Listen Up, Class

By Joanna Miller in News on Aug 29, 2006 8:40PM

Now that we’re finished with school, Chicagoist gets a little nostalgic this time of year. We’re always a little jealous of the kiddies we see shopping for their pencils, notebooks and Trapper Keepers, or whatever it is they’re buying these days. We would have hated that stupid Easy Button, by the way, because the shopping was one of the best parts about going back to school.

We also liked catching up on all the gossip that we’d missed over the summer. We won’t be getting any more locker combinations, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get in on some of the drama.

We’re learning all sorts of things about Chicago Public Schools thanks to TeacherX, a new blog dedicated to “examining the continuing festering wound that is the Chicago Board of Education (with some Chicago politics thrown in for good measure).”

Written by an anonymous CPS teacher, TeacherX takes on race issues, gentrification, overcrowding, test scores, charter schools and expulsion for false alarm pulls (s/he’s for it) – and that’s just in the three weeks since the site launched. One thing the site won’t discuss, or allow discussed in its comments, is the kids. “It's not the kids. It's never the kids. It isn't their fault the system is what it is. Don't ever blame the kids.”

School starts Sept. 5, and we can’t wait to hear how things go.

We’re also counting the days until one of our favorite shows returns with an educational theme. Season four of HBO’s The Wire will peek into Baltimore’s education system when it returns on Sept. 10, and we can’t wait to see what they find.

Image via AuntieBarbara