As you may know, Disney II faces a CPS school action. In our case, this is a positive thing. However, the process has not been without its challenges and roadblocks. We applied in August, and CPS announced its approval of our proposal in December 2012. Immediately the conversations turned to: "Where are they going to put this expansion? CPS is going to put it in Thurgood Marshall Middle School, right?"and an onslaught of conjecture-fueled upset from neighborhood groups, neighbors, other schools, school groups, the press, and watchdogs.
In late March, CPS announced its proposal to co-locate the Disney II expansion with nearby Thurgood Marshall Middle school. And immediately, the charge of the conversation was amplified. Suddenly, TMMS became a much-loved neighborhood gem upon which every stakeholder pinned his/her hopes and fears.
Hopes for a way to buck the system and gain automatic entry (GIPNA's proximity overlay proposal), hopes for a relief valve for an overcrowded neighboring school (Belding's request to redraw attendance boundaries), hopes for a different high school model (Murphy LSC's on-stage proposal), hopes for a renewed interest in a neighborhood middle-school model (TMMS teachers), hopes for re-election (Ald. Arena), and fears for the strength of current programming (Murphy parents).
As a stakeholder myself, I've taken a keen interest in the process. I've attended many meetings about this, from poorly-communicated District-sponsored meetings to well-publicized community meetings on the network level to legal-compliance meetings within the community and downtown. I have attended LSC meetings and LSC meetings, and community-led meetings. I've had innumerable conversations with neighbors, friends, and classmates' parents about the process and what each new development means. For the record, this details the process. It is an imperfect document, a reflection of the imperfect details provided to Disney II by the District.
To be honest, the process from March 31 through today has stunk. Half of my neighbors won't talk to me or to the smattering of other Disney II families who share our neighborhood. I don't really blame them; envy is a powerful and difficult emotion. I wish every parent really had the options that the system has led us to believe that we have. Because choice in the context of elementary education is a fallacy. Choice is applicable to a select few--those with the means to pay for private or parochial school and the lucky souls whose names were chosen out of a hat.*
The gradual dissolution of my relationships with my neighbors--especially because I have opted to engage them--bothers me. CPS's School Actions policies and the media have primed everyone for a fight. Although I am open to debate, I don't want to fight with anyone. I believe every one of the statements I made at every CPS public meeting. My intent, and the intentions of those intimately involved in the Disney II expansion project, are good.
But the part of this that bothers me the most is this feeling that we are all fighting for scraps. While listening to a handful of parents and teachers express outrage at CPS in the guise of rejecting Disney II at Monday's meeting, I was reminded of my earlier work with Raise Your Hand and its initial mission of equal funding for all. We banded together to show CPS that we want a bigger pie rather than fight each other to get a bigger slice. Unfortunately, fighting for scraps is exactly what has happened in the public comment portion of the expansion process.
This is, quite frankly, ridiculous. I am not part of a scheme to subjugate high-poverty, low-resources students and their families within the public school system. Growing our school by 200 students next year is the best example of meeting our priorities that I can give. As I wrote last year, there is a difficulty in setting and funding to priorities within CPS. Antoinette Sea-Gerald wants equity for charter schools? Belding wants equity? I want equity too.
* More on what that means for me later.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Early College STEM at CPS
It's time for a PTA Advisory Council update. Our April meeting was canceled, so we reconvened in May to learn about Office of Teaching and Learning procurement processes and the early college STEM program at CPS, and ignore the elephant in the room that is CPS School Actions and closures.
The procurement process addled my brain a bit, but I think the gist of our speaker's talk was that CPS procurement has revised its vendor process to include better pricing, create a "marketplace" of vendor pricing, revise the RFP/bid process, and expand the scope of work covered by CPS's purchasing agreements. For schools and school-based organizations, talk to your school's business manager to learn more about leveraging the District's purchasing power.
The bulk of our meeting was spent listening to Veenu Verma, director of Early College and Career Education, of the CPS Office of Pathways to College and Career. Ms. Verma was there to go over the CPS's STEM high school program with us. I have to say that it's such a treat to meet CPS leaders in this format. I've yet to meet a visitor to our meetings who is at all hostile to our group. It might be a function of both sides coming to the meeting with generally positive attitudes and open minds.
As we know, CPS tends to have a lot of new initiatives that don't always make the cut from year to year. I'm hopeful that is not the case with the early college STEM schools, with their gradual enrollment strategy. Ms. Verma told us that the STEM schools were based on a model in NY that combines a partnership with CUNY and IBM. She also spoke a bit about the development process for the initiative, which involved speaking with employers and technical companies about the kinds of skills they need, whether technical or soft in nature.
There are five STEM high schools in CPS under this initiative. There is one in each high school network, and each has a neighborhood boundary, corporate partner, and college/university partner. The schools are Lakeview, Sarah Goode, Corliss, Clark, and CVCA. The Lakeview and CVCA programs are tracks within the schools rather than wall-to-wall STEM programs. Lakeview's corporate partner is Microsoft and it's university-level partner is DePaul. Goode's partners are IBM and Daley City College. Corliss's are Verizon and Olive Harvey. Clark's are Cisco and Malcolm X. And CVCA's are Motorola and also Olive Harvey. Clark is currently a magnet school as well, but Ms. Verma expects that to change in the next admission cycle.
She shared that the STEM schools were designed to offer up to a 6-year course of study, potentially bridging high school with the first two years of college. In the ideal case, the most motivated STEM students can earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree within four years. However, some students may end up with only a high school diploma and others may gain some college credit or certifications. Students who achieve City College-ready scores of 21 on the ACT by their junior years will be on track to take college-level courses in one of two ways:
Dual-credit classes via Advanced Placement courses taught within the high school
Dual-enrollment classes via attending classes on the nearby college campus
She noted that dual-enrollment classes are eligible for IAI-transferrable credits, which allow them to "count" at any Illinois community college or state university. She also said that each college uses a different approach in evaluating high school transfer credits, such as AP, IB, etc., which has made it difficult to codify the process at the high school level.
STEM students are also eligible to take certifications in three main areas: database and cloud management; network engineering and security; and web development and programming. Of interest is that "pre-engineering" high schools are managed out of the Career and Technical Education office.
Ms. Verma's office designed the program to "scaffold," so that each year's experiences can be built upon the previous ones, culminating with apprenticeships and internships at junior and senior years. Freshmen community experiences include increasing awareness, mentoring, site visits, and guest speakers. Next year, sophomores at all the schools will start project-based lessons and service learning. Both the corporate and the university partnerships are important components of the programs, with the hope of creating long-term mentoring relationships between students and corporate employee-volunteers. Cisco employees, for example, are building electronic sailboats with Clark students, while IBM employees offer weekly mentoring to Goode freshmen.
At the end of the meeting, after both speakers had completed their presentations, we spoke briefly as a group about school actions. Our moderator shared that members of the CACs in Humboldt Park and Bronzeville are meeting with individual Board of Education members to lobby their causes as part of the BoE's due-diligence process before the May meeting.
The procurement process addled my brain a bit, but I think the gist of our speaker's talk was that CPS procurement has revised its vendor process to include better pricing, create a "marketplace" of vendor pricing, revise the RFP/bid process, and expand the scope of work covered by CPS's purchasing agreements. For schools and school-based organizations, talk to your school's business manager to learn more about leveraging the District's purchasing power.
The bulk of our meeting was spent listening to Veenu Verma, director of Early College and Career Education, of the CPS Office of Pathways to College and Career. Ms. Verma was there to go over the CPS's STEM high school program with us. I have to say that it's such a treat to meet CPS leaders in this format. I've yet to meet a visitor to our meetings who is at all hostile to our group. It might be a function of both sides coming to the meeting with generally positive attitudes and open minds.
As we know, CPS tends to have a lot of new initiatives that don't always make the cut from year to year. I'm hopeful that is not the case with the early college STEM schools, with their gradual enrollment strategy. Ms. Verma told us that the STEM schools were based on a model in NY that combines a partnership with CUNY and IBM. She also spoke a bit about the development process for the initiative, which involved speaking with employers and technical companies about the kinds of skills they need, whether technical or soft in nature.
There are five STEM high schools in CPS under this initiative. There is one in each high school network, and each has a neighborhood boundary, corporate partner, and college/university partner. The schools are Lakeview, Sarah Goode, Corliss, Clark, and CVCA. The Lakeview and CVCA programs are tracks within the schools rather than wall-to-wall STEM programs. Lakeview's corporate partner is Microsoft and it's university-level partner is DePaul. Goode's partners are IBM and Daley City College. Corliss's are Verizon and Olive Harvey. Clark's are Cisco and Malcolm X. And CVCA's are Motorola and also Olive Harvey. Clark is currently a magnet school as well, but Ms. Verma expects that to change in the next admission cycle.
She shared that the STEM schools were designed to offer up to a 6-year course of study, potentially bridging high school with the first two years of college. In the ideal case, the most motivated STEM students can earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree within four years. However, some students may end up with only a high school diploma and others may gain some college credit or certifications. Students who achieve City College-ready scores of 21 on the ACT by their junior years will be on track to take college-level courses in one of two ways:
She noted that dual-enrollment classes are eligible for IAI-transferrable credits, which allow them to "count" at any Illinois community college or state university. She also said that each college uses a different approach in evaluating high school transfer credits, such as AP, IB, etc., which has made it difficult to codify the process at the high school level.
STEM students are also eligible to take certifications in three main areas: database and cloud management; network engineering and security; and web development and programming. Of interest is that "pre-engineering" high schools are managed out of the Career and Technical Education office.
Ms. Verma's office designed the program to "scaffold," so that each year's experiences can be built upon the previous ones, culminating with apprenticeships and internships at junior and senior years. Freshmen community experiences include increasing awareness, mentoring, site visits, and guest speakers. Next year, sophomores at all the schools will start project-based lessons and service learning. Both the corporate and the university partnerships are important components of the programs, with the hope of creating long-term mentoring relationships between students and corporate employee-volunteers. Cisco employees, for example, are building electronic sailboats with Clark students, while IBM employees offer weekly mentoring to Goode freshmen.
At the end of the meeting, after both speakers had completed their presentations, we spoke briefly as a group about school actions. Our moderator shared that members of the CACs in Humboldt Park and Bronzeville are meeting with individual Board of Education members to lobby their causes as part of the BoE's due-diligence process before the May meeting.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Mind in Motion
CPS has so many new initiatives, I'm not sure how central office keeps track of them all. But the good news is that the powers that be often present them to the PTA Advisory Council, of which I am a member.
For our March meeting, we met with two departments within CPS. First up was Abby Rose, who presented and sought feedback with a focus group (us) for the Office of Student Health & Wellness's Minds in Motion program. The idea, she said, was to develop a strategic plan for physical education in the District. The focus group is the first step in the process of developing the plan. The other steps are (2) researching best practices from foundation work and analyzing other large districts' PE practices; (3) drafting the plan; (4) reconvening focus groups with stakeholders to ensure that the draft plan meets their objectives; and developing a steering committee for the draft plan; and (5) bringing the plan to the Board of Education to adopt as a policy.
Ms. Rose began by asking each of us what our favorite childhood memory of PE is/was. Many of us talked about the presidential challenges of so many sit-ups, lap times, etc. (Mine was square dancing.) She then introduced herself as a former teacher and 8-year veteran teacher of PE in CPS. Finally, she led is through some brainstorming exercises for PE in CPS. She asked us what the ideal PE class or curriculum looks like, what makes good PE teaching, what resources PE teachers need to do their jobs effectively, and how PE should be graded. Finally, we created a snapshot of what our group's policy ideal would look like:
- dedicated PE teacher
- funding for position and program
- training and professional development resources for program
- PE class of 30-45 minutes every day for every child
- PE teacher is enthusiastic and motivated
Ms. Rose is running another parent focus group through the Parents United for Healthy Schools Campaign. If you'd like more information on the focus group, have questions, or would like to add your input to the development of the plan, please email the Mind in Motion group at studentwellness@cps.edu
------
Next, we heard from Alex Soble and Mary Naset, who represent what they called "Team Digital" at CPS. They manage the social media aspects of CPS online presence, primarily through Facebook and Twitter. Mr. Soble, who seemed very young, described CPS social media as a three-layer cake, with layers for central office, individual schools, and within classrooms. (The Girl's 2nd grade class just started a blog, so this is a timely topic!)
First up, he said that his group uses social media to communicate to parents, citing the young age and accompanying tech-savviness of many CPS parents. His methodology for posting to Twitter or Facebook is to post things that (1) are informational for parents; (2) spark positive conversations; or (3) are relevant to LSC matters. He and Ms. Naset addressed my criticism of the slowness of Facebook posts with news by saying that Facebook isn't really the medium for fast-breaking news. However, if you want to receive Twitter alerts via text, you can send 40404#Chipubschools from your phone. He also said that his group uses analytics to track and improve info-spread of link shares, etc.
Next, he shared that his group did a few presentations to principal groups about the group's new guide for social media for schools. It's available at http://cps.edu/socialmediatoolkit if you want to check it out for yourself or your school. We briefly discussed how CPS school sites don't allow access to Facebook from them, although they do allow access to cps.edu and Twitter, where all information is also posted. There was a Twitter feed on the socialmediatoolkit page when I checked it from my iPhone during the meeting.
We spent the rest of the meeting talking about how to improve CPS.edu and general internet issues at schools. Our PTA moderator asked Mr. Soble to address the general cruddiness of Internet connections at some schools, which make checking anything or using any applications in the classroom near impossible for many schools, like her daughter's school (Lenart).
For our March meeting, we met with two departments within CPS. First up was Abby Rose, who presented and sought feedback with a focus group (us) for the Office of Student Health & Wellness's Minds in Motion program. The idea, she said, was to develop a strategic plan for physical education in the District. The focus group is the first step in the process of developing the plan. The other steps are (2) researching best practices from foundation work and analyzing other large districts' PE practices; (3) drafting the plan; (4) reconvening focus groups with stakeholders to ensure that the draft plan meets their objectives; and developing a steering committee for the draft plan; and (5) bringing the plan to the Board of Education to adopt as a policy.
Ms. Rose began by asking each of us what our favorite childhood memory of PE is/was. Many of us talked about the presidential challenges of so many sit-ups, lap times, etc. (Mine was square dancing.) She then introduced herself as a former teacher and 8-year veteran teacher of PE in CPS. Finally, she led is through some brainstorming exercises for PE in CPS. She asked us what the ideal PE class or curriculum looks like, what makes good PE teaching, what resources PE teachers need to do their jobs effectively, and how PE should be graded. Finally, we created a snapshot of what our group's policy ideal would look like:
- dedicated PE teacher
- funding for position and program
- training and professional development resources for program
- PE class of 30-45 minutes every day for every child
- PE teacher is enthusiastic and motivated
Ms. Rose is running another parent focus group through the Parents United for Healthy Schools Campaign. If you'd like more information on the focus group, have questions, or would like to add your input to the development of the plan, please email the Mind in Motion group at studentwellness@cps.edu
------
Next, we heard from Alex Soble and Mary Naset, who represent what they called "Team Digital" at CPS. They manage the social media aspects of CPS online presence, primarily through Facebook and Twitter. Mr. Soble, who seemed very young, described CPS social media as a three-layer cake, with layers for central office, individual schools, and within classrooms. (The Girl's 2nd grade class just started a blog, so this is a timely topic!)
First up, he said that his group uses social media to communicate to parents, citing the young age and accompanying tech-savviness of many CPS parents. His methodology for posting to Twitter or Facebook is to post things that (1) are informational for parents; (2) spark positive conversations; or (3) are relevant to LSC matters. He and Ms. Naset addressed my criticism of the slowness of Facebook posts with news by saying that Facebook isn't really the medium for fast-breaking news. However, if you want to receive Twitter alerts via text, you can send 40404#Chipubschools from your phone. He also said that his group uses analytics to track and improve info-spread of link shares, etc.
Next, he shared that his group did a few presentations to principal groups about the group's new guide for social media for schools. It's available at http://cps.edu/socialmediatoolkit if you want to check it out for yourself or your school. We briefly discussed how CPS school sites don't allow access to Facebook from them, although they do allow access to cps.edu and Twitter, where all information is also posted. There was a Twitter feed on the socialmediatoolkit page when I checked it from my iPhone during the meeting.
We spent the rest of the meeting talking about how to improve CPS.edu and general internet issues at schools. Our PTA moderator asked Mr. Soble to address the general cruddiness of Internet connections at some schools, which make checking anything or using any applications in the classroom near impossible for many schools, like her daughter's school (Lenart).
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Early Childhood
I've written in the past about PFA and the impact of Illinois's weak budget on its future. Thankfully, my children are out of the preschool age so CPS preschool options no longer concern me personally. However, I feel like CPS preschool remains one of the great unknowns (to parents) about CPS and, having spent four years as a PFA parent, the logistics of the program are interesting to me.
PFA began in 2006 with then-governor Rod Blagojevich. According to documents available at the time, PFA built on existing state PK and Head Start programs to bring "voluntary, high-quality preschool" to all preschool-aged Illinois children. At the time, it brought Illinois to the forefront of educational policy-setting. Blagojevich was really championing a cause put together into a platform in 2003 by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Action for Children, and Voices for Illinois Children.
I do not have any experience with Action for Children or Voices for Illinois Children, but I have been impressed by the work coming out of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, and still remember the stats shared by Harriet Meyer during a TribNation event on Education in September 2010.
For my family, PFA has fulfilled the ideals outlined in the PFA FAQ: readiness for K, affordability, and exposure to children from different backgrounds. And so it's interesting how much the program has changed from the ideal espoused at its inception.
In January, at the PTA Advisory Council meeting, one of our speakers was Adrienne Stewart, with the CPS Office of Early Childhood Education. She shared that she's in a new position for the OECE, one of community engagement, ensuring that the PK voice is not silenced. Ms. Stewart has been a teacher, curriculum lead, and citywide manager for Head Start before landing in her current role. The OECE runs a few kinds of early childhood education programs, which are explained here on the CPS website.
Ms. Stewart explained that the Ready to Learn program is Mayor Emanuel's attempt to distribute funds from the ISBE's PFA funding to organizations and agencies outside CPS schools. Now that I'm writing it, I wonder if the RTL application should have been our first sign that CPS was going to close out more buildings that house PFA classrooms?
During her talk, I asked Ms. Stewart to explain both funding and admissions for CPS preschools, as these areas are particularly nebulous for parents. She said that PFA is a state-funded program that began with a block grant in 2003. At the time, she said, the state actually had more money than it knew what to do with and decided to invest it in opening PFA up to all students--not only those who are at-risk for disability, income, language, or other areas. PFA has/had a requirement that the program serve children of families "at-risk." Ms. Stewart said that for many communities, at-need and at-risk families overlap. Community Partnership Programs (CPP) are funded out of the PFA budget.
TBPK, she said, came out of Arne Duncan's desire to retain families within Chicago. He analyzed why families were leaving the city. And he wanted to give families who wanted to stay in Chicago and wanted preschool an option. It also had the effect of giving some families an easy entree into desirable CPS elementary schools, and introducing others into the idea that CPS could be made viable for their families, as CPSObsessed recently wrote.
Head Start is a federally funded program with age and income eligibility requirements. Similarly, Child-Parent Centers are funded from Title I, and are available to children age 3-5 years. Ms. Stewart noted that one of the initiatives that her office is considering is merging PFA and Head Start within some schools to accommodate different needs and funding sources.
In terms of admissions, Ms. Stewart clarified that there are no attendance boundaries for early childhood programs. We ran out of time before she answered when the application date closes for PFA admissions. She did say that CPS is expected to announce which programs will be certified under the RTL initiative by the end of March.
Finally, in terms of academics, she noted a plan to develop a framework for preschool curriculum across OECE locations.
PFA began in 2006 with then-governor Rod Blagojevich. According to documents available at the time, PFA built on existing state PK and Head Start programs to bring "voluntary, high-quality preschool" to all preschool-aged Illinois children. At the time, it brought Illinois to the forefront of educational policy-setting. Blagojevich was really championing a cause put together into a platform in 2003 by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Action for Children, and Voices for Illinois Children.
I do not have any experience with Action for Children or Voices for Illinois Children, but I have been impressed by the work coming out of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, and still remember the stats shared by Harriet Meyer during a TribNation event on Education in September 2010.
For my family, PFA has fulfilled the ideals outlined in the PFA FAQ: readiness for K, affordability, and exposure to children from different backgrounds. And so it's interesting how much the program has changed from the ideal espoused at its inception.
In January, at the PTA Advisory Council meeting, one of our speakers was Adrienne Stewart, with the CPS Office of Early Childhood Education. She shared that she's in a new position for the OECE, one of community engagement, ensuring that the PK voice is not silenced. Ms. Stewart has been a teacher, curriculum lead, and citywide manager for Head Start before landing in her current role. The OECE runs a few kinds of early childhood education programs, which are explained here on the CPS website.
Ms. Stewart explained that the Ready to Learn program is Mayor Emanuel's attempt to distribute funds from the ISBE's PFA funding to organizations and agencies outside CPS schools. Now that I'm writing it, I wonder if the RTL application should have been our first sign that CPS was going to close out more buildings that house PFA classrooms?
During her talk, I asked Ms. Stewart to explain both funding and admissions for CPS preschools, as these areas are particularly nebulous for parents. She said that PFA is a state-funded program that began with a block grant in 2003. At the time, she said, the state actually had more money than it knew what to do with and decided to invest it in opening PFA up to all students--not only those who are at-risk for disability, income, language, or other areas. PFA has/had a requirement that the program serve children of families "at-risk." Ms. Stewart said that for many communities, at-need and at-risk families overlap. Community Partnership Programs (CPP) are funded out of the PFA budget.
TBPK, she said, came out of Arne Duncan's desire to retain families within Chicago. He analyzed why families were leaving the city. And he wanted to give families who wanted to stay in Chicago and wanted preschool an option. It also had the effect of giving some families an easy entree into desirable CPS elementary schools, and introducing others into the idea that CPS could be made viable for their families, as CPSObsessed recently wrote.
Head Start is a federally funded program with age and income eligibility requirements. Similarly, Child-Parent Centers are funded from Title I, and are available to children age 3-5 years. Ms. Stewart noted that one of the initiatives that her office is considering is merging PFA and Head Start within some schools to accommodate different needs and funding sources.
In terms of admissions, Ms. Stewart clarified that there are no attendance boundaries for early childhood programs. We ran out of time before she answered when the application date closes for PFA admissions. She did say that CPS is expected to announce which programs will be certified under the RTL initiative by the end of March.
Finally, in terms of academics, she noted a plan to develop a framework for preschool curriculum across OECE locations.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Utilization in the O'Hare Network
As I wrote earlier, I attended the second round utilization meeting in the O'Hare network yesterday. There were a lot more people in the audience on this round, although Wright College's Events Auditorium was not completely full. A panel of six sat at a table on the stage in this round, giving some weight to the idea that people were listening. A stenographer and camera person also recorded the proceedings.
Anna Alvarado, O'Hare network chief, began the meeting by introducing the panel on the stage: Craig Benes (Ravenswood Ridge network chief), Leslie Boozer (North-Northwest high school collaborative network chief), Grace Rapp (Office of Facilities), Patrick Payne (Transition office), and Shane Smith (O'Hare deputy chief). She also identified other CPS personnel by name: Luis Garcia of Office of LSC Relations, MahRukh Mian of FACE in O'Hare, and John Arena, alderman for the 45th ward. In addition, she identified 38th ward alderman Tim Cullerton and 41st ward alderman Mary O'Connor, both of whom addressed the panel.
Tim Cullerton mentioned a few schools in his ward by name--Portage Park, Smyser, Reinberg, Belding--noting that they are vastly overcrowded and asking the panel what CPS plans are pending to address overcrowding and school maintenance. He also asked for clarification on tier system boundaries. And concluded by saying that his ward gave CPS almost nine acres of space by Wright College nine years ago and the District has done nothing to develop the land.
Mary O'Connor read a prepared statement about the similarities (good) among the 12 schools in her ward and the similarities (bad) among them. School communities are frustrated with space utilization and unfair minimum funding.
Mr. Payne then reviewed the format for the meeting, in which every school gets a fair chance to air their comments for six minutes. He offered to answer questions about District policies informally after the meeting. Each school was invited to come on stage to use a podium to address the crowd and the panel.
Wildwood spoke next. As its principal and several parents approached the stage, the entire right side of the auditorium stood in solidarity, holding colorful Ws on sticks. Mary Beth Cunat, the principal, spoke about how the school has been short on classrooms every year since she became principal. Students have class on the stage, in the hallways, and in rooms with 36 other students. They have been looking earnestly for rental space for several years, but there isn't any. She asked CPS to start the planning and design process this year so that when the District gets its funding, Wildwood is "shovel-ready."
Wildwood's AP also spoke, sharing that her daughter graduated from the school in 1999, and even then there were 37 kids in a classroom. She said that the school complies so well with the IB program, and function at an even higher level if they could improve the physical space. A parent also spoke briefly before the clock ran out, saying that when he daughter started K, there were 39 kids in her class. When her son started K several years later, he had 51 kids in his class. She asked CPS to be strategic in solving its problems, rather than ignoring timing and solving them piecemeal.
Belding spoke next, sharing a similar story of overcrowding and limited resources, and asking the District to alleviate these at the elementary level rather than adding high school seats. Scott Merrill, a National Board-certified teacher at Belding, said his school is 38 percent overcrowded, and needs CPS to help alleviate the issue. Scott Olsen, a 19-year CPS teacher whose children attend Belding, said that all of the schools around Belding are overcrowded save two--Aspira Haugan and TMMS. He proposed that the District convert one of these buildings to another elementary school and redraw the attendance boundaries for controlled enrollment at Belding, which, he said, has already lost a teacher lounge, closets, and basement storage space. The school's four PK classrooms are run at a satellite storefront facility. Belding's LSC chair spoke next, saying quite clearly that she doesn't think our area needs high schools and the District should focus its resources on adding more elementary buildings within the O'Hare network. [Where does she think those elementary students are going to go in a few years?]
The LSC chair from Steinmetz high school followed, stating that he had just three questions for CPS. Unfortunately, he spent so much time complaining about how no one from various network and central offices responded to him that I couldn't quite understand what all of his questions were. One was whether Steinmetz would become a receiving school and if so, if it would become overcrowded from all the surrounding schools closing. The other question that I understood concerned an ADA grant that Steinmetz had received--where was the money, how would it be spent, when would it be spent, etc.?
A 5th grade teacher from Oriole Park spoke next, saying directly that the District is asking too much of students, teachers, and parents. It's too much for 35 individual learners. Co-teachers work at Oriole Park, but cannot cover all the minutes required in the day. SpEd students are in the hallways. The teacher also gave voice to a sentiment commonly expressed since the release of the list on 2/13: why is the District considering closing schools that were turned around just last year??
Murphy followed, with 23 supporters on the stage, asking to be a part of decision-making concerning TMMS, and proposing that the District uses the TMMS space for a Murphy high school. More about that in my previous post. [Someone send them the link for the new schools and replications RFQ when it's posted next July.]
Dever's principal spoke next, declaring, "Everyone needs personal space. Our kids don't have any." She added that this lack of personal space can create, escalate, and exacerbate tensions among students that probably wouldn't be there if people had more space.
Ebinger's principal said she was almost embarrassed by how easy her school has it, comparatively speaking. But, she said, she'd like to see better equity in funding and management across the District. Her school has SmartBoards and iPads, funded almost completely through parent fundraising and support. But they can't use this technology because Ebinger lacks network capacity. She also noted a safety concern of having children move between the school's building and its mobile units, and learning concerns in buildings without air conditioning.
A parent who lives in the Scammon attendance boundary, but whose daughter does not attend the school spoke about Scammon's overcrowding. Mobile units, she said, are not a school, expressing frustration with the District's policy of school utilization in the O'Hare network. Seven of the 11 schools within a 1.5-mile radius from her house, she said, are overcrowded. "We need more [elementary] schools."
Hitch brought about 10 people onto the stage, making several salient points about overcrowding in schools. Principal Debbie Reese said, "Until prisons don't have to offer lunchrooms and libraries, our school's shouldn't have to" do without them. Michelle Tregeaux from the LSC asked, "Why do bars have maximum capacity codes, but schools do not?"
The last O'Hare network school to speak was Dirksen. Principal Dan Lucas thanked the aldermen and the network chief and her deputy for hosting the event, and said that he has been to many of the previous schools and can testify that they are not exaggerating about their facilities and space issues. Dirksen also has space issues, with a number of demountable buildings that are 30 years out of date. The building engineers are called regularly to pry open the doors on these units so kids can change classes. The longer school day has exacerbated Dirksen's lack of a playground. The closest park with a playground is over two miles away. The school was constructed to hold 500 students, but currently has 800. It takes two hours to move 740 students through lunch. No art room, three prep teachers (of six) have to teach from a cart.
Two parents from a school in the Fullerton network, Mary Lyons, then spoke. Anna Riviera, PAC chair, asked CPS what happened to the school's drawn attendance boundaries? She noted that living the problem is a far different story than hearing about it. Where are the actions? Where are the funds? The other parent said that she and Anna were there to be part of the solution, but that their school has no playground or security and there is sometimes trouble.
Helen Ramirez, a retired neighborhood resident, came to the podium to speak in support of public schools. She expressed her fear that the city will solve its overcrowding through charter schools, which she doesn't support. "I believe in public education," she said.
At this point in the meeting, Patrick Payne opened the mic up to individuals who wished to speak, giving each speaker a two-minute limit. Nine people were able to take advantage, mostly from school listed above, but a few new voices were added to the mix:
(1) Andrew Thomas whose children went to Gray Elementary, spoke of need to get buy in and participation on strategic planning, and how he'd like to see more forums for parents.
(2) Danny Yaniver from Taft H.S. said he had 1400 students at Taft in 1993 and 1300+ now with District plans to grow the school even further through IB program
(3) Dave Ralston, a graduate of Roosevelt H.S. and current grandparent, said CPS cannot split monies off to charter schools
(4) Jim Secora from Smyser LSC spoke about how it needs more space and asked CPS to put mobile units in Smyser's parking lot. The longer school day is making overcrowding worse.
(5) Barbara Reardon from Palmer Elementary told CPS simply, "We need more people."
Anna Alvarado, O'Hare network chief, began the meeting by introducing the panel on the stage: Craig Benes (Ravenswood Ridge network chief), Leslie Boozer (North-Northwest high school collaborative network chief), Grace Rapp (Office of Facilities), Patrick Payne (Transition office), and Shane Smith (O'Hare deputy chief). She also identified other CPS personnel by name: Luis Garcia of Office of LSC Relations, MahRukh Mian of FACE in O'Hare, and John Arena, alderman for the 45th ward. In addition, she identified 38th ward alderman Tim Cullerton and 41st ward alderman Mary O'Connor, both of whom addressed the panel.
Tim Cullerton mentioned a few schools in his ward by name--Portage Park, Smyser, Reinberg, Belding--noting that they are vastly overcrowded and asking the panel what CPS plans are pending to address overcrowding and school maintenance. He also asked for clarification on tier system boundaries. And concluded by saying that his ward gave CPS almost nine acres of space by Wright College nine years ago and the District has done nothing to develop the land.
Mary O'Connor read a prepared statement about the similarities (good) among the 12 schools in her ward and the similarities (bad) among them. School communities are frustrated with space utilization and unfair minimum funding.
Mr. Payne then reviewed the format for the meeting, in which every school gets a fair chance to air their comments for six minutes. He offered to answer questions about District policies informally after the meeting. Each school was invited to come on stage to use a podium to address the crowd and the panel.
Wildwood spoke next. As its principal and several parents approached the stage, the entire right side of the auditorium stood in solidarity, holding colorful Ws on sticks. Mary Beth Cunat, the principal, spoke about how the school has been short on classrooms every year since she became principal. Students have class on the stage, in the hallways, and in rooms with 36 other students. They have been looking earnestly for rental space for several years, but there isn't any. She asked CPS to start the planning and design process this year so that when the District gets its funding, Wildwood is "shovel-ready."
Wildwood's AP also spoke, sharing that her daughter graduated from the school in 1999, and even then there were 37 kids in a classroom. She said that the school complies so well with the IB program, and function at an even higher level if they could improve the physical space. A parent also spoke briefly before the clock ran out, saying that when he daughter started K, there were 39 kids in her class. When her son started K several years later, he had 51 kids in his class. She asked CPS to be strategic in solving its problems, rather than ignoring timing and solving them piecemeal.
Belding spoke next, sharing a similar story of overcrowding and limited resources, and asking the District to alleviate these at the elementary level rather than adding high school seats. Scott Merrill, a National Board-certified teacher at Belding, said his school is 38 percent overcrowded, and needs CPS to help alleviate the issue. Scott Olsen, a 19-year CPS teacher whose children attend Belding, said that all of the schools around Belding are overcrowded save two--Aspira Haugan and TMMS. He proposed that the District convert one of these buildings to another elementary school and redraw the attendance boundaries for controlled enrollment at Belding, which, he said, has already lost a teacher lounge, closets, and basement storage space. The school's four PK classrooms are run at a satellite storefront facility. Belding's LSC chair spoke next, saying quite clearly that she doesn't think our area needs high schools and the District should focus its resources on adding more elementary buildings within the O'Hare network. [Where does she think those elementary students are going to go in a few years?]
The LSC chair from Steinmetz high school followed, stating that he had just three questions for CPS. Unfortunately, he spent so much time complaining about how no one from various network and central offices responded to him that I couldn't quite understand what all of his questions were. One was whether Steinmetz would become a receiving school and if so, if it would become overcrowded from all the surrounding schools closing. The other question that I understood concerned an ADA grant that Steinmetz had received--where was the money, how would it be spent, when would it be spent, etc.?
A 5th grade teacher from Oriole Park spoke next, saying directly that the District is asking too much of students, teachers, and parents. It's too much for 35 individual learners. Co-teachers work at Oriole Park, but cannot cover all the minutes required in the day. SpEd students are in the hallways. The teacher also gave voice to a sentiment commonly expressed since the release of the list on 2/13: why is the District considering closing schools that were turned around just last year??
Murphy followed, with 23 supporters on the stage, asking to be a part of decision-making concerning TMMS, and proposing that the District uses the TMMS space for a Murphy high school. More about that in my previous post. [Someone send them the link for the new schools and replications RFQ when it's posted next July.]
Dever's principal spoke next, declaring, "Everyone needs personal space. Our kids don't have any." She added that this lack of personal space can create, escalate, and exacerbate tensions among students that probably wouldn't be there if people had more space.
Ebinger's principal said she was almost embarrassed by how easy her school has it, comparatively speaking. But, she said, she'd like to see better equity in funding and management across the District. Her school has SmartBoards and iPads, funded almost completely through parent fundraising and support. But they can't use this technology because Ebinger lacks network capacity. She also noted a safety concern of having children move between the school's building and its mobile units, and learning concerns in buildings without air conditioning.
A parent who lives in the Scammon attendance boundary, but whose daughter does not attend the school spoke about Scammon's overcrowding. Mobile units, she said, are not a school, expressing frustration with the District's policy of school utilization in the O'Hare network. Seven of the 11 schools within a 1.5-mile radius from her house, she said, are overcrowded. "We need more [elementary] schools."
Hitch brought about 10 people onto the stage, making several salient points about overcrowding in schools. Principal Debbie Reese said, "Until prisons don't have to offer lunchrooms and libraries, our school's shouldn't have to" do without them. Michelle Tregeaux from the LSC asked, "Why do bars have maximum capacity codes, but schools do not?"
The last O'Hare network school to speak was Dirksen. Principal Dan Lucas thanked the aldermen and the network chief and her deputy for hosting the event, and said that he has been to many of the previous schools and can testify that they are not exaggerating about their facilities and space issues. Dirksen also has space issues, with a number of demountable buildings that are 30 years out of date. The building engineers are called regularly to pry open the doors on these units so kids can change classes. The longer school day has exacerbated Dirksen's lack of a playground. The closest park with a playground is over two miles away. The school was constructed to hold 500 students, but currently has 800. It takes two hours to move 740 students through lunch. No art room, three prep teachers (of six) have to teach from a cart.
Two parents from a school in the Fullerton network, Mary Lyons, then spoke. Anna Riviera, PAC chair, asked CPS what happened to the school's drawn attendance boundaries? She noted that living the problem is a far different story than hearing about it. Where are the actions? Where are the funds? The other parent said that she and Anna were there to be part of the solution, but that their school has no playground or security and there is sometimes trouble.
Helen Ramirez, a retired neighborhood resident, came to the podium to speak in support of public schools. She expressed her fear that the city will solve its overcrowding through charter schools, which she doesn't support. "I believe in public education," she said.
At this point in the meeting, Patrick Payne opened the mic up to individuals who wished to speak, giving each speaker a two-minute limit. Nine people were able to take advantage, mostly from school listed above, but a few new voices were added to the mix:
(1) Andrew Thomas whose children went to Gray Elementary, spoke of need to get buy in and participation on strategic planning, and how he'd like to see more forums for parents.
(2) Danny Yaniver from Taft H.S. said he had 1400 students at Taft in 1993 and 1300+ now with District plans to grow the school even further through IB program
(3) Dave Ralston, a graduate of Roosevelt H.S. and current grandparent, said CPS cannot split monies off to charter schools
(4) Jim Secora from Smyser LSC spoke about how it needs more space and asked CPS to put mobile units in Smyser's parking lot. The longer school day is making overcrowding worse.
(5) Barbara Reardon from Palmer Elementary told CPS simply, "We need more people."
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