The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday awarded a six-year, $53 million contract to the ACT, Inc. organization, meaning high schoolers statewide will shift back to the ACT after taking SAT exams for most of the past decade.
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools teachers and administrators aren’t shying away from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s claim the city’s schools are “owed” $1 billion from the state. But they dramatically scaled back their immediate demands during a rare joint CPS and Chicago Teachers Union lobbying trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday.
As Chicago Public Schools moves to fully remove police officers from its buildings, education officials are planning a phased-in approach to its new school safety plans.
In meetings with state lawmakers and the governor, Mayor Brandon Johnson made his case for additional support for the city, including about $1.1 billion more in funding for Chicago Public Schools.
CPS is anticipating a budget deficit of $391 million for the coming school year as COVID-19 relief funding runs out. That deficit is expected to rise to $700 million the following year.
Officials from the union and Chicago Public Schools began talks this week as the sides work to secure the first new teachers contract since former CTU organizer and educator Brandon Johnson was elected mayor.
Walter Payton College Prep checked in at No. 5 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of top high schools in the country.
An increased moratorium on closing Chicago Public Schools – including charters – easily passed the state House heads to the Senate over the objections of the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointees to the city’s school board.
The recent surge of migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Advocates say the state has not done enough to address educating the children of those coming across the border.
The measure would put a moratorium on the closure of selective enrollment schools and prevent CPS from altering its standards for admission to those schools until 2027 when a fully elected school board in Chicago is in place.
CTU leaders on Tuesday announced their contract demands as bargaining gets underway on a new deal as the union’s existing contract is set to expire in June.
The victim has said she was sexually abused over the course of multiple years at the hands of Brian Crowder, the former dean of students at the Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice.
Those elected to serve on their LSC will be tasked with approving their individual school’s budget, selecting their principal, renewing school contracts and approving their school’s academic plans.
Parents, students and community stakeholders have until this week to complete the school district’s whole school safety survey and voice their opinions as CPS prepares a new holistic approach to school safety districtwide.
Under the new law, voters will elect 10 members in Novembers while Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint 10 members of his choosing, plus the board president. That leaves the board under mayoral control until 2027, when the city would move to a fully-elected school board.
A plan headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will allow voters in November to choose half of the Chicago Board of Education. Johnson will appoint the other half, plus its president.
