Progress Illinois

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has asked Changing Worlds, a non-profit arts and education organization with a presence in schools across the district, to consider offering programs that will support welcoming students in schools slated for closure.

“This has had a dramatic impact on many communities,” said Mark Rodriguez, executive director for Changing Worlds, regarding a CPS proposal to close a recordbreaking number of schools across the city.

With 11 of Changing Worlds’ 32 school partners included on CPS’ proposed list for school actions, Rodriguez said the program is in dialogue with district officials regarding ways Changing Worlds can soften the blow to affected students.

“We’re trying to support the young people and help provide solutions and programming that will help schools that are welcoming new students,” he said, adding that Changing Worlds has provided testimonials and letters of support for several of the schools slated for closure. Read more »

Bank of America (BOA) serves as a destabilizing force in Chicago’s blighted communities, according to approximately 50 protesters who took their message to a downtown branch on Tuesday.

Organized by the Grassroots Collaborative on the eve of Bank of America’s shareholder meeting in North Carolina, demonstrators rallied against policies that, according to protesters, has led to Chicago school closures and community devastation.

“We have schools that are closing, homes that are abandoned, and neighborhoods falling apart; this is a time when we need our neighborhoods to be built up and not destroyed,” said Amisha Patel, executive director of the Grassroots Collaborative. “It’s time for Bank of America to do everything they can to strengthen our communities.”

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Lewis Elementary teachers agreed to have their school turned around but only if Strategic Learning Initiatives (SLI) is leading the action, they said at a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) hearing Thursday night.

Under CPS' proposal, Lewis' teachers and staff are slated to be fired and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) would take over the school in the fall.

But teachers at Lewis say they have been used as "guinea pigs" for various programs that begin to show improvement after a few years, such as the Teacher Advancement Program, but are then abruptly ended by the district. 

"We all know that when you introduce a new program it takes time for the staff and students to adjust," said Corliss Wade, a first-grade teacher at Lewis. Read more »

A plethora of teachers, parents and students attempted to counter Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) claim that Thomas Chalmers Specialty Elementary is “chronically underperforming” Thursday night at the school’s final public hearing.

Attributed to “low performance” and “insufficient progress”, a proposal by CPS has suggested replacing Chalmers’ entire staff with the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), a school turnaround contractor, by next year.

But since school Principal Kent Nolen was hired in 2010, Chalmers has seen significant growth, according to Thursday’s speakers. If the West Side school were permitted to continue on its current course, presenters said it would surely close achievement gaps.

“We pray that this hearing officer holds the current faculty, staff and administration accountable for the work they’ve accomplished, not penalizing them for work under the former administration,” said W. T. Harris, a parent of one Chalmers student, member of the local school council (LSC) and one of approximately 75 attendees.

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