ON CLARK STREET Audrey Donaldson, recently tapped to head the Office of Curriculum, Instruction, Professional Development and Research, has been moved to head up Teacher Renewal and Recertification. The new office will coordinate implementation of revisions in teacher certification that go into effect next year. John Frantz, director of teacher accountability, succeeds Donaldson as Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development officer.
MOVING IN/ON Todd Rosenkrantz, a researcher on school finance issues for the Chicago Urban League, has joined the Consortium on Chicago School Research. … Hosanna Mahaley, formerly a teacher educator at the Teachers Academy for Math and Science, has been appointed Assistant for Education to Mayor Richard M. Daley. Mahaley replaces Lisa Bolden, who now works in the city’s Transportation Dept.
PRINCIPALS The following principals have had their contracts renewed: Miryam Assaf-Keller, Lloyd; Roscoe C. Beach, Jr., Buckingham Special Education; Queen E. Brown, Earle; Analila Chico, Healy; Suzanne L. Dunaway, Andersen Community Academy; Joyce D. Kenner, Young Magnet.
The following interim principals have been named contract principals: Louis S. Hall, Jr., Raymond; Sandra M. Jones, Twain; Frederic W. Metz, Medill; Antoinette Patton, Smith; Paul R. Zeitler, Sheridan Magnet. … Assistant Principal Fanchion L. Blumenburg is now the principal at Kennedy High School, succeeding Arthur Mrumlinski, whose contract was not renewed by the local school council. (See Catalyst, April 1999.)
Earl Williams has become the interim principal at Avalon Park, where he formerly held the principal post. … Christine Arroyo, former assistant principal at Little Village Academy, has become the interim principal at Zapata Academy. Interim Principal James Lalley is continuing in his position at Northside College Prep. Patricia Monroe Taylor, an assistant principal at Howe, has moved to an interim principal post at Arai Middle School. Melverlene Parker, who was a teacher at Pirie, has become the interim principal at Hirsch. John Potocki, a coordinator at Proctor Academic Transition Center, now serves as interim principal at Clay. Sylvia Rodriguez, a principal working with the Office of Schools and Regions, has become interim principal at Ortiz De Dominguez. Beverly Slater, also a principal at the Office of Schools and Regions, has moved to an interim position at Gillespie. Juanita Skulark, former assistant principal at McCosh, has become the interim principal at Wright. DuSable Associate Principal Katherine Smith is now the Gage Park interim principal. Anthony Spivey, formerly at Partee Academic Transition Center, has become the interim principal at Corliss.
DESEG UPDATE Dan Kohrman, the U. S. Department of Justice attorney in charge of Chicago’s court-monitored desegregation plan, made a fact-finding trip to the city in early November, according to several sources. Kohrman visited Northside College Prep and South Side College Prep and met with board officials, a member of the board’s Desegregation Monitoring Commission, staff from the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and local activists. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed Kohrman’s visit but declined to comment further.
Last spring, a department spokesperson said that the feds were talking with the monitoring commission about possible violations. The Monitoring Commission has not met since last summer, and no meetings are scheduled. The Commission lost its chair late in the summer when attorney Peggy Davis, now a partner at Winston and Strawn, gave notice to the School Board that she did not wish to be re-appointed when her term expired this fall. Davis, formerly a partner at Gardner, Carton and Douglas, cites an increased work load and travel schedule at her new job as reasons for leaving the commission.
COURT WATCH On Oct. 29, Doris Osan, a former assistant principal at Fulton Elementary in New City, filed a lawsuit in Chancery Court against the School Board. Members of Fulton’s local school council have voted to award Osan a four-year principal’s contract, but the School Board has not recognized the vote as legal.
REBUILDING SCHOOLS The Neighborhood Capital Budget Group (NCBG) released a comprehensive report in November entitled “Rebuilding Our Schools Brick by Brick.” It addresses Chicago’s school overcrowding problem and proposes steps to alleviate it; NCBG estimates that eliminating overcrowding will cost CPS between $1.3 and $2 billion. NCBG, a coalition of almost 200 community organizations, hopes to take its message to Congress, calling for federal legislation to assist school construction.
FELLOWSHIP Lake View High School science teacher Michael Lach has been chosen as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. Through May 2000, Lach will address science and education issues on the staff of U. S. Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.). The fellowship affords outstanding elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers the opportunity to advise issues of national public education policy.