Chicago going the way of Detroit

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-offers-pause-school-closings-2013-cuts-001835184.html

Chicago offers to pause school closings after 2013 cuts

By Mary Wisniewski | Reuters – 20 hrs ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Monday he wants a five-year moratorium on closing public schools after anticipated cuts in 2013, but the teachers union called his gesture a "sleight of hand."

The third-largest school district in the United States, which was hit with a strike by public school teachers in September, was already facing a financial crisis that was made worse by granting pay rises to teachers.

The school district forecasts a $1 billion deficit next year and is widely expected to try to balance its budget in part by closing public schools.

Enrollment in Chicago Public Schools has fallen nearly 20 percent in the last decade, mainly because of population declines in poor neighborhoods. The district said it can accommodate 500,000 students, but only about 400,000 are enrolled.

Some 140 schools are half-empty, according to the district. The union said 86 Chicago public schools have closed in the past decade, but the district could not confirm that number.

Urban school districts around the country are grappling with the issue declining enrollment, including in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., according to a study last year on school closings by the Pew Charitable Trust.

The first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years drew national attention to the city's dispute over education reforms such as teacher evaluations. The teachers were given a pay rise as part of the strike settlement.

Chicago teachers and some parents have complained that the school district has ignored their concerns.

The offer of a five-year moratorium was seen as an attempt by Emanuel, who has championed education reform and has repeatedly clashed with the teachers union, to provide some stability to Chicago schools after closings in the coming year.

"Mayor Emanuel recognizes that for many years CPS (Chicago Public Schools) has made too many piecemeal decisions around school actions, which has caused unnecessary disruptions to students, parents and schools across the city," said Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who was appointed by Emanuel after the strike ended to head the district.

Byrd-Bennett spoke to a business group on Monday at the City Club of Chicago.

The district faces a December 1 deadline to issue a proposed list of schools to be closed, although Byrd-Bennett has asked the Illinois legislature for a four-month delay until March 31.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that school district officials are considering closing up to 120 schools next year, or about 17 percent of the total. The district has established a commission to study the issue.

Byrd-Bennett told reporters on Monday that the district does not have a number under consideration.

At the heart of the dispute over school closings is the expansion of charter schools, which are publicly funded, but mostly non unionized. The number of charter schools has risen even as neighborhood public schools are closed.

"Today's announcement is nothing more than a sleight of hand," the Chicago Teachers Union said in a statement. "How can the district cry 'under-utilization' as a justification for school closings while it simultaneously approves the opening of new charter campuses?"

The teachers union has complained that charter schools undermine public education and force more community schools to close. The academic performance record of charter schools compared with community schools is mixed, according to national studies.

Chicago now has 103 charter or "contract" schools, some run by philanthropists, which account for 12 percent of students. There are plans by supporters for 60 more charter schools over the next five years, according to the district and the union.

The union said 88 percent of students affected by Chicago school closings or other actions in the past decade were African-American and most closed schools have been in poor neighborhoods.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

At the heart of the dispute over school closings is the expansion of charter schools, which are publicly funded, but mostly non unionized. The number of charter schools has risen even as neighborhood public schools are closed.

Exactly. That is what it's all about. The privatization of K-12 education and the profiteering that comes with it. Big deal here in Florida, too. I wouldn't consider putting my daughter into a charter school for a minute. Why? Well, because charters underperform public schools. Charters are a moneymaking scheme and nothing else. A solution to the K-12 education challenges this nation faces they certainly are not.

[Darnell 8,479]

You Go Get Em, Rohm. We Love You.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You Go Get Em, Rohm. We Love You.

Rahm can't hear you. He's too busy emasculating himself while celebrating "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women".

Edited November 27, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Darnell 8,479]

I hope his blade is dull - makes for larger stiches.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I see a decline in enrollment from poor neighborhoods as a very good thing. We want to eliminate poor people, right? Seems like it is working. Less poor people is good.

The "problem" with charter schools is not their existance but the insistance by teacher unions that Public schools ALSO remain open. It is like forcing you to PAY FOR a Big Mac even though you do not eat at McDonald's. The city does not have the money to pay teachers and sees the Charter schools as a relief valve. Not unusual. Canada uses our medical system as a relief valve for their meeical system. Works well for our area.

The good thing is choice. We utilize public schools here but we have the unique ability to choose ANY school to send our child to AND our tax money. We happen to choose the High School in our city because it is one of the 3 best in the state and our son went there when we lived 38 miles from here also. Competition keeps them on their toes and because of the large rural population here, it is more advantageous to allow people to choose a school. Small communities had to keep schools open to serve 6 or 7 students. Didn't work well. It is a microcosm of what is happening in Chicago. Different scale, nothing else. Here, the High Schools go into the Junior High Schools and market their PUBLIC school to Jr High Students and Parents like it was a job fair or something. I am not aware of private charter schools here but we may have them. We have been very pleased with the Public school we chose.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The "problem" with charter schools is not their existance but the insistance by teacher unions that Public schools ALSO remain open.

No, the problem with charter schools is that they are held to different standards and that they fail to deliver quality education. Overall, charters underperform public schools. The only thing they do accomplish is to make some rich people richer on the taxpayers dime.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

No, the problem with charter schools is that they are held to different standards and that they fail to deliver quality education. Overall, charters underperform public schools. The only thing they do accomplish is to make some rich people richer on the taxpayers dime.

Then excerise choice and don't send your children there. The problem for public schools only comes in when 1/2 the people CHOOSE Charter schools (I am pro-choice, you are not) and the Public School system (re: teacher's union) demands that they keep the same number of schools and teachers. Just cut the number of schools and teachers by half, to make up for the loss of half the students and the problem is solved.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Then excerise choice and don't send your children there. The problem for public schools only comes in when 1/2 the people CHOOSE Charter schools (I am pro-choice, you are not) and the Public School system (re: teacher's union) demands that they keep the same number of schools and teachers. Just cut the number of schools and teachers by half, to make up for the loss of half the students and the problem is solved.

I am for choice, too. But choice has to include that public and charter schools are held to the same standard in order for people to be able to make an informed choice. That's not the case which is why underperforming charters continue to attract taxpayer funds which is used for no other purpose than to make some rich people richer.

[Karee 4,191]

I am for choice, too. But choice has to include that public and charter schools are held to the same standard in order for people to be able to make an informed choice. That's not the case which is why underperforming charters continue to attract taxpayer funds which is used for no other purpose than to make some rich people richer.

What about the tax payer funds going to underperforming public schools? Aren't those just to keep union teachers employed?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What about the tax payer funds going to underperforming public schools? Aren't those just to keep union teachers employed?

You beat me to it. CHOICE is again the answer. Give people CHOICE in public schools like we have in Vermont and see how much they improve!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What about the tax payer funds going to underperforming public schools? Aren't those just to keep union teachers employed?

But that's just the point - it's the charters that underperform public schools. Why throw taxpayer funds at them?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You beat me to it. CHOICE is again the answer. Give people CHOICE in public schools like we have in Vermont and see how much they improve!

People have choice in public schools here in FL, too. And I support that. What I don't support is throwing taxpayer funds at underperforming charters and call that school choice.