Teachers in Chicago

[chet everett]

The budget situation is effecting the suburban and downstate districts. That does make tenure decisions trickier for borderline situations, if the district has decided to be "across the board" with the lay off notices they will probably still need to re-hire folks in the fall, but the rules of notification (as crammed down the throats of the state legislature by the unions...) put a ton of stress on teachers that have not attained tenure...

Because the mass notices are so wide spread this year it will probably not be effective to try any sort of legal action. Best strategy is to impress the heck out of the principal / department chairs for the rest of the year so that IF they do need to re-hire next year her name is 'first on the list'.

The other think that is smart is to try and locate a district that does not hav budget trouble and impress upon them that you really really want to be part of a "long term table learning environment for the benefits that will have to the students and of course my own professional development". Honesty and a focus on the kids goes a long way.

[ImaloneJill]

My daughter has been observed in the classroom many times and has always received excellent reviews. Then, in December, they set the stage for massive cuts and got a new director of spec. ed- a social worker who has never taught in a classroom, to make the choices of who stays and goes.
My daughter has taken on many projects such as running the senior prom the last three years with glowing reports. The prinicipal told her a few districts to check out and that he was very sorry.
Anyway, maybe the CPS system is the way to go.

[At1WithNature]

The problem is that there are very select schools that are actually good or great in CPS and they have like 500 applicants for every 1 position that opens. The majority of CPS schools educates children who are from broken homes where the Mothers simply don't care or can't be as involved as they should be. Thus, get used to students calling you a ****** and not respecting authority or education in the first place.

By the way, I am studying at Chicago University currently and have spent time observing in CPS.