Teacher Training, Military Schools

Chicago's 'grow your own' teacher training program and military schools are among the largest in the nation:

Reading, writing, recruiting? Tribune
Chicago Public Schools, which already has the largest junior military reserve program in the nation, on Monday will commission the country's first public high school run by the U.S. Marines, much to the chagrin of activists who have fought to keep the armed services out of city schools.

Grow Your Own Teachers US News & World Report
Tired of seeing first-year teachers flee to suburban schools, Illinois is spending $7.5 million to help people become teachers in underperforming schools in neighborhoods like their own. The initiative is called Grow Your Own Illinois and aims to prepare 1,000 such teachers by 2016.

Comments

One way to get rid of the exodus of teachers is to get rid of the ridiculous residency law. Not only do we lose teachers to this but we also miss out on teachers who won't even apply in the first place since they are suburban residents. I thought the union was dilligently fighting this but, there has been no progress, it is as if it has been swept under the carpet. Daley wants to raise taxes on everything and I am forced to live in the city to work for CPS.

[Cookie]

Amen 3:54, The residency is stupid and darn near unconstitutional!
We live in a police state that is very undemocratic.
And who can afford to live in Chicago on a teacher's salary?

[Affordable housing in Chicago]

10:30 - And who can afford to live in Chicago on a teacher's salary?

Let's be realistic for a moment.

My family's combined household income is approximately $75,000. Last year we bought a beautiful 4+ bedroom home on the Northwest side near Schurz High School. Nice, quiet neighborhood with lots of families and children. Sure, the mortgage payments are painful, and will be for another 5 years or so. But after that, because of steady salary increases, we'll be quite comfy.

Can a teacher salary support purchasing an expansive greystone estate in Lincoln Park? No. But neither can most salaries. There are plenty of legitimate housing opportunities in Chicago for teachers.

By all means, smack down the residency requirement. It is absolutely absurd. But at least be realistic about living in the city.

[Cookie]

Dear Affordable,
See if you feel that way after the tax hikes!

PS. If you're still "comfy" after the rise in insurance, electricity, water and heating bills then you're a good one!

[Rocket Science?]

Cookie,

Re: See if you feel that way after the tax hikes!

I'm confident I'll feel just fine. Why? Here's my deep dark double super secret formula to personal economic security:

Money Spent < Money Earned

If I could not afford my current home I'd have bought one in the same neighborhood that I could afford. There is no rocket science involved.

Re: If you're still "comfy" after the rise in insurance, electricity, water and heating bills then you're a good one!

Thanks for the compliment! It's nice to a civil tone in these discussions.

I am still comfy, and will continue to be so, because I manage my money using the deep dark double super secret formula mentioned above. I also made the decision to purchase my home expecting increases in all of the costs you've mentioned plus a few others. After all, when is the last time expenses involved in owning a home went down?

[Cookie]

Dear Rocket,
Yes, planning and saving is not rocket science, and your deep dark secret is not a secret.
But, don't be so cocky, how many pay checks from broke are you if you lost your job?
I've taught and lived in Chicago for years and yes my mortgage is paid and my kids have graduated from college and it has never been easy, the rising costs of everything hurt, no matter how much planning and saving anyone does.
This city is expensive and there are even better housing opportunities outside of Chicago.
And no one should be forced to live anywhere.

[George Schmidt]

This week a gallon of two percent milk is on "sale" at the Family Fruit Market around the corner (Cicero and Warner). The "sale" price is $2.69. About a year ago, that same "sale" was at $1.99.

The Consumer Price Index was adjusted first and rigged by the Clinton administration, then fine tuned into meaninglessness (at least to average families) under George W. Bush to mask the actual inflation faced by most people. Only a right wing economist could love it. This morning, the new is reporting that Social Security COLA is going up around two percent, while the real costs of living are going up much more.

"Core" prices indeed. Economists' nonsense. College costs alone -- a significant cost for most working families and young people -- have gone up triple the so-called "cost of living" the past several years. One result of that ripoff has been an increase in debt peonage for young poor people who try to follow their educational dreams.

That milk price is just one of dozens any of us can cite. And most people are paying more than that "sale" price at the local Jewel or Dominick's.

Chicago housing prices are out of control, thanks to the "global city" politices of the Daley administration. Can young teachers really compete in a housing market with young investment bankers, or the exectuves just hired at "New Schools" in CPS?

In many suburbs, the same number of square feet (adjacent to "better" schools?) costs significantly less. Easy to check for anyone interested. And with housing prices dropping now, the suburban bargains are growing.

The residency rule is just one small example of what we all lose living in a dictatorship.