Chicago Public Schools Unveils Five-Year 'Action Plan' Broad In Scope, Lacking In Details
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 10, 2013 9:50PM
Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett unveiled a five-year action plan Monday aimed at providing students in the city’s public schools system with the necessary tools to succeed and achieve a quality education. But the Chicago Teachers Union is calling the plan more of the same failed policies from the school system over the years.
“The Next Generation: Chicago’s Children” is a five-point plan that, like many Emanuel administration initiatives, reads big but ultimately lacks meaty details. What we’ve been able to glean from it is a renewed focus on standardized testing, developing a support system that incorporates parents and outlying communities, promoting and rewarding effective teachers while recruiting more talent nationally, and implementing sound accountability practices, as well as fiscal and operational checks and balances. The details that are listed in the plan involved CPS transitioning to Common Core state standards for all grades; makes room for bilingual and multilingual programs, health education and arts education; talks about making schools at all levels in the district safe learning environments; and utilizing a “District scorecard” to monitor progress.
With CPS seeing 61.2 percent of its students obtaining a high school diploma last year, Byrd-Bennett said in a statement high school education is no longer a goal, “it is a starting point.”
“I faced many of the same challenges that our young people face today, but I know that they can triumph if the adults in their life make it their mission to ensure they achieve their dreams,” she said. Mayor Emanuel added, “This comprehensive action plan provides a strategic roadmap for achieving this goal, grounded in the idea that with teachers and principals, engaged parents and supportive communities working together, our children can succeed.”
Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis released a statement criticizing the school district for speaking loudly and in broad platitudes about “inspiring” students to learn.
“Our schools communities do not lack inspiration, they lack revenue. It doesn’t matter what new initiatives CPS concocts from year to year if it has no way to appropriately fund them (i.e., the longer school day). Chicago has to break its addiction to tax breaks and find ways to generate revenue for our schools. This so-called five-year plan is once again done in the silo of CPS without any stakeholders at the table. It is still widely driven by testing and a complete lack of democracy.“It is amazing that CPS’s first impulse, no matter who heads it, is towards an autocratic, top-down approach that people who actually work with kids are expected to implement without the appropriate resources or tools. When will CPS understand that having a ‘plan’ that never includes the voices of parents, students, CPS workers and a realistic blueprint on how to generate revenue will continue to foster mistrust, alienation and lowered expectations, especially after the tragic closing of 50 schools?”
The teachers union is particularly worried about the wide “evaluation” pillar of the plan, fearing it could lead to as many as 6,000 layoffs, according to Chicago Now education blogger Alexander Russo. The Philadelphia school district notified 3,000 employees of impending layoffs last Friday and the fear is CPS will follow suit, especially with 50 schools set to close at the end of the school year.
CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll said layoffs aren't in the cards, but cautioned that “under school based budgeting, principals create their own staffing plans and determine what their needs will be classroom by classroom.”
We’ve included the complete report below. If you only want the Cliff’s Notes, click here.