Schools

  • Getting documents explaining the longer school day

    14 February 2013

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on getting information from government more easily than via FOIA requests, and more.

  • The Chicago manual of school closings

    24 January 2013

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on who doesn't send their kids to charters, and more.

  • Keeping up with the Jones High School plans

    10 January 2013
    Photo courtesy of chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on what the old Jones Commercial High School provided that no CPS school does today, and more.

  • Board VP: CPS "not able" to provide good schools

    11 December 2012
    Chicago Board of Education vice president Jesse Ruiz recently made an interesting statement: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) isn't able to educate in many cases.

    The statement came in the 12/6/12 episode of Chicago Newsroom. Ruiz had this exchange with host Ken Davis:

    JESSE RUIZ: Typically, [charters] were put in areas where . . . these were level 3 schools, where some of these charters went into, where we felt, they were just . . . We ourselves, and frankly, it's, CPS's acknowledgment that we are failing to provide this community with a level 1 school. And they deserve it. Every child deserves that opportunity.

    KEN DAVIS: This kind of gets right to the heart of this issue of all of you guys who were appointed by Mayor Emanuel when he came in. And there was a broad perception that you were very much pro- . . . at least [pro-]charter, some would say [pro-]privatization, you wanna sell the school system.

    JR: I wouldn't put myself in that category . . .

    KD: You wanna sell parts off to . . .

    JR: We're pro-quality schools, and I think we all are, but I—speaking for myself—I'm neutral on the type of school it is. I'm just pro-providing good options.

    KD: But can you address this incredible tension you feel in the air, of people saying, "Yeah, well, if you had just put some money into this traditional school, you wouldn't have to be putting these charters in."

    JR: Then you have to contend with the folks who say, "You keep throwing good money after bad." Then you do this, and the results just aren't produced. And then you provide some of those funds to some operators. Noble Street: very good operator in the city. And they're getting the results that, frankly, we weren't able to figure out ourselves. And so I think we owe it to our students to look at every option, and every type of school, be it international baccalaureate—we're bringing more of those programs into the city this year and next—to magnets, to selective enrollment. That's what we've been trying to do.



    Chicago Public Schools is the third-largest school district in the U.S., with eight "cabinet-level" divisions—education, accountability, talent, administrative, network supports, portfolio, community affairs, communications (see the accompanying chart)—that include about 5,000 non-teacher staff.

    cps-org-chart

    According to Ruiz, CPS staff "weren't able to figure out" what it takes to have a school provide a good education. Really? CPS can't model its well-performing, traditional, neighborhood schools? Then what are we paying these 5,000 people to do? Does it seem obvious to anyone but me that a large, urban public education system should know something about, well, educating? Why do smaller Chicagoland public school systems (with comparatively tiny central offices) provide consistently high-quality schools—without using charters?

  • Testing in Kindergarten: Whatever Happened to Story time?

    25 October 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on why Illinois didn't receive federal Race to the Top funds, and more.

  • Eric Zorn and Ken Davis summarize charter schools

    25 October 2012
    In this audio excerpt, Chicago Tribune reporter Eric Zorn and Chicago Newsroom host Ken Davis give a cogent summary of how charter schools should and do work in Chicago. Taken from the 10/25/12 broadcast of Chicago Newsroom. Length 3 minutes.

    Audio:

  • Elected School Board Town Hall

    23 October 2012

    In this audio recording, a panel of public-school advocates discuss the possibility for an elected school board in Chicago. The panelists: Delia Bonilla, local school council parent member, Ames Middle School; Will Guzzardi, Logan Square community advocate; Ben Joravsky, columnist for the Chicago Reader; Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union; and Pauline Lipman, professor of policy studies, University of Illinois (Chicago).

  • Mayor Emanuel's First Year Report Card

    22 October 2012

    In this audio recording, a trio of panelists review Mayor Emanuel's first year in office as part of Columbia College's Intersection series. The panelists: Larry Bennett, PhD, professor of political science, DePaul University; Ben Joravsky, columnist for the Chicago Reader; and Dominic Pacyga, PhD, professor of history, Columbia College.

  • Today's Lesson: Charters Do Not Outperform Unionized Schools

    4 October 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on whether teacher tenure actually exists, and more.

  • Fighting for the Right to Fire Bad Teachers—and Good Ones Too

    27 September 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on the number of Chicago charter schools having union representation, and more.

  • The Last Democracy in Chicago?

    20 September 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on the mistake of separating teachers from the union representing them, and more.

  • Why Chicago Teachers Hate Rahm

    13 September 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on one of the phoniest issues in the education debate, and more.

  • With Democrats Like These, Who Needs Republicans?

    6 September 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on the possible collusion between former Pres. Bush and former Mayor Daley, and more.

  • Say It Ain't So, Joe

    2 August 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on why the mayor controls who chairs city council committees, and more.

  • Corporate displacement of community schools

    28 May 2012

    Jaisal Noor of Free Speech Radio News reports on the corporate agenda to establish charter schools and supplant publicly-controlled neighborhood schools.

  • How Rahm Emanuel Can 'Save' the Schools

    29 March 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on what Mayor Emanuel knows about the school system or, for that matter, the city, and more.

  • My Property Tax Bill Is Defective—I Want a Refund!

    1 March 2012

    imagename Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on how local government has already lost money on the NATO summit, and more.

  • The Reader Goes to Charter School

    23 February 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on why charters might reject the "public school" label, and more.

  • Senator Kirk Claims That Chicago's Top High Schools Are Charters, but That Doesn't Mean It's True

    17 November 2011

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on deficiencies of Chicago Public Schools' new report card on school performance, and more.

  • Wake Up, Chicago Teachers Union

    29 September 2011

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on origins of black patronage at Chicago Public Schools HQ, and more.