District management
Lightfoot struggled with labor relations and pandemic school closures, changed her views on an elected school board, and plowed more city money into school building repairs during her first term.
In 2022, investigators found dozens of instances of sexual misconduct and abuse, schools mislabeling truants as transfers, a surge in overtime payments, and an end to automatic JROTC enrollment.
North Chicago SD 187 will transition to a fully elected school board by 2027. The state board of education decided on Wednesday that it was necessary to slowly transition the district to an elected school board with a few seats going up for election in 2025.
The school district’s top investigator said officials in Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department were contacted about sexual misconduct from 2019 on.
Illinois State Board of Education extends special education oversight, to provide remedies for students who missed services from 2016-2018
The Chicago school district and teachers union have both said gaps remain on some key issues, such as exactly which employees should receive permission to work from home.
Of the positive cases, 38 employees had worked at a school providing free meals or loaner devices to the public.
School boards in Chicago and Illinois have cut short time to hear public comment — just as public concern and questions about education have grown.
We’ll be updating this blog regularly with news, insights, and information. Have tips or questions or suggestions of what we should cover? Email us at chicago.tips@chalkbeat.org.
The exception to this new procedure will be emergency personnel like janitors, kitchen staff, and security guards, who will be distributing food from school buildings until April 20.
In an era when assessments and accountability loom large, could immediate fixes to the school ratings process inform longer-term changes?
As the number of the new coronavirus cases worldwide continues to rise, we are monitoring the impact on Chicago schools and their families and will post updates here. Illinois is one of 35 states with confirmed cases,
The school district said it will seek a one-year waiver from the state to suspend school ratings and spring standardized testing. Under the proposal, ratings from the current year would be carried forward.
Whil closed for the coronavirus, Chicago Public Schools will coordinate food distribution centers, run drop-off child care programs at 18 parks, and send home schoolwork
Chicago Public School students will return to school this fall on Sept. 8
While some campuses noticed immediate changes, a Chalkbeat examination shows that the police-school agreement spelling out reforms remains a work in progress.
Jim Franczek is the labor lawyer who negotiated the Chicago teachers contract and seven others in the course of his 25-year career.
In the one major unresolved issue from the strike, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools still haven’t agreed on how to parcel out $25 million in promised raises.
Here’s a first look at the $33 million deal between Chicago schools and the city’s police department
Police assigned to Chicago schools will have access to some student data, but they will not be allowed to intervene in school discipline.
Neither Mayor Lori Lightfoot nor district leaders seems ready to take on the tough topic of underenrollment, even though propping up struggling schools drains others and deprives some students of rich course offerings and opportunities.
Chicago schools’ Inspector General, Nicholas Schuler, detailed findings of waste, fraud and misconduct in a report; the largest portion of complaints dealt with sexual misconduct.
There’s no decision yet whether school ratings will be penalized if students don’t show up, which has some Chicago principals worried.
The issues with the technology portal, shared with wry despair on social media, capped off the $7.9 million program’s second quarter in use.
Chicago entered the eighth day of a teachers strike in a precarious stalemate between the two sides, as parents continued to fork out money for strike camps and weigh sending children to minimally staffed schools.
After pulling back most of its negotiators for a day in protest, the Chicago Teachers Union said it spent Tuesday “rebuilding” and will return to the bargaining table in full force to pursue a contract.
We’ll be updating this live blog throughout the day with reports from picket lines, negotiations, and appearances from Lori Lightfoot and her team. Check back for updates.
Another day of bargaining between City Hall and the Chicago Teachers Union ended Saturday night with reports of continued progress on two key issues — class size caps and staffing — but a stall in three other critical areas. Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters that she would be “very surprised” if classes resumed on Monday.
Chicago union officials said talks Friday won more social workers, nurses, and special education and bilingual managers; bargaining will continue over the weekend.
With signs of progress on Day 1, but no deal, teachers are returning to picket lines again on Day 2 of Chicago’s teachers union strike.
A bargaining document made available on an online portal for rank-and-file union members on Tuesday offers a comprehensive outline of the union’s demands.
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