U.S. Education Secretary (and former CPS head) Arne Duncan blew back into town this week with some interesting comments on the issues looming in the showdown between the teachers union and City. more ›

When it rains in Chicago Public Schools land, it definitely pours: Interim Chicago Public Schools CEO Terry Mazany recently stated that the estimated deficit for CPS for the next school year is an extravagant $720 million, which is $20 million more than what the projected deficit was this past November. How does Mazany propose to control the deficit? Well, by going to teachers and their paychecks, for starters:

Mazany called for "shared sacrifice," including from teachers. Their pay raises will cost $80 million but, Mazany said, any successor to him appointed after Rahm Emanuel is seated as mayor May 16 will have to decide whether to try to re-negotiate the teachers' contract to trim that tab.

Joe Somar changed the way we watched The People's Court forever. Some foreign product called "movember" was even imported. One thing that hasn't changed: good-hearted guys are still getting together and letting their upper lip go wild in order to raise money for a good cause. more ›

Parents in the Pilsen neighborhood have ended a stand-off with Chicago Public School officials that saw a 40 day sit-in at a fieldhouse that was condemned to be demolished. CPS officials originally intended to demolish the fieldhouse and replace it with a soccer field that nearby Cristo Rey Jesuit high school would use. more ›

The Chicago Public School System and the parents who've been protesting the proposed razing of the Whittier Elementary School fieldhouse in Pilsen have agreed in principle to a deal that could end the sit-in. more ›

Chicago-born Savage Love columnist and author Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller have a message for all the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth out there, via a new YouTube video campaign: Whatever you're experiencing now, be it family rejection, bullying and harassment in schools or even thoughts of suicide, it gets better. more ›

The State of Illinois is one of 16 finalists for $500 million in education funding. The money, per the Tribune, is meant "to transform how teachers are evaluated, students are tested and failing schools are fixed," is part of $4.35 billion being dispersed via the U.S. Department of Education's "Raced to the Top" fund. This is the first round of funding to go out. Besides Illinois, the other finalists are: Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Winners will be announced in April and another round of funding will get underway this summer. With former CPS chief Arne Duncan behind the whole thing, we like our chances of coming away with some cash. But we can't help but remain skeptical of the high likelihood little of the money will actually be successfully put to any real use. more ›

In the wake of a Tribune investigation into the apparent misuse of city-issued credit cards by high-ranking officials in the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor Daley says that he wants to wait to see what the report that Schools Inspector General James Sullivan will issue says. "The report has not come out as yet, but we'll be sitting down with that," Daley told the Tribune. "The independent inspector general is supposed to issue a report as well, and we'll respond appropriately. Like anything else, you want to protect taxpayers' money at all times." more ›

With a massive budget deficit looming, property taxes on the rise, and the mayor talking about more furloughs and service cuts, the Chicago Public Schools have still found over $150,000 to hire a city hall insider to handle "forging partnerships with the business community to support school programs," the Sun-Times is reporting. Better yet, the hire is Barbara Lumpkin, who has served as Daley's city comptroller, budget director and city treasurer, and who was involved in several city hall scandals during her previous tenure. more ›

For all the debate over President Obama's speech to schools tomorrow, the speech itself - at least in its current form - is a pretty straight-forward pep talk. Based on an advanced copy of the speech released to the media, it seems more like the standard "Stay in School" speech, underscoring students' responsibilities and, as written, could easily have come out of the mouth of any number of Presidents regardless of political party affiliation. more ›

After announcing that he's holding the line on property tax hikes and giving Chicagoans an "abatement" by raising the property tax below the full amount allowed, Mayor Daley expounded on the fundamental unfairness of excluding city teachers from the state pensions system. “We pay a double-tax. The pension is picked up by state government for all teachers outside Chicago. As a taxpayer in Chicago, you pay a tax there. Then, you pay another tax because the state excludes Chicago teachers. So, you’re paying two pension taxes: one for the state and one for the city,” Daley said Wednesday. “We’re the only, only local government doing that in the whole state. That puts a huge burden upon the school system. ... You’re paying two taxes. This is really unfair and we have to do something about it immediately.” more ›

Chicago Public School officials are proposing raising property taxes. But instead of referring to the hike as an increase, Mayor Daley is calling it an "abatement." But rather than increasing the tax by the maximum allowable rater - 4.1 percent - the rate would be increased by about 1.5 percent, garnering $43 million, instead of "$83 or $100 million." Although the mayor had a lot to say about the tax hike and his proposals to cut pay in the schools, as well as his demands that federal employees take Chicago-style furlough days, he refused to discuss the $900 million projected deficit in the public schools 2010 budget. more ›

By a vote of 33-23, the Illinois State Senate approved a bill that would give schools more control over how to handle students with criminal records. The bill would allow schools to place such students in alternative schools. State Sen. Randy Hultgren, the bill's sponsor, said, "They realize that it is something that school districts aren't going to use lightly, because it is serious. But a forcible felony is serious, too." The impetus for the case is an incident at a Naperville Unit District 204 school where two boys allegedly sexually assaulted a third. When the victims' parents asked that the alleged attackers - who have been charged with felony criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault - be moved to a different school, the school said it was out of their control. While this bill moves onto the state House, a similar bill, introduced State Rep. Darlene Senger, has already been introduced to the House but is under review. [Daily Herald] more ›

CPS unveiled a pilot program today that would give freshman and sophomores at 20 schools a cash incentive to earn good grades: As are worth $50, Bs $35, and Cs $20. Students are graded every five weeks in math, English, social sciences, science and physical education, and they get half the money up front and half upon graduation. Wait, you can get $20 for getting a C in gym? more ›

State Senator Reverend Jame Meeks's controversial school boycott is underway today, with should-be CPS students bussed to New Trier Township High School and Sunset Ridge School. Protest organizers were hoping to have 3,000 students participate in the boycott, intended to highlight the funding disparities between CPS students and their wealthy suburban counterparts. According to WBBM, the actual turnout is more in the hundreds than the thousands. more ›

Citing the poor economy, Daley announced yesterday that the city wouldn't raise property taxes to fund education, in spite of his threats to the contrary. "Does this plan mean that we are able to expand all the programs we'd like to next year? No. Like every student and parent, I had hoped we'd be able to do more next year," Daley said. "But Chicago taxpayers have been generous and supported our school improvements, and they deserve a break." more ›

With tensions running high downstate over passage of the state budget and capital spending bills, Mayor Daley and schools chief Arne Duncan chimed in Tuesday, warning that a "lack of trust" in Springfield could endanger the quality of life in Chicago. "It's like the Hatfields and McCoys down there, unfortunately. Lack of trust," said the mayor. "I hope they can get around that." Daley and Duncan are hoping the state comes through with an additional $180 million to expand kindergarten, evening classes and foreign-language instruction, as well as other programs in the public schools. Duncan also announced that the school board was canceling its regular meeting this week so that he and other school leaders can head to Springfield to lobby. more ›

Mayor Daley was busy yesterday, rhapsodizing about how much he loves children and why they should have their own museum in Grant Park. He was also busy laying the groundwork for an increase in property taxes to fund education in the city. "We don't want to raise property taxes, we want to avoid that. I want to make it clear, the Board of Education is forced to raise property taxes this year it will be because Springfield forced them to do that," Daley said yesterday during a visit to Hanson Elementary School on the West Side. more ›

With Governor Blagojevich's gambling go-to guy under indictment and state lawmakers struggling to figure out if they can trust him with expanded gambling, (and trying to decide how they'll split the pie up among themselves), that other guy in the state's executive branch, Lt Governor Pat Quinn, called for a statewide referendum on gambling yesterday. more ›

Mike Madigan made it seem like he was ready to deal this week, with a letter to state legislators saying that he'd endorse a bill to expand gaming in the state in order to fund roads and schools. In announcing his "compromise", he said he is "willing to embrace compromise and offer a sincere, serious proposal that will receive my full support and backing." That expansion may not happen, though, as some lawmakers have enough... more ›

Is Mike Madigan ready to take a gamble? So it seems from a letter he wrote today to state legislators. He said today that he'd endorse a bill proposed by Democratic reps Lou Lang and Bob Molaro that expands gambling—gaming, sorry—and uses that money for roads and schools. From the AP: The new proposal includes many of the elements that already passed the Senate in September, including a huge, land-based casino in Chicago and... more ›

Barrington Community Unit School District 220 canceled its classes today because its fleet of school buses were vandalized. Unknown culprits slashed the tires on "24 to 26 large buses and 15 to 17 smaller ones," apparently with an ice pick. School bus tires cost about $200, which means someone's on the hook for a lot of damage. A note from the district's superintendent says about 7,000 of Barrington's 9,200 K-12 students take a school bus... more ›

Train update: "Fire Commissioner Ray Orozco said five people were in serious to critical condition and at least 30 people suffered less serious injuries. That number could rise to 50, he said." The NTSB is investigating. Storm watch this weekend. Cold, icy, rainy, blerg. RIP, Evel Knievel. America's Legendary Daredevil was 69. Check it out: local steampunk wedding. Congrats! Here's our favorite part of this Freakonomics interview with Sin in the Second City author Karen... more ›

The "nation's report card" for public schools came out yesterday, and Chicago ranks behind other urban areas on reading and math for 4th and 8th graders. about 16 percent of the 2,400 4th graders who took the reading exam showed proficiency, compared with an average of 22 percent in cities as a whole. In math, 16 percent of Chicago pupils were proficient, compared with an average of 28 percent in other cities. About 17... more ›

Yesterday was Principal for a Day, er, day at Chicago Public Schools, and over 1,600 business leaders, politicians and other bigwigs— including 27 aldermen, five players from the Bears, 30 people from JP Morgan Chase, 71 people from Merrill Lynch, and a bunch of White Castle execs—participated. It's a weird, weird list that you can download from District 299, our go-to CPS blog. But CPS has issues that can't be solved with Charles Tillman's suggestion... more ›

Last weekend we were at Bridgeport Coffee House restocking on their "Stockyard" blend when we noticed a blend we hadn't seen before, "Ravenswood Roast." We asked owner Mike Pilkington when he started making blends honoring north side neighborhoods. "I'm not" was his answer. He then explained that the "Ravenswood Roast" was part of a new fundraising arm of his wholesale business. The idea began in spring, when a customer came into the shop inquiring about... more ›

First kids have to carry around hand sanitizers and stop eating ants, and now this: some suburban school districts are no longer allowing "scary" costumes at elementary schools on Halloween. more ›

Blago and Mrs. Blago raked in $267,490 last year — $19,000 less than the year before. Still, that's about six times the median household income for Illinois. Todd Stroger told the Trib he'd "make the hard decisions," when it comes to his insane budget. Hard decisions like trying to raise the sales tax in Chicago to 11 percent. Speaking of people who want more of your money, ComEd wants to raise prices, too. And... more ›

We’ve had the CTA’s multiple doomsday plans hammered into our heads for months now. The implications are staggering for work and for play. But what about school? Those who attend Steinmetz High School on the Northwest Side are a good example of how Springfield’s lack of funding could have a deeper impact on our social fabric. more ›

Anyone know the artist behind this work? Ian's dying to know, and frankly, so are we. Crain's is reporting today that Apple, Puma, Zara, J. Crew and Coach are all in talks to set up shop in the Block 37 project. File under: Things We Will Believe When We See Them. Also, we cannot hear "Block 37" without thinking "Block. Thirty. Seven. Starbucks." Alleged dirty cop Jerome Finnigan waived his hearing today, which means... more ›