Chicago Teachers Union says that it will join the growing national opposition to the Common Core State Standards because “the assessments disrupt student learning and consume tremendous amounts of time and resources for test preparation and administration.” The union also said it will lobby the Illinois Board of Education to end Common Core for teaching and assessment and that it will work to organize to increase opposition the expansion of nationwide controls over educational issues. (CTU, WBEZ) Illinois quietly adopted the Common Core State Standards in 2010, with little opposition. But the standards have become a political football in the last year, and have faced opposition from both the left and the right. Indiana dumped the Common Core standards last month.
POSSIBLE PENSION COMPROMISE: Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says she’s prepared to offer pension concessions covering thousands of her members — but only under certain circumstances. Lewis told Crain’s editorial board on Wednesday that the union is willing to consider reducing benefits for those who still are working, although she emphatically ruled out changes for members who already have retired. (Crain’s)
ALSO: Karen Lewis said Wednesday that the union would be “very active” in next year’s mayoral election, but offered little insight into efforts to recruit a challenger to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Underscoring her long standing pledge to oppose the mayor’s re-election, Lewis told the Tribune editorial board that, “on a scale of one to 10,” the union’s efforts would rate as “15.” (Tribune)
FAILING SYSTEM: “Rather than continuing with the status quo of test-and-sanction accountability, states and school districts must act now to end the test-based, rote-memorization system that is failing our students, and shift to a system like the NY Performance Standards Consortium schools that includes well-resourced classrooms, project-based learning and assessments that are used primarily to inform instruction,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress report of 12th-graders’ math and reading scores. (Press release)
DYETT DEMANDS: Supporters of Dyett High School rallied at City Hall Wednesday demanding a meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his school chief to save and revitalize the Bronzeville institution. Calling Dyett “the poster child for the sabotage of a neighborhood school,” dozens of protesters gathered outside the mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall. They presented petitions signed by 675 local residents and parents of students at elementary schools in a designated district feeding students to Dyett. (DNAinfo)
IN THE NATION
CHARTER LEGISLATION: A bipartisan group of senators planned to introduce a bill Wednesday meant to encourage the growth of charter schools across the country, mirroring legislation expected to be taken up in the House later this week. (The Washington Post)