Chicagotalks » Katherine Iorio

CPS Issues Roundup, April 2012

Katherine Iorio — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:00:22 +0000

CPS and CTU are battling over contracts, parents are battling turnarounds, phase-outs and closures, and legislators are pushing for a moratorium to halt all school actions, but in just a few months, more than 400,000 children in the Chicagoland area will be boarding school buses to start the school year. 7,500 of those children will be on a bus to a school undergoing a phase-out, a three-year shuttering process. The next couple of months are expected to be filled with heated discussions and urgent calls for resolution before the 2012-2013 school year begins. CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said the city is full of children who are in an “education emergency room.” Months after CPS approved 17 schools for turnaround, closure or phase-out, parents and activists are starting to increase protest efforts as a sense of urgency continues to grow. “For too long, our students have been cheated out of the high quality education they deserve and we can no longer accept a status quo that has failed them year after year,” said Becky Carroll, Chief Communications Officer of CPS. “With only 57 percent of students graduating from high school and 7.9 percent of 11th graders testing college ready, the needs of our children come before all else, and we must [...]

CPS Issues Roundup, April 2012

Rally to Restore Chicago’s Education System

Katherine Iorio — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:00:30 +0000

School buses unloaded parents, students and community organizers last Monday afternoon outside CPS headquarters holding signs and megaphones demanding CPS to stop the reform of 17 schools that will be turned around, closed, or phased-out. Kenwood-Oakland community activist, Jitu Brown, organized 30-to-40 people in front of the building where his message was clearly heard by two CPS media officials. While the officials refused to comment, they said they would release a written statement later to discuss the protesters’ demands and concerns. via YouTube Brown and other local school council members claimed the schools targeted for closure or turnaround were disproportionately in poor African-American neighborhoods and would lead to the layoffs of mostly minority teachers. There was talk earlier that morning that the rally would not be held due to a setback with the parents’ investigation into the reformation; however, the attorneys intend to re-file the complaint on March 23. Brown, too, filed a lawsuit, which was denied Friday, March 9. Judge Michael Hyman denied the lawsuit saying the school councils had no standing to file the suit, because they were not the subject of the alleged discrimination and the plaintiff did not give evidence the closings disproportionately harmed minorities. “We will now [...]

Rally to Restore Chicago’s Education System

State lawmakers push bill to stop Chicago school closings

Katherine Iorio — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:46:19 +0000

Parents, teachers and supporters of a state bill to postpone school closings in Chicago gathered in Springfield on Feb. 28 for Public Schools Action Tuesday for the State Senate Education Committee Hearing. Illinois State Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-Chicago) first sponsored the legislation in the House, which was then sponsored in the State Senate by Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago). The Senate Education Committee addressed the moratorium bill on school closings, turnarounds and phase-outs. The moratorium period would require CPS to create policy that identifies and helps improve the schools where students score a 75 or below on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. The bill would also require CPS to create and establish a transparent process with regards to the way it handles school closings, openings, consolidations, turnarounds, phase-outs, boundary changes and other related school facility decisions. There was no final vote at the hearing. However, CPS did not have enough votes to “kill the bill” and the committee could take up the bill again as soon as next week. Martinez said the moratorium “is about our children; it’s about quality education for children in all communities, that is what this is about.” Senators questioned Adam Anderson, the CPS portfolio officer, about what CPS [...]

State lawmakers push bill to stop Chicago school closings

Board of Education Approved all School Closings and Turnarounds Amid Public Criticism

Katherine Iorio — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:46:28 +0000

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously voted Wednesday, Feb. 22, to close 17 Chicago Public Schools following hours of emotional testimony urging the board to do otherwise. The board views the decision as an opportunity to help 7,500 students in the low-performing schools. The board’s decision came just hours after an emotionally charged public hearing where the 70 parents, teachers, local school council reps and other community members urged the board to keep their schools open. CPS board member Dr. Mahalia Hines tried to explain the board’s decision. Board members said the closings and turnarounds are necessary because the schools did not show enough improvement and they wanted to help the students, ABC reported Wednesday. “We have created a climate when mediocrity is okay for our kids,” Hines said. “It’s not okay with me. I don’t care if I was appointed or elected. As I’ve said before, my constituents are the kids.” The teacher’s union disagrees and has filed a lawsuit to stop the board’s actions. “It is not the teachers, parents and community that have failed our students, it is this district,” said Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Lewis accused the board of turning a deaf ear [...]

Board of Education Approved all School Closings and Turnarounds Amid Public Criticism

Parents end sit-in after promised meeting with education officials

Katherine Iorio — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:28:18 +0000

Between 60 and 100 parents and protesters left Brian Piccolo Elementary Specialty School Saturday afternoon after an overnight sit-in once they had been promised a meeting with education officials before a key vote on the future of the school. Piccolo, in the city’s Humboldt Parkneighborhood, is one of 16 schools that CPS wants to “turnaround” because of poor academic performance. CPS officials point to the low performance of the school, which has been on probation for five consecutive years, as the reason the school needs to go through a restructuring. Earlier Saturday, 13 protestors had remained inside the school in Humboldt Park, even while Chicago Public Schools officials refused to let them bring food in. Roughly another 50, many of whom had pitched tents, were outside the school. Saturday afternoon, a member of the Board of Education met with the protesters inside the school and agreed to grant the protesters a meeting with the entire board, said Rachel Perrotta of Occupy Chicago, a group demonstrating with the parents. The Occupy Chicago members used the group’s Twitter account to broadcast news and post links to videos from inside the school. “Piccolo has failed because CPS has refused to invest in public education,” [...]

Parents end sit-in after promised meeting with education officials

Senator Durbin targets for-profit schools

Katherine Iorio — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:00:36 +0000

Sen. Richard Durbin introduced new legislation Monday, Jan. 23, that will modify the GI Bill, after criticizing for-profit colleges and saying their recruitment of military veterans was too aggressive. Challenging the 90-10 rule, which bans for-profit colleges and universities from obtaining more than 90 percent of their revenue from the Department of Education’s federal student aid program, Durbin proposed to change the rule to 85-15. The new Post 9/11 GI Bill gives educational benefits up to 36 months to those who qualify. Veterans serving after Sept. 10, 2001, for at least 90 days will receive 40 percent of their tuition paid by the VA; those who serve for up to 36 months are able to obtain 100 percent of their tuition costs. Durbin spoke before a panel of experts and military veterans who obtained loans to attend for-profit colleges and are now struggling to pay back their debt. Veteran Bernetta Garrett, who served eight years in the military, said she has more than $100,000 in college debt. Garrett, who has two daughters and is a single mother, testified that she thought by getting her two degrees she would be able to give her daughters “a better life.” Garrett said she has [...]

Senator Durbin targets for-profit schools