District 299 The Chicago Schools Blog

Shhh!

Moment of Silence Challenged, Praised
Today, Illinois public schools had their first mandatory moment of silence. The new state law requires each school to give students the opportunity to pray or reflect at the start of each day. Rufus Williams heads the Chicago Public Schools' board. He says the new law is not helpful.

Sound of silence in schools
Illinois lawmakers voted Thursday to require students to observe a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day, setting aside a veto by Gov. Blagojevich, who said the law promoted prayer in public schools.

Silence is golden, but new school law is worthless
Every morning, take a moment, just a minute or two, and be silent. Reflect on life, on your spirit or on nothing at all. Inhale. Exhale. Now doesn't that feel great?

Chicago Teachers Go With Obama, Not Clinton

The same day that the national teachers union AFT announced that it was supporting Hillary Clinton for president, the Chicago local announced that it was going with the local guy:  Barack Obama.  Here's the announcement -- what do you think?

"United States Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama picked up a major labor union endorsement today as members of the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates voted to endorse him for President in the upcoming primary. “Senator Obama is Illinois’ favorite son and a good friend of teachers, paraprofessionals and labor. We want to show him our appreciation and support by endorsing him as our candidate for President,” added Stewart. The endorsement will activate the 32,000 membership and political action component of the Union in helping Senator Obama reach out to educators across Chicago and the suburban counties."

Chicago Rapper's Song Might Be Good Campaign Anthem

I was supposed to show you the Kanye West's Ed In '08 promo, which apparently is getting lots of YouTube attention.  They're trying to make education a big issue in the presidential election.  West is a Chicago guy.  But I was so bored and disappointed by the spot -- perfunctory, obvious, unimaginably forgettable -- that I needed a jolt of West's live performance at the VMA of his new song, Stronger -- whose opening chorus (see below) might actually be a good anthem for Ed In '08. N-n-now th-that that don't kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cuz I can't wait much longer. I know I got to be right now, I can't get much stronger (wronger?) Man I been waiting all night now, that's how long I been on you. I need ya right now.  I need ya right now

Four Questions About The New Contract Proposal

It's the countdown to the vote on the proposed contract, so tell us what we all want to know: 

How you gonna vote?  (Why so?)
Is the contract going to pass? (What makes you think that?)

A Survival Budget From CPS

"Chicago Public Schools today released a $5.8 billion “keep afloat” budget that includes an additional $98 million in expected state aid and a 3-percent raise for teachers," according to this August Catalyst story (here) and some sidebars here and here. 

Or, if you want to look at the proposed budget in its raw form, look here (Download 080607_FY08ProposedBudget.doc).

UPDATE:  CPS released a presser (see below) explaining its stance, and announced public hearings on Aug. 14 at Lane Tech High School, 2501 W. Addison St., Aug. 15 at Juarez Community Academy, 2150 S. Laflin St., and Aug. 16 at Morgan Park Academy, 1744 W. Pryor Ave. The hearings each night will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Board of Education is expected to vote on the FY08 budget at its Aug. 22 meeting. 

Defending NCLB

No Child Left Behind is worthy and working Tribune
Page's assertion that NCLB may be  causing some of our highest and lowest achieving children to be left behind is  off the mark.

Curriculum narrowing doesn't have to be that way USA Today
For most, curriculum isn’t narrowing, despite focus on math, reading.

Replacing Obama

"What if Barack Obama makes it to the White House? Who will become Illinois’ junior senator?" asks Chicago Magazine (August 2007).  "We talked to some political insiders and came up with a list of contenders."

NCLB Excerpts From Last Night's Presidential Debate

Thanks to DAD for recording and uploading these NCLB excerpts from last night's debate, which include Bill Richardson slamming the law for, among other things, taking money away from low-performing schools and districts (huh?), Joe Biden channeling Paul Wellstone and calling it a mistake, and Chris Dodd jumping in at the end to protect his buddy Ted by saying we should get NCLB right but not abandon it (NCLB: Scrap, Keep or Punt until 08?):

No Clinton or Obama or Edwards footage, alas.  Here's the video question that prompted these responses, which uses a whiteboard and some really bad heavy metal music to make its point (seems like something Kugler would do): Meanwhile, EdIn'08 again castigates the candidates for not focusing enough on education -- though perhaps their real beef is with CNN and YouTube for not airing enough education questions:  "More questions were submitted about education than on any other issue.  Like their Republican counterparts, the Democrats have given nothing but lip service - and not much at that - on education.  Never have so many said so little about something that means so much.  This is a dramatic failure of leadership...The candidates' failure to offer courageous and bold leadership on education is a failure for students throughout the country."

Reform -- Without Cash

There's a thought-provoking Tribune editorial out arguing that money without reform doesn't do much good, and -- more controversially -- that reform can and should still be done without a big influx of cash (Is there will to help schools?).  The tag line?  "Don't give up on education. The ideas are there, with or without a lot of  cash."  Seems like they're pretty much giving up on the big money and trying to get a few key things done instead.  Pragmatic, sure, but it creates a scramble.  What about universal preschool, for example?

That's A Lot Of Corruption For One Day

"Our tolerance for graft was on full display last Thursday," begins this Sun Times editorial (Land of Capone?).  "As the gruesome secrets of Al Capone's mob descendants were being exposed at a federal trial, prosecutors were busy unveiling a host of corruption indictments. ...And a white businessman was charged with gaming the system by using a minority firm as a front to win a Chicago Public Schools landscaping contract....Even by Chicago standards, that's a lot of corruption-related news for one day."