District 299 The Chicago Schools Blog

Wednesday Morning News

Police added to schools hit by CTA cuts CST
Chicago Police are planning to pull desk-duty officers onto the street to help shore up patrols around schools that will be most affected by the upcoming CTA cuts.

Raffle to help struggling Chicago Public Schools Daily Northwestern
Today at The Rock, members of Alpha Epsilon Pi and Platform-One Entertainment will hold a raffle for tickets to see rap artist Common headline a benefit concert in January. The raffle tickets cost $3 each or $5 for two, with proceeds going to the Chicago Public Schools.

Study Finds No ‘Educational Triage’ Driven by NCLB EdWeek
A new study offers evidence to dispute the notion that the federal No Child Left Behind Act is pressuring educators in struggling schools to focus on the “bubble kids”—students who fall just below the passing threshold on state tests—at the expense of students at the high and low ends of the achievement spectrum. His findings run counter to those of a recent analysis by a pair of University of Chicago economists.

Area Dentist vs. Willy Wonka: A Fight to the Death Chicagoist
Taffy is the worst for your teeth.  Sugar is the best.

Test Score OverKill

Nearly everyone goes overboard with annual test score coverage, as usual (click below for most if not all of them).  Whose coverage did you find the most useful?

More Tuesday News & Opinion

Illinois toddler had 13 times the safe lead level USA Today
Advocates and researchers say this may be the most grim aspect of the nation's lead problem: State and local governments, in many cases, don't have the resources to clean up lead until children turn up poisoned, effectively making them lead detectors.

School Days: Providence-St. Mel School ABC7
In 1978, against tremendous odds and opposition, Mr. Adams and his supporters re-opened PSM as an independent school. Almost three decades later, Providence-St. Mel serves Kindergarteners through 12th graders, preparing over 600 students each year for college. The success of the vision is seen in students at every grade level because they are instilled with the mind-set that college is in their future.

Gloves Not Guns Youth Boxing Program Chicagoist
The United States Olympic Committee awarded an Olympic Opportunity Grant earlier this month to World Sport Chicago. The Gloves not Guns program, run in cooperation with USA Boxing, the Police Athletic League, and the Chicago Park District, promotes the sport of boxing to Chicago's urban youth as a way to stay in shape--and out of trouble.

UPDATE: Suit fails to block moment of silence Sun Times
A federal judge has cleared the way for a 15-second "moment of silence" to begin today at Buffalo Grove High School, in keeping with a new state law called the "Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act."

Tuesday Morning News Roundup

Daley: Do-or-die time for CTA Chicago Sun-Times

Schools CEO Arne Duncan noted that the CTA cuts would effect 52 elementary and high schools. More than 41000 City Colleges students would also be impacted. ...

10 selected as magnets Tribune
"The magnet makeover plan is our latest strategy aimed at creating high-quality options for all students across Chicago," Mayor Richard Daley said in a statement.

Bond Set For Teen In Fatal Shooting Of 10-year-old WBBM
Bond was set at $1.5 million Wednesday for a 17-year-old boy charged in the fatal shooting of 10-year-old Arthur Jones. "There were a lot of witnesses who really came forward"

Illinois Teachers' Retirement System Narrows Funding Gap Crain's
A $3.8 billion-investment gain, among the highest ever, helped compress the funding gap in a pension fund for Illinois teachers.

Monday Morning News Roundup

 Illinois' School Silence Law Kicks Up a Big Fuss Associated Press
Two weeks after a new law mandated a moment of silence in Illinois public schools, the debate is anything but quiet.

When is a school lockdown needed? Tribune
Six months after the Virginia Tech shootings, and just days after a student in Cleveland shot four people in his downtown high school, the incident at Morton West underscores the ongoing debate over campus security and the judgment call that school officials are forced to make following a gun threat.

Mayor Daley promotes science and technology in Chicago schools Medill
Speaking to business leaders and others gathered at a Microsoft Corp.-sponsored expo Thursday, Mayor Richard Daley stressed the need for a high-quality public school system focused on math, science and technology.

What If Marilyn Stewart Wanted To Sue You?

That's what's happening in one Oregon district, where, according to EIA Mike, the local union president is so disgusted and upset by what's being said about her that she's trying to force Google to reveal the blogger's identity so that he or she can be sued. If only there was a CPS-related blog that was good enough to warrant the same treatment here.

Friday Morning News Roundup

10-year shooting victim laid to rest Chicago Defender

McCaskill, who is being held in lieu of $500000 bail, said he got the gun from a relative's home, an admission that angered Arne Duncan, CEO of CPS. ...

'We're living in a crossfire' Sun Times
They celebrated 10-year-old Arthur Jones with hands clapping and voices raised in song, a boisterous tribute to a life cut short by gun violence.

Parents say school for disabled a disgrace Chicago Tribune Chicago Public Schools officials said they were unaware of the predicament before the school year started. But they have visited the school and plan to ...

Hope Institute plans school in Chicago Springfield State Journal Register

The new school, Hope Chicago Campus, is opening after the institute’s application last spring to become part of the Chicago Public Schools Renaissance 2010 ...  

Thursday Morning News

Duncan calls on state to release funds for schools Chi-Town
"Dysfunctional" politics costing the district millions

 Funeral to be held for 10-year-old killed in shooting Chicago News
As mourners attended a visitation for the Chicago Public School fifth grader Tuesday afternoon, police announced a third arrest in the case.

 Students Take Pledge Against Gun Violence WBEZ
The police visit is part of an effort to make children more aware of the dangers of guns.

Ranking school chiefs' pay The Courier News

Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan's annual salary, including benefits, in 2007-08 is at least $194688, according to a CPS spokesman ..

Wednesday Morning News

6-year-old boy dies after having seizure at school Chicago Tribune

The gym teacher and the school's nurse immediately began working on Daniel until paramedics took over, said Chicago Public Schools spokesman Mike Vaughn.

Boy Dies After Being Shot Over Bike CBS2
Faculty and classmates are remembering a Chicago teen who was shot dead in a dispute over a bicycle in the Southwest Side's Marquette Park neighborhood.

Lice Removal Opens in Lincoln Park Yahoo!
According to entrepreneur Maria Botham, lice infestation is the #1 reason for school absenteeism, and on average it costs the U.S. public school system over $500 million every year.

Split personality Chicago Sun-Times

Among other guests will be Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine and Chicago Schools chief Arne Duncan.

More Tuesday News & Opinion

Teacher sidelined for book choice
A popular English teacher has been placed on paid leave -- and faces possible criminal charges -- after a student's parents complained to police that a 9th-grade class reading list contained a book about a murderer who has sex with his victims' bodies.

Chicago Teachers Arrested for Stealing
Two Chicago Public Schools teachers were arrested last week for stealing computer printers during a daylong training session. Chicago Public Radio’s Jay Field has more.

Military academies offer options
A few key facts would help assure readers of your story on Chicago's military academies that these schools serve a valuable educational role in our system ("Reading, writing, recruiting? Debate rages as city's newest facility is dedicated," Page 1, Oct. 15, by Tribune staff reporters Stephanie Banchero and Carlos Sadovi).

Military role
As the reporters noted, Chicago has the largest JROTC program in the nation, and leads the nation in the establishment of Department of Defense-run public high schools, where students study subjects like military history and enlist after graduation at rates as high as 40 percent, according to the Chicago Public Schools' JROTC Web site.