populations have too many issues to overcome, something the Institute showed is...
Four common myths about charter schools
Four common myths about charter schools
The Chicago Teacher
CPS asks charter networks to save failing schools
CPS asks charter networks to save failing schools
According to a report in today’s Chicago Tribune, CPS officials have asked several charter operators if they would be willing to take over some of the 80 to 120 under-enrolled or poorly performing schools that the district is planning on closing next year. Among the names mentioned are the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) and the Noble Network of Charter Schools....
Top ten charters outperform top ten open enrollment, non-selective, traditional high schools in Chicago
Top ten charters outperform top ten open enrollment, non-selective, traditional high schools in Chicago
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. In Chicago that is. In Chicago’s traditional public schools, the teachers’ union was on strike. Parents were scrambling to find a safe place for their child to stay during what would otherwise be a school day. Some were taking time off, even at...