Mayor Daley has politicized his Renaissance 2010 program and charter schools as his saving grace for the Chicago Public School system, but looking at recent reports, it’s only fledgling operation. On state performance reports that are measured by the Prairie State Achievement test scores, charter schools are only barely surpassing traditional schools. In addition, charter schools have been running with budget deficits and have the highest teacher turnover, according to a recent analysis by Catalyst Chicago. more ›

Teachers who work at the campuses of ASPIRA schools in Chicago have begun organizing a union, asking principals at their schools to recognize the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS). More than two-thirds of the nearly 100 teachers at the four schools have signed union cards, significantly more than are required by law to form a union. “Our action sends a strong and clear message to ASPIRA that we believe forming our union will lead to greater collaboration and better results for our students,” said Alexa Sorock in a statement to the media. Sorock is a humanities teacher and department head at ASPIRA Early College High School and a Chicago ACTS member. “We expect ASPIRA will recognize our union so we can begin collective bargaining.” more ›

At their meeting yesterday, their first since the death of board president Michael Scott, the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education moved forward with business, approving five new charter schools that will open across the next two school years. CPS had originally proposed six but withdrew one: the Chicago International Charter School. more ›

Frustrated by an increased workload, a lack of say in how their schools were run and a desire to have a bigger say in the quality of education available to students, a group of charter school teachers took the steps that would have made the schools the first unionized charter schools in the state early last month. 91 of the school's teachers signed union cards and turned them into the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, (IELRB) which certified the teachers' union. Under state law, an "educational employer shall voluntarily recognize a labor organization for purposes of collective bargaining if the organization appears to represent a majority of employees in the unit." Which means that if a majority of educational employees (such as teachers) sign union cards, the school must recognize their union. more ›