Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/author/schoporis/)
In a major about-face, Chicago Public Schools officials announced they would delay ending the pension pickup for teachers. But union officials say an end to the payment in the future would still constitute an unfair labor practice.
Tasha Green Cruzat will become Voices for Illinois Children’s new president, and Kelley Washington is now executive director of the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Education.
Chicago Principals & Administrators Association President Clarice Berry will be leaving her position, while Matt Lyons has joined Chicago Public Schools as chief talent officer.
Leaders from the Chicago Teachers Union and Board of Education say they want to return to the bargaining table.
On November 20, Dana Butler started his workday as a Chicago principal a little after 4 a.m., when he began checking text messages, emails and Twitter updates. Catalyst caught up with him several hours later and then shadowed him until he headed back home. Catalyst shares his long day at Ruiz Elementary School in Pilsen as the issue of principal leadership again takes the stage in CPS.
Chicago Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Ginger Ostro is leaving CPS to become executive director of Advance Illinois, while Theresa Hawley has stepped down from her position as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development.
Loyola University Chicago is seeking to answer a key question: How can private colleges better target and serve the growing number of poor students, who typically cannot afford Loyola and other schools like it? The school’s answer is Arrupe College, a highly structured two-year program that aims to provide a sturdy on-ramp for high school graduates to eventually enroll in a four-year college or university.
“You don’t realize how much you love something until it’s kind of out of our reach,” said Jones junior Darcy Palder at a recent student rally. “And when I started realizing that we might not have those special classes that we love or those teachers who have helped us so much, I realized that we needed to do something.”
Following months of public outcry and protests by child care advocates, the governor raises the maximum income a family could earn and still be eligible.
Chicago Public Schools has tried a multitude of ways to keep good principals from leaving. But a recent survey indicates that school leaders are unhappy about district bureaucracy — and many plan to start looking for new jobs soon.