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Study Blasts Chicago Public Schools
Produced by Ammad Omar on Wednesday, July 01, 2009
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Photo by Eric Allix Rogers |
A new study says perceived improvements in Chicago Public Schools are just that: perception. Eden Martin is the President of the Commercial Club of Chicago. He says new tests, not better schools, have allowed CPS officials to report higher scores at the K through 8 levels.
MARTIN: The "meeting standard" is so weak that many if not most of the students who are reported in the 8th grade as "meeting standards" have very little chance of meeting standards in the 11th grade, or being prepared for college.
The Commercial Club report says the vast majority of high schools in Chicago are "abysmal."
Martin says it's because elementary and middle school students aren't well prepared. He says adding more charter and contract schools will help.
A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson hadn't read the study and declined to comment.
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Mary Mary, Logan Square // Wednesday, July 01, 2009 @ 11:40 PM
What is it going to take for people to use their basic common sense and intuition to solve the education crisis in Chicago schools. The more we cram facts and find new and better ways to test those "results" the further away we get from educated children and youth. As a mother of 2 children (one 8 and one 4) I've payed close attention to what works. And what works are those activities that focus on helping instill a love of learning. Something that tests, created by high profit academic factories will never do.
We need to provide cheap basic joy back to our schools. Story telling to increase listening skills, singing, jumping rope or other motion based games, exploring color on a blank sheet of paper. Teaching every child English and Spanish. These are are the activities that help young minds be able to absorb the more academic subjects. If the public or schools want proof, there is plenty of research to show that storytelling is one of the most effective ways to teach academic subjects to create the highest level of retention.
And what about recess?? With 30% of Illinois children considered obese, which also indicates lethargic youth, should we be letting them run around outside and play on some swings? It's at the downtime moments when the fact based learning has a chance to sink in.
Why are we looking away from the obvious? We need to serve the child's needs, not our own adult version of those needs.
We don't need allot more money and computers in every classroom to achieve this. We need public guts to do what is right for developing children.
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Jay Rehak, Lincoln Square // Thursday, July 02, 2009 @ 10:58 AM
Is it really news that Eden Martin, the elder statesman of the business community, continues to trumpet the privatization of our public schools as the “solution” to improving education in Chicago? Those of us who actually work in the public schools and know better have been listening to the Civic Committee President rail against us for years. When Mr. Martin, who has made the destruction of public schools something of a second career in his dotage, proclaims that the “business model” will somehow correct the devastating socio-economic circumstances of many of Chicago’s school children, is that really newsworthy? Finally, is there really a headline when Mr. Martin conveniently continues to give no evidence to support his claim that the privatization of our public schools will do anything more than transfer public money into private hands? Again, he’s been doing that for years. What is surprising and newsworthy perhaps, is that in light of the collapse of Wall Street and the government bailout of various major businesses, anyone continues to listen to his tired, unsubstantiated claims that a “business model” for schools will do anything but harm the school children of Chicago.
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Barbara Beyers, Lincoln Square // Thursday, July 02, 2009 @ 11:27 AM
1. Lets recognize the vast differences of CPS students' average knowledge base entering kindergarten/first grade. Some don't know they live in Chicago, some don't know their real name and many don't know the alphabet.
2. To address this gap, MUCH SMALLER class sizes are needed and more class room support is needed for our huge diversity of bilingual students.
Instead of spending money studying the obvious, hire more teachers to drastically reduce class size and watch the huge gains!
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Jen Johnson From CORE, Edgewater // Thursday, July 02, 2009 @ 12:30 PM
I applaud the comments of Mary and Jay (who I know). NPR and WBEZ need to do a better job in education reporting. Dig beyond the surface. The two comments above by parents and CPS teachers (of which I am one also) are more informed than NPR. I am so tired of NPR buying the corporate line. Ask some questions would you? Do a little analysis? If you want to do responsible reporting look into the numbers yourself and you will see that CPS teachers struggle with overcrowded classrooms and not enough resources. The charters haven't proven they can educate better than traditional neighborhood schools and, in fact, they often perform worse! Try asking why CPS would rather outsource education than use proven reforms on our existing neighborhood schools. Try asking why there is high teacher turnover when teachers burn out emotionally based upon the burdens placed squarely on their shoulders. I have been teaching in CPS for 6 years and I've burned out every year and it's summer when I can get a little extra sleep, do some real professional development and meet with like-minded teachers in CORE, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators, with enough hours of sleep under my belt that keeps me teaching. That and the deep love of my profession and my students. Dig a little deeper NPR.
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Teacher, Lakeview // Tuesday, July 07, 2009 @ 9:41 PM
I work on the Northside of Chicago. It is frustrating for me as a teacher with these CPS students. They don't retain much information even with teaching them over and over again concepts. They don't do homework and their parents are often not supportive. Ron Huberman could not get the students to school on the CTA on time, now he is head of CPS. Why am I getting an education masters when Ron Huberman doesn't even have one?
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