by Collin Hitt Some big efforts were begun by Ron Huberman during his time as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.  The Trib editors encouraged his replacement Terry Mazany to keep shouldering those boulders uphill.  I would agree, especially with this one: “There’s a boulder labeled Extending The School Day. Huberman started pilot programs to give...

by Ashley Muchow Thanks to the hospitality of Meghan Schmidt, Director of Special Projects at Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS), and Chenita Hardy, Director of CICS-Basil, Amanda Griffin-Johnson, Daniel Anthony, and myself were able to take an eye-opening tour of one of Chicago’s groundbreaking charter schools—CICS-Basil. CICS-Basil is a K-8 charter school located in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood. The...

by Collin Hitt The head of New York City’s schools is leaving after eight largely successful years. Replacing Joel Klein as Chacellor – that’s what they call their superintendent in NYC – will be publishing exec Cathie Black.  During Klein’s tenure, the percentage of poor fourth graders scoring as proficient in reading on the Nation’s Report Card...

by Dan Proft Amid the contentious debate as to how we improve public education in America, there is one reality to which all parties subscribe: there is no substitute for a quality teacher in the classroom. The scholarship on teacher quality is clear. It is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Some studies...

Fact: The percentage of students who transfer out of charter schools is roughly half that of the neighborhood public schools which charter students would likely otherwise attend. Charter schools are a new kind of public school, attended solely by choice. They must take all comers, irrespective of past performance in school or on tests.  Through...