‘Structured out’ of a job
Fifth-grade teacher Leland Sanford and Spanish teacher Christine Brown sat at his desk in the school’s library, surrounded by brown boxes and barren walls. They were not happy. It was the Monday of...
View ArticleA new end game
On a November morning, the first agenda item in Krystian Weglarz’ class is to have students review the process of obtaining copies of their grade transcripts and ACT scores in preparation for...
View ArticleIB program tackles career ed
A career-related certificate administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization—more widely known for its advanced, rigorous IB Diploma Programme—is the cornerstone of CPS’ efforts to expand...
View ArticleTicket to a job
Part of the CPS push to improve career education is to have students gain relevant work experience through internships and earn industry-recognized credentials to help them get jobs. But on both...
View ArticleNavigating the work world
Shortly before lunch, a young man with a Super Mario backpack walks into James Zeckhauser’s office at Kelvyn Park High School. Zeckhauser takes his paperwork and photocopies the electric bill the...
View ArticleJumping the ship
Call it the great migration. Every year, on average, 18 percent of Chicago teachers leave their schools. Some are fired or laid off. Some take a job in another CPS school or, increasingly, in another...
View ArticleTurnaround to turnover
In the summer before a turnaround, schools that have been left to languish for years experience an adrenaline rush of frenetic energy. The hand-picked teachers, the new principal and even the security...
View ArticleKeeping a faculty whole
When the principal of Field Elementary left abruptly in April 2011 and a spry Brian Metcalf took over, math teacher Roger Gutierrez was not sure what to think. He didn’t know if Metcalf would want him...
View ArticleThreatened with expulsion
In June, CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett heralded changes to the Student Code of Conduct that she said will reduce disparities in how school discipline is carried out and ultimately cut the number of...
View ArticleQuick to punish
Cory Warren and a group of his classmates at Phillips Academy High School had a challenge: Work with a community organization to try to convince their peers that drinking and taking drugs are bad...
View ArticleLife after being arrested at school
It is a week and a half before school lets out for the summer, and though the weather is on the cool side, children are on the playground of Little Village Elementary School, shouting and running in...
View ArticleFrom classroom to City Council?
In South Chicago, an elementary school counselor tells her neighbors that City Hall needs to begin paying attention to the working class. In Avondale, a social studies teacher says an elected school...
View ArticleAsking the hard questions
When he ran for mayor back in 2011, former Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle was considered a favorite among progressives but a long shot to win. He got 9 percent of the vote, coming in a distant...
View ArticleBlack Chicago by the numbers
When Rahm Emanuel ran for mayor four years ago, African-American voters pulled him across the finish line without a run-off. He won about six out of every 10 votes cast in predominantly black...
View ArticleTough lessons for Rahm
On a Monday evening in September, the normally desolate stretch of 75th Street near Yates Avenue in South Shore was lined with cars. Inside a banquet hall, Charles Kyle sat on a small stage with Karen...
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