Do you agree with the plan to close down underperforming schools? (city hall, home)

[Attrill]

The poll is bogus because you don't seem to be aware of what is going on. They aren't shutting down under-performing schools, they're shutting down underutilized schools. Big difference.

[McNick]

Originally Posted by urza216

A balence of both. Many of the south suburbs you slam don't actually have high crime rates or extremely underperforming schools

But they're still underperforming. As a parent, you should want the BEST for your child, not something that's below average. Parents really need to start being more involved and start caring about their child's future.

[chet everett]

I voted no for the simple reason that I believe all public schools in Illinois are not living up to their potential nor are they doing their duty to help make students into better citizens. Of the handful of public schools that show at least significant percentage of readiness for students going onto college I attribute most of that "success" not to anything special that the schools are doing but the responsibility that parents take for their children.

The way schools operate in Illinois and most parts of the US is increasingly out of step with the realities of a connected globe.

I don't mean that kids in schools that use iPads don't know how to use the internet (which of course they could pick up in about 45 second inside the Apple Store of any mall / shopping avenue...) but that schools are badly disconnected from the changes not just involving things like e-commerce and data mining but from any sense that the world has changed from the 1960s.
One example -- our nation elected and re-elected a President with parentage far different than that of more of a generation of others. The last time a President had a parent that was not native born was Herbert Hoover's (whose mother was Canadian) and the last President to have a foriegn born father was Chester Arthur. I don't mention becuase I'm some "birther conspiracy" kook but becuase these things are just one example of how easy it is to LOOK UP ANYTHING yet schools still act as though the best use of kids time is largely to "fill their heads with facts".

What a waste.

40 years ago the schools in Finland were among the least well regarded in Europe, now they are tops.

Why? It is not becuase they spend more time testing or more time with "fact drilling worksheets". What they do is have ALL the teachers EXTREMELY well trained in understanding how to HELP each child "learn how to learn" and THEN making sure that each classroom is given the resources to reach full potential. Why Are Finland's Schools Successful? | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine

[Vlajos]

Irish Tom and fargobound are correct. The main issue is the students, families and poverty. The schools being closed is mainly due to underutilization.

[McNick]

What are your thoughts on the teachers ^^^

[chet everett]

The distribution of teachers that are "terrible" "meh" "great" is pretty much a bell curve. Unfortunately there is a skewing of the "best" teachers being clustered at the schools with the "best" principals, the most involed parents and (arguable) the easiest to teach students. That leaves a disproportionate percentage of miserable teachers at schools with horrible principals, whacked out crack-head parents, and kids that so have the deck stacked against 'em that it breaks your heart...

Some teachers should be fired. The worst of the worst should just move to a country that we want to collapse. Ditto for the worst principals. In about 5-10 years with right kind of incentives and support we could build a staff of teachers that would be top notch and principals that really inspired the staff / worked with parents / had media savvy / understood politics.

Some teachers that are "meh" could become terriffic. Workshop go a long way to rejuvenating folks that still have some glimmer of passion for learning. Fresh supplies, a little respect and building that does not look like like it is scheduled for demolition can do wonders for morale.

[McNick]

Any ideas about converting over to charter schools?

[chet everett]

The pluses of charters is that they tend to attract "go getter" type principals that have a low tolerance for other than "pretty good" (or at least "young") teachers. The parents also have at least jumped through a hoop or two more to get their kid to the school in most cases.

The minuses are that SOME of the "charter sponsoring organizations" do have odd political ties and/or a tendancy to have influence / access to funds that is not the same as "real" public schools.

Makes comparisons VERY HARD TO KEEP FAIR...

[nana053]

Originally Posted by McNick

Any ideas about converting over to charter schools?

Charter schools on average are no better or worse than the public schools. While some can be great, others are very poor.

Larry Strauss: The Uncomfortable Truth About Charter Schools

BAMN | The Truth about Charter Schools

There are plenty more articles on this topic, but the idea is that charter schools fail just as often or even more often than public schools particularly with the poorest students.

[chet everett]

First I would break up the CPS into about 10 separate districts. Each could be gerrymandered (just like wards and congressional districts) so that there would be some "slices" of affluence and poverty.

Then I would give TAXING AUTHORITY to an ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD for each subdistrict so that some area would likely have HIGHER TAXES if parents supported them and other areas would still be cheap.

Finally each subdistrict has to have a very streamlined administration that is can be fired by the elected board. It mostly works well enough for every other district in the state, it ougth to drive a stake through the heart of the last of the "patronage based" holdouts in the bloated CPS staff.