CPS classes are cancelled on Wednesday

 Due to a surge in coronavirus cases and concerns over this Omicron variant Chicago teachers have opted to not report for work and CPS is forced to cancel classes on Wednesday. This was the result of a Chicago Teacher's Union vote on Tuesday evening.

BREAKING: CPS classes are canceled Wednesday as teachers vote to refuse to work in schools until COVID-19 cases drop sharply.

Teachers voted to refuse to work in schools through Jan. 18 unless the city's positivity rate falls below 10%. https://t.co/SNqNg5EnGa

— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) January 5, 2022

If you're a parent of a CPS student, are you able to adjust to your children being at home at least through January 18 which is how long CPS teachers will refuse to work in person?

CapFax on a bill regardaring the Chicago school board

The issue of an elected school board has been debated for many years. On this blog years ago I was supportive of possibly a hybrid board of education partially appointed by the mayor and elected by the people. There's a bill in Springfield that calls for a hybrid board while there is also a proposal for a fully-elected Chicago Board of Education.

Rich Miller has more on his blog.

CBS 2: Chicago School Teacher Keeps Students Moving At Home With 'Bean Bag Boogie' #Ward09

[VIDEO] While the lady you see above isn't currently a CPS teacher I think it was necessary to show this story that aired on CBS 2 over the weekend. Denise King of St. John de la Salle School located in the Rosemoor community is keeping her students moving with her YouTube channel.

I'm sure that just as with the Chicago Public Schools whose students are out of school until April 21, 2020 due to the coronavirus, it's probably just as easily a hardship for those students who attend a private school. I celebrate the efforts of Ms. King to use her platform to continue helping our students during this difficult time.

I think this is good news we can use while we keep an eye on all the numbers of infections in this state. And of course we look forward to our young people eventually finishing the current school year strong once this is all over.

As always be careful out there.

Where are the Black male teachers?

If there is a need to get for example Black male teachers, where are they? Why aren't they choosing careers in education? We need them now more than ever!

You might have seen this article shared in the Chicago Tribune during this past week.

The University of Illinois at Chicago is investing about $1 million to recruit and train male elementary education majors of color to help spur black boys' academic success.

"This is not just becoming a teacher. This is becoming a leader."https://t.co/HlwjAP0XYw pic.twitter.com/n2D1sK8Deb

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) July 25, 2018

What do you think? Do we need the men in our classrooms to get the boys back on track academically?

Chicago Public School system removes 2 principals amid investigation into how sexual abuse allegations handled

Simeon High School (8147 S Vincennes Ave) by Eric Allix Rogers

We've shared a few piece with regards to sexual abuse allegations within Chicago Public Schools. For our purposes we're just going to focus on the removal of the principal of nearby Simeon High School over sexual abuse allegations by a school volunteer:

Sheldon House, the principal of Simeon Career Academy, was removed amid a newly disclosed allegation of sexual abuse lodged against an unnamed school volunteer. District officials said that allegation was discovered during an audit of “systemic issues” in the school’s background check process.
...
“As a result of district-led investigations into allegations of sexual abuse, two CPS principals were removed from their positions today due to initial findings that suggest they did not effectively safeguard their students,” Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said in a statement.

“Investigations into both cases remain ongoing, and we will keep the school communities updated as this process moves forward,” she said.

The district announced the administrators’ removal barely more than a day before a scheduled Chicago Board of Education vote to change how CPS investigates allegations of sexual misconduct by adults against students, as well as new practices that would require employees to inform child welfare authorities and supervisors of “any interactions or behaviors which suggest that an adult has or had an inappropriately intimate relationship with a child or may be grooming a child,” even if the employee does not have “reasonable suspicion” of whether any abuse occurred.
...
At Simeon, CPS officials said they launched an internal review of “management practices designed to keep students safe,” which occurred amid a Tribune investigation that documented the school’s failure to conduct a mandated criminal background check before making Gerald Gaddy an assistant coach of the boys wrestling and girls track teams starting in 2010.
...
CPS officials said the Simeon audit found “systemic issues” in the school’s handling of volunteer background checks, while uncovering an unspecified, new allegation of sexual abuse by an unidentified Simeon volunteer.

The recent allegation “was not handled in accordance with CPS policy,” according to the district. The volunteer is now barred from the school, and the allegation is under investigation.

CPS said it selected Patricia Woodson, a retired former principal, to lead the school until a new principal is selected by Simeon’s local school council.

 Hat-tip Newsalert

Fewer Black teachers in CPS?

There are a lot of changes going on at CPS. To start there will be a new CEO in Forrest Claypool and a new school board chairman in Frank Clark. Now another issue has arisen:

Just 15 years go, 40 percent teachers in CPS schools were black. Today, it’s 23 percent. Many black students are segregated into majority black schools—like National Teachers Academy in the South Loop, where [Taree Porter] teaches.
...
The face of Chicago Public Schools teachers is changing: the teaching workforce is whiter and less experienced. Meanwhile, most of the students in Chicago’s public schools are Hispanic and African American. Black enrollment has gone down, but black students still make up 39 percent of the district.
...
[Chicago Teachers Union researcher Pavlyn Jankov] said the number and percentage of schools where there are virtually no staff or no students who are African American has increased a lot too. In just the last decade the number of schools with fewer than a 10 percent black teaching staff jumped from 69 to 223. Schools with no black teachers soared from 10 to 50.

Of course, school policies aren’t the only thing going on. There also may be fewer black teachers because other professions have opened up to African Americans.

While Black enrollment is going down in CPS schools there are still schools with a significant population of Black students.

So why is the Latino caucus seemingly more interested in this subject?

Members of the Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus are calling on the school district to hire more Latinos as teachers, principals, and administrators.

The push comes after WBEZ reported on the gap between the percentages of Latino teachers and Latino students. Data shows the percentage of Hispanic teachers is crawling upward, but not enough to keep pace with the rapidly growing Hispanic student population. Latino students now make up the largest ethnic group in Chicago Public Schools, at 46 percent.

Congrats to the opening up of new professions, but if the lack of Blacks in a classroom is problematic what can be done to encourage other Blacks to consider teaching?

DNA Info: CPS Schedules Makeup Days for January Cancellations

Those two days earlier this month where CPS students had no class because of the cold weather well they have to make up those days somehow:

On Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, snow and frigid temperatures forced CPS to cancel classes. "To ensure students receive the valuable instructional time that was intended" for those days, CPS has scheduled the two makeup days, including one that will delay summer break for a day.

Jan. 30, which was scheduled to be a School Improvement Day without classes, will now be a regular attendance day for all CPS students, officials said.

June 17, which was supposed to be the first day of summer break, will also be a regular attendance day. Summer break will begin June 18 instead.

Well wishes to teacher's union Prez Karen Lewis

I'm sure many people who want to see teacher's union Prez Karen Lewis take on Mayor Rahm Emanuel next year for mayor would be disappointed that she's ill at the moment. Whether she gets in the race or not here's hoping she recovers from her serious illness.

This has been news since Sunday and unfortunately all that has been reported is that she has a serious illness or she underwent surgery. In the meanwhile the work of her union continues under CTU's VP.

Sun-Times: CPS announces more than 1,000 staff layoffs

This is certainly an interesting if not a shocking development:

Before releasing its budget recommendations for the 2014-15 school year or enrollment projections, Chicago Public Schools announced staff layoffs on Thursday for 550 teachers and 600 other school staffers.

Added to the 147 staffers (including 76 teachers) who already got pink slips at three schools confirmed for a turnaround, 625 teachers and 671 other school employees are now looking for work.

CPS began notifying approximately 1,150 employees on Thursday that their schools would not retain them in the fall due to falling projected enrollment. That’s about half the number who got pink-slipped last year in the wake of a historic number of school closings, and district officials said on Thursday they believed that like last year, about 60 percent would be rehired at other CPS schools.

“The staffing changes are driven by declining student enrollment at each of the affected schools,” said schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett. Since the district doles out a set amount of money per child enrolled, fewer students lead to budget cuts, she said. The 550 teachers, she said, represent the lowest number of annual teacher layoffs in the past five years. And some help has been available for schools who have asked for it, she said.

The Chicago Teachers Union said the layoffs also mark the fourth time in the past five years in which more than 1,000 CPS employees lost their jobs in the summer. All of the teachers and at least 250 of the other staffers are CTU members.

ALDERMAN RODERICK T. SAWYER RELEASES STATEMENT ON THE

UPDATE: You can also read this statement over at Progress Illinois, a major statewide website! - Levois

From Rod Sawyer's office, on  the 6th Ward Alderman's website (which is NOT this blog):

Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer of the Sixth (6th) Ward released a statement on the CPS Strike. Alderman Sawyer believes that the two sides must focus on the wrap around services and helping our poorest children get a world class education. Read Alderman Sawyer’s below:

There is currently a lot of confusion about the state of Chicago Public Schools and what is going on for our students. Recent reports state that both sides are close on the questions of compensation, but we must take this time to work towards and actual solution that helps our children. I want to make clear that I support the teachers union, but I believe that both CTU and CPS should acknowledge that there are serious issues we need to address if we are going to do what is best for our children. Budgetary realities are real and accountability is necessary, but we cannot ignore the challenges that face some of our neighborhoods. I just cannot understand any education plan that acts like violence, poverty and other societal ills have no effect on the ability of a student to learn.

It seems to me that before you are going to evaluate teachers based on the performance of students, we must at least create a plan that would allow for a fair starting place. A school without internet service, air-conditioning or where students deal with multiple acts of deadly violence and lost classmates would never perform at the same level as a student for whom those issues did not exist. A teacher that has to feed children, wash children and dress children as well as counsel children all before they begin to teach will never match the academic results of a teacher that did not face those challenges. I believe that some acknowledgement of this as a reality is a necessary starting point to this discussion.

I have poured over the results of the different school models, and at best all that I can say is that the results are mixed. As the Mayor said himself as he released his school honor roll, there are Selective Enrollment, Charter, Turnaround and yes traditional neighborhood schools that have become successful. High standards are a good thing and many dedicated and hard working professionals and students have met the challenge. Yet some successful schools have become so despite the odds, and I do not believe it is a plan to simply require principals and teachers to create annual miracles. We need a system that can be diverse and offer many different options, but at its core does not create an underclass that we are abandoning in difficult circumstances.

In my time in this office I have seen many hardworking and dedicated teachers and I have met many hardworking members of CPS administration. Both sides would do better if we toned down the rhetoric. However, I must acknowledge that the teachers union has a history of being burned, as with the rescinded pay increase, and I do not understand how the city did not engage the teachers as soon as there was a 90% strike authorization vote. As this becomes more of a debate about whether teachers are greedy or whether the Mayor wants to privatize schools, the children are the ones who lose. It is unacceptable to say we are going to ignore the emotional well-being of our most at risk children because of the budget. I refuse to accept that the city and CPS budget are filled with so many issues of more importance than our children.

Rest assured that I will do all I can to help parents through this process and to put our children first.

Thoughts?

CPS alternatives during the Strike

Here are the schools, and then non-profits in 60619, 60620 and 60636. Click here for locations in other zip codes, and general information from  CPS


We apologize for the poor formatting, but we want to get this info to you ASAP

School Children First Sites By Zip Code

SchoolName Network SPED Cluster? School Type Address Zip Code

GILLESPIE Rock Island No Elementary 9301 S State St 60619

BURNSIDE Skyway No Elementary 650 E 91st Pl 60619

NEIL Skyway Yes Elementary 8555 S Michigan Ave 60619

RUGGLES Skyway No Elementary 7831 S Prairie Ave 60619

CUFFE Englewood-Gresham No Elementary 8324 S Racine Ave 60620

JOPLIN Englewood-Gresham No Elementary 7931 S Honore St 60620

FORT DEARBORN Rock Island No Elementary 9025 S Throop St 60620

ALTGELD Englewood-Gresham No Elementary 1340 W 71st St 60636

SIMEON South Side No High School 8147 S Vincennes Ave 60620

SOUTHSIDE OCC HS Southwest Side Yes High School 7342 S Hoyne Ave 60636

Non-CPS Children First Locations by Zip Code: Chicago Public Library, Chicago Park District, Safe Haven and Community Based Organizations

Type Name Address Zip Phone Mon Hours Tue Hours Wed Hours Thur Hours Fri Hours



Library Greater Grand Crossing 1000 E. 73rd Street 60619 (312) 745-1608 12-8 10-6 12-8 10-6 9-5

Library Whitney M. Young, Jr. 7901 S. King Drive 60619 (312) 747-0039 10-6 12-8 10-6 12-8 9-5

Park Avalon 1215 E. 83rd St 60619 60619 773.646.3180 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30

Park Tuley 501 E. 90th PL 60619 60619 312-747-6763 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30

Church Assembly Of Faith 1222 W. 108th St. 60619 (773)-407-1736 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

Church Bethlehem Star M.B. Church 9231 S. Cottage Grove 60619 (773) 487-8441 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

Church True Light Baptist Church 7302 S. Maryland 60619 (773) 789-7237 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

CBO True Star Foundation 1130 S. Wabash 60619 312 588 0100 11am-2pm 11am-2pm 11am-2pm 11am-2pm 11am-2pm

Library Brainerd 1350 W. 89th Street 60620 (312) 747-6291 10-6 12-8 10-6 12-8 9-5

Library Thurgood Marshall 7506 S. Racine Avenue 60620 (312) 747-5927 12-8 10-6 12-8 10-6 9-5

Park Brainerd 1246 W. 92nd St. 60620 60620 312-747-6576 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30

Park Foster 1440 W. 84th St. 60620 60620 312-747-6135 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30

CBO Catholic Bishop-St. Sabina 7800 S. Racine 60620 773-351-5573 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm

CBO KLEO 119 E. 55th St. 60620 773-527-9960 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm 3-6:30pm

Library West Englewood 1745 W. 63rd Street 60636 (312) 747-3481 12-8 10-6 12-8 10-6 9-5

Park Ogden 6500 S. Racine 60636 60636 312-747-6572 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30 8:30-3:30

Church Faith Temple 6201 S. Wolcott 60636 (773) 776-2984 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

Church Hope Presbyterian 1354 W. 61st Street 60636 (773) 737-8394 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

Church Liberations Christian Center 6801 S. Ashland 60636 773 436-7940 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00 8:30-2:00

CBO Family Focus: Englewood 6727 S Western Ave 60636 773-962-0366




In addition to all of the CPS sponsored alternatives, other organizations have alternatives as well.

For example  Greater Institutional AME Church's daycare is offering daycare for just $25 a day, with no long term commitment or application fee. Greater Institutional AME Church is at 7800 S. Indiana Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60617  phone - 773-873-0880  Disclaimer: JP's daughter Mia, is at Greater Institutional.


Please add your alternatives in the comments section (as well as general thoughts)

Capitol Fax: Doing themselves no favors

Rich Miller takes a look at the back and forth over a longer school day between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his CPS CEO Jean Claude Brizard and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. For some the message may be inconsistent as to whether or not the teachers want to implement a longer school day. Who do you think will claim victory in this battle?

Teachers union chief: Emanuel declared war over longer school day - Chicago Sun-Times

Teachers union chief: Emanuel declared war over longer school day - Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Teachers Union on Thursday filed its first major legal salvo in the battle over a longer school day, charging that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his education team are waging an illegal campaign to circumvent the union.

CTU President Karen Lewis said Emanuel’s actions amount to a declaration of war.

The union’s complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board came as teachers at a fourth school — Benjamin Mays Elementary in Englewood — voted to waive the existing CTU contract and add 90 more minutes to the school day in exchange for 2 percent raises and other perks.

At other schools, the CTU complaint alleged Tuesday, the district conducted “sham elections’’ with non-union members, “intimidated” some teachers with the threat of layoffs and offered “inducements’’ to others “in an attempt to bypass the CTU’’ and the wages it already negotiated.

“They are going around us to negate the contract with our members, and that is unlawful,’’ Lewis said.

“This is just out-and-out disrespect and war. That’s what this is. This is an attempt to take down and make irrelevant the Chicago Teachers Union because if the CTU goes, they can roll over every union in the city.’’

 For the most part we already know that CPS and the teacher's union have been at each others throat with regards to their raises that the Board of Education eventually voted down. Now it's over adding 90 minutes to the school day and with now four schools to adopt a longer school day this year.

Emanuel: 3 schools 'did right' voting for longer class days

This was announced at a press conference before the Chicago Football Classic:

Teachers at the three Chicago Public Schools campuses who agreed to opt out of their union contract in exchange for 2 percent bonuses "voted right for our children's future," Emanuel said during a news conference before the 14th Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.

"The teachers did right by their profession and they did right by the children that they teach," Emanuel said while surrounded by several schoolchildren in cheerleading outfits and band uniforms.

A majority of teachers at Genevieve Melody, Skinner North and STEM Magnet Academy schools approved the pacts to extend the school day, CPS officials say. They were rewarded with one-time bonuses equal to about 2 percent of the average district salary, and the schools were awarded as much as $150,000 in discretionary money.

On Saturday, Stem principal Maria McManus stood by Emanuel and said teachers at her school were eager for what she said would be 40 minutes more for math and reading. CPS officials say 76 percent of teachers at Stem voted in favor of extending the school day, starting this month.

"We have a very unique curriculum at the Stem Magnet Academy, and in order to effectively execute that, they felt that they needed a longer school day," McManus said.

At Skinner North, 60 percent of the teachers supported extending the school day, also this month, a district representative said. At Melody, 75 percent of the teachers approved starting a longer school day in January.

And the teacher's union isn't very happy about this at all:

The teachers union is accusing Chicago Public Schools of bribing teachers at three schools that agreed to adopt a longer school day.
...
The union had advised teachers not to vote in favor of any waiver to their contract, but the 90-minute additions were approved at Melody Elementary on the West Side, Skinner North in Old Town, and the new STEM magnet school on the Near West Side. Skinner and STEM will begin their longer day immediately. Melody will start in January. They join about a dozen schools that already have an extended day.

The Chicago Teachers Union immediately filed a grievance. The union says teachers are being coerced into holding the school-by-school votes to add the 90 minutes, and the payments amount to bribery.

What do you think about an extended school day? Should more of our neighborhood schools have 90 extra minutes?

CPS Now Wants Longer School Day in January - Chicago News Cooperative

CPS Now Wants Longer School Day in January - Chicago News Cooperative

Less than two days after negotiations between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union stalled, a new offer is on the table presenting the possibility of a teacher raise and a longer school day as early as January.

Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard first offered to pay elementary school teachers 2 percent more to work an additional 90 minutes each day in September when he appeared on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” Tuesday night. During Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting, CPS officials said the changes could be made as soon as January, 2012.

The offer came as a surprise to CTU president Karen Lewis. “It would’ve been nice if we had that proposal while we were actually in negotiations,” Lewis said Wednesday after the board meeting. “For some reason they decided to do it on Channel 11.”

The two parties began negotiating over wages after the board voted to deny teachers their 4 percent contractual raises in June, citing a $712 million deficit.

Yeah making a proposal on TV show when it could've been made behind closed doors in labor negotiations is not exactly a good look. I'm just going to side with Karen Lewis on this one!

I do however like the fact that they're talking about a longer school day especially on the elementary school level. Let's hope that the school board and the teachers can come to terms with that.

ALSO you can watch CEO Brizard's appearance on Chicago Tonight below [VIDEO]

Ward Room: Teachers Blast Merit Pay Proposal

Ward Room:

The Chicago Teachers Union blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to reward high-performing principals with merit pay, saying it could bring about the same kind of cheating that took place in Atlanta schools after principals were tempted with more money for higher test scores.

“The research is conclusive—merit pay does not work and can have troubling side effects—cheating, narrowing of curriculum and competition between teachers where collaboration is needed,” CTU President Karen GJ Lewis said. “Think Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles: student standardized test scores were never intended to be nor should they be used for any personnel decision.
  
“Independent studies, including in Chicago, show that teaching to the test does not improve student achievement. An investigation in Atlanta concluded that pressure to meet testing targets led to widespread cheating in 44 schools. Similar investigations are underway across the country. Chicago and our students deserve better.”

CTU President: Possibility Of Teachers Strike 'Very High'

Progress Illinois:

In a radio interview, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said the potential for a teachers strike is "very high" this coming school year. Although the recent school reform bill requires that a larger majority, 75 percent, of members vote in favor of a strike and also lengthens the timeline before a work stoppage can be held, Lewis contends that it is still a serious possibility.

"We still have the leverage of a strike," Lewis said on WLS AM radio, according to the Tribune. "If they continue to push us and not want to be reasonable, then we still do have that leverage." 

Could be the first since 1987!

Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader

Via EveryBlock. A teacher at Deneen Elementary located at 7240 S. Wabash is seeking donations to provide her students with books to read.

My Students: Imagine 25 first graders sprawled across a classroom, each curled into a comfy spot with a book they can read all by themselves. The quiet hum of learning takes over as whisper voices read new stories, sound out words, and practice all the things good readers do. This is my dream for my classroom.

My students are curious, enthusiastic six and seven- year-olds who cannot wait to explore the world of books and reading. They live in a high-poverty neighborhood and have experienced many difficult challenges already in their young lives. However, each day they come to school with smiles on, eager to learn and grow.

My Project: My students are incredibly motivated to read, but unfortunately my classroom library is lacking in high quality books at the students' independent reading level. As emergent readers, my students have a wide range of abilities and previous experiences with books. They need access to books they can read on their own in order to build good reading habits and become strong readers.

The leveled books I am asking for support students as they make their way from highly patterned, beginning readers to books with more complex stories, plots, and dialogue. Finding these high-quality, engaging books in a wide range of first grade reading levels is often difficult and expensive. However, the benefits these leveled readers provide are numerous and valuable. Students' confidence grows as they read books they understand and enjoy, and over time, a love of reading emerges!

As a first year teacher, I am working to build a strong classroom library which truly supports ALL students in their journey to becoming lifelong readers and learners. This project will create a solid foundation for my leveled library that will grow and enrich student literacy for years to come! My students need 21 sets of leveled, "good-fit" books to read independently.

My students need 21 sets of leveled, "good-fit" books to read independently. 

What can we do to help? :)

Capitol Fax: Drilling down into the numbers

Rich Miller on the story out of the Chicago Public Schools. Potential labor strife between the Board of Education  and the Chicago Teacher's Union. Namely the fact that the board had recently rescinded a 4% pay raise!

Capitol Fax: Education reform roundup

Click image to see the post

Yesterday, Gov. Pat Quinn signed an education reform bill into law that is designed to make it more difficult for teachers to strike and make it easier for school districts to fire teachers. Today a round-up at CapFax with regards to the new reform law, the aftermath, and the ever present issue of public school funding. It's worth a read!