Chicago to Lay Off Over 800 School Staff
Reprinted from the Chicago Tribune Chicago Public Schools said Friday that 663 employees at schools the district is closing, including teachers, teaching assistants and bus aides, don't qualify to follow students to their new schools and will be laid off. …
Chicago to Hire 600 for ‘Safe-Passage’ Routes
Reprinted from the Chicago Sun-Times As some parents continue a boycott to protest school closings, city agencies tasked with helping children safely to new schools next year said they’ve already dealt with 11,000 requests for service along the school routes. …
Seniority Reigns in Philly District Layoffs
Philadelphia Public Schools sent pink slips to 700 teachers last Friday. The decisions were largely based on seniority. This is the Choice Media Ed Reform Minute for Friday, June 14. Dateline Philadelphia: Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. announced last week …
Teacher Ordered to Rein in Free Speech
Reprinted from the Chicago Tribune The Batavia High School teacher at the center of a recent controversy over his recommendation to students about a school survey was warned to keep his opinions about all future district initiatives to himself or …
Illinois School Boasts 24 Sets of Twins
Reprinted from Yahoo! News WILMETTE, Ill. (AP) — Like a lot of kids, the two brothers from northern Illinois spent hours marveling at the weird and the wonderful in the Guinness Book of World Records — and wondering what they …
IL Restores Funding for Charter Operator
Reprinted from the Chicago Tribune Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration on Friday announced it partially restored funding to the United Neighborhood Organization to allow the embattled charter school operator to finish a new soccer academy high school in time to open …
DFER to Hold School Choice Forums in Chicago
Reprinted from DNAinfo CHICAGO — Prompted by the recent citywide Chicago Public Schools closings, an education reform group is partnering with a group of black pastors to inform minority families of the schooling options available to their children. Democrats for …
Chicago Releases Individual Schools’ Budgets
Reprinted from the Chicago Tribune Chicago Public Schools released budgets for individual schools to principals Wednesday and revealed a few more details on how it plans to close a budget gap of nearly $1 billion next year. Principals for the …
Assessing Zero Tolerance Weapon Policies
Do zero-tolerance weapons policies work, or are they as effective as a gun chewed out of a Pop Tart? This is the Choice Media Ed Reform Minute for Wednesday, June 5. A recent crackdown on what has been perceived as …