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.
A recent amendment to House Bill 494 is aiming to establish a three-year moratorium on virtual schools in Illinois. The amendment was introduced by state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, who represents one of the districts that would under the charter.
WBEZ in Chicago has published one of the more incomplete stories on charter schools Ive read in a long time. It asserts: Charter advocates and even the Chicago Tribune editorial board say 19,000 kids are on charter school waiting lists in the city.
Back-door school subsidies
More than 10,000 students across Idaho will be using Khan Academy, the successful Internet education organization, in their classroom this coming school year. Khan Academy’s videos – which span a variety of subjects, from Renaissance art to game theory – have allowed many teachers to “flip” classrooms by letting students to listen to lectures at home and work on homework...