Chicago’s charters and options
The shift raises questions about who schools are serving, how they should be resourced, and what the district — and the city — can do as it continues to lose students.
Leaders with the nationally-recognized charter school network said Wednesday they filed a lawsuit to keep control of its remaining two campuses serving Black boys in Englewood and Bronzeville. Chicago Public Schools has said it plans to keep the schools open under district management.
The election of a teachers union organizer over a former district chief in Chicago is a win for local progressives. It could also be a bellwether for public education policy in the historically Democratic city and beyond.
Brandon Johnson’s biggest donors are teachers unions. Paul Vallas is raking in cash from wealthy individuals — some of whom have supported charter schools and other education reform efforts in Chicago.
LEARN Excel Charter and the Boys and Girls Club partnered to offer enrichment opportunities beyond academics.
Some of the 18 charter schools and networks that received renewals this week pleaded for longer renewal periods.
The vote is the latest blow to the nationally recognized charter network. Last month, Chicago Public Schools moved to take over the charter’s two South Side campuses.
For over a decade, North Lawndale College Prep students have been training their peers to curb fights on campus, support grieving friends, and host peace circles.
The seven campuses in the LEARN Charter School Network began the school year on Monday, two weeks before Chicago Public Schools. The network usually starts in early August.
In Chicago, charters discipline students more harshly than traditional public schools. After last year, they’re preparing to shift away from exclusionary discipline.
Amid the pandemic, Chicago set out to rein in transfers of some of its most vulnerable students from traditional high schools to alternative campuses.
Chicago’s charter schools enroll a higher percentage of students with disabilities than traditional public schools, but there is no way to track how much funding goes to those students’ education, according to a new report.
Teachers at three campuses of Urban Prep Academies agreed to a tentative contract that would extend through June 2022 and include retroactive raises.
Health officials have said that the citywide rise in COVID-19 cases has not had a marked impact on settings serving children. But more recent data is not available yet.
Chicago district leaders have disclosed little about reopening schools amid COVID, while parents say they haven’t been consulted
No charter schools have applied to open in Chicago next year, a sign of increasing hostility toward the privately run, publicly funded schools in Chicago and in Illinois
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