Week of January 23: Lots to do!

This week there are several things going on for CORE members to do.

Monday is the January CORE General Meeting. The meeting will begin at 4:30 and be held at the National Association of Letter Carriers Hall 3850 S. Wabash.

School Closing hearings all this week. See the schedule below. Please go to a hearing to support our neighborhood schools. Click here for the CORE flyer on school closings and turnarounds.

Wednesday is the Chicago Board of Education Meeting at 125 S. Clark St. Sign in for public participation, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Public participation begins at 10:30 A.M.

This Saturday, January 28, is the CPS New Schools Expo. CORE needs members to flyer and/or attend the annual showcase of charters and other privatization ventures. The event is at Soldier Field, 9:00 – 3:00. Free parking in the south parking lot, indoors. The event is in the “United” lounge.

School Closing Hearings Schedule:

January 23, 2012 (Monday). Price Elementary School closing hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
January 23, 2012 (Monday). Reed Elementary School closing (end of phase out) hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.
January 24, 2012 (Tuesday). Crane High School co-location hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
January 25, 2012 (Wednesday). Best Practices High School closing hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
January 25, 2012 (Wednesday). Nash Elementary School co-location hearing (KIPP) at 125 S. Clark St., 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.
January 26, 2012 (Thursday). Doolittle Elementary School co-location (with Chi Arts) hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
January 26, 2012 (Thursday). Guggenheim Elementary School closing hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.
January 27, 2012 (Friday). Dyett High School closing hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
January 27, 2012 (Friday). Lathrop Elementary School closing hearing at 125 S. Clark St., 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Kenzo Shibata on Huffington Post

Check out CORE member Kenzo Shibata’s latest commentary on Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenzo-shibata/education-reform-wheres-t_b_1185006.html

Editor, Chicago Union Teacher

Education Reform: Where’s the Debate?

Posted: 1/5/12 02:06 PM ET

The phrase “education reform” has been co-opted to mean a narrow party program advocated by the reform establishment (mainly billionaires and their designees) that includes a barrage of testingcharter schools, and taking experienced educators out of the classroom.

None of these measures have a track record of success, but the actual facts get obscured by Hollywood films and connected charter groups. It’s hard to get into the conversation when the corporate side of education reform uses the term as a bludgeon against anyone who questions its agenda — even when the concerns are supported by research.

If we’re all in this together, why can’t we debate what reform should look like, roll up our sleeves and fix our schools — together? There’s a lot of work to be done and we need all hands on deck. This isn’t possible unless we can actually have free and open discussion about what schools need. That means that we need to look at all of the challenges involved and tackle them directly. We even need to look at the challenge of poverty, since that seems to be the largest impediment to educational achievement. That’s not to say it’s a brick wall to success, it’s just a crucial factor we must address.

Students in well-funded American schools from high-income families outscore nearly all other countries on standardized tests, yet our aggregate scores are low. Many call this an educational crisis. However, if we are looking at root causes, we cannot overlook the fact that the U.S. has the highest level of child poverty in the industrialized world and children living in poverty are achieving far below their affluent peers.

Schools do not operate in a vacuum. Poverty has devastating effects on a child’s social and emotional development. For our poorest students, just getting to school can be a challenge. Anyone who has studied education or psychology knows the venerated “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” which shows the steps towards self-actualization — the level where students can effectively use their creativity and problem-solving skills. At the lowest level are basic human needs like food, water, and health. We need to do a better job of making sure those needs are met.

2012-01-05-90degrees.jpg
A 90 degree classroom at Hammond Elementary School on Chicago’s southwest side. Photo by Garth Liebhaber.

There are some reforms we can make within the walls of a school that will ameliorate the effects of poverty including:  wraparound services, small class sizes, and school libraries. This is by no means an exhaustive list of reforms we can provide to fix schools, but it’s a place to start and all three have a track record of success. None of these reforms are included on the lists of the reform establishment.

For many of our poorest students, the school nurse is the only medical professional they see and in many Chicago Public Schools, nurses are stretched between 2-3 schools. Schools need to hire more social workers, psychologists, and nurses to make sure students are healthy enough to take their learning to the next level.

One country that always comes up when discussing models for education reform is Finland, a nation that boasts some of the highest test scores in the world. It is also a nation where students are provided small class sizes and the child poverty rate is 3.4% compared to the United States’ 21.7%.

What does this mean? The most quoted and comprehensive study of class size, The Tennessee Study of Class Size in the Early School Grades showed significant advantage to students who had small class sizes in early grades. These small class sizes showed to be especially beneficial to students attending schools in poor districts.

In Chicago, 164 public schools — nearly 1 in 4 elementary schools and 51 high schools do not have school libraries. Library hours are typically one of the first cutbacks in city budgets, leaving many of Chicago’s poorest students without access to books. This puts them at a disadvantage as access to books has shown to shrink the “achievement gap.”


In this video, University of Southern California Professor Emeritus Stephen Krashen explains in detail the importance of access to books for students.

So what can civic-minded corporations do to help fix our schools?

They can start by paying their taxes, which will fund these reform efforts. That’s how they show real concern for the community. If they want to do more, they can look at the model used in McDowell County, West Virginia where a partnership was forged between corporations, foundations, and the teachers union.

The partners who signed on agreed to improve housing, transportation, and jobs in the poverty-stricken county. They know all of these factors contribute to low educational achievement. Instead of pointing fingers like the rest of the reform establishment, they offered a hand.

 

Follow Kenzo Shibata on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kenzoshibata

Flyer for School Closing & Turnaround Fight

Below are flyers available in Word and PDF form that members can distribute regarding school closures and turnarounds.

CORE Flyer on Closing Schools (Word)

 

CORE Flyer on Closing Schools (PDF)

 

Support Crane High School

 

2245 West Jackson Boulevard
Alumni / LSC / CTU LOCAL 1 Meeting
Tuesday 1/3/12 5:30pm
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND ATTEND.

Click here for the Facebook Event page.

Fight School Closings & Turnarounds

CORE-istas:
Please attend the following hearings on school closings and turnaounds. 
 Also, join the Facebook Event and spread the word.
Nash Elem. -Erie/Cicero
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Austin HS, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Austin HS, 6-8pm
Wed. Jan. 25th @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Best Practice HS- Adams/Damen
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Creiger/Noble St., 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Creiger/noble St., 6-8pm
Wed. Jan. 25th @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Casals Elem.- Division/Homan
Mon. Jan. 30th, @125 S. Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Doolittle East Elem.- 35th/ King
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Dunbar HS, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Dunbar HS, 6-8pm
Thurs. Jan 26th @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
CVCA HS -  87th/ Skyway
Fri. Feb. 3rd, @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Crane HS – I-290/ Western
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Malcolm X College., 6-9pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Malcolm X College, 6-9pm
Tues. Jan. 24th @125 S Clark, 5:30-8:30pm
Dyett HS – 51st / King
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Hayes Center, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Hayes Center, 6-8pm
Friday Jan. 27th !125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Fuller Elem. – 42nd/ Vincennes
Wed. Feb 1st @ 125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Guggenheim Elem.-  71st/ Morgan
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Shiloh Baptist, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Shiloh Baptist, 6-8pm
Thurs. Jan. 26th @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Herzl Elem. – Douglas/ Lawndale
Tues. Jan. 31st @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Lathrop Elem. – 15th/ Christiana
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Collins HS, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Collins HS, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 27th @125 s Clark, 8-10pm
Marquette Elem – 65th/ Sacramento
Thurs. Feb. 2nd @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Piccolo Elem. – Thomas/ Kildare
Mon. Jan 30th @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Price Elem. – 43rd / Drexel
Fri. Jan. 6th @ King HS, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ King HS, 6-8pm
Mon. Jan 23rd @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm
Reed Elem. – 63rd / Stewart
Fri. Jan. 6th @ Antioch Baptist, 6-8pm
Fri. Jan. 20th @ Antioch Baptist, 6-8pm
Mon. Jan. 23rd @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
W. Smith Elem. – 103rd/ Cottage Grove
Thurs. Feb 2nd @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Stagg Elem. – 74th / Morgan
Tues. Jan. 31st @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Tilden HS – 47th / Union
Fri. Feb. 3rd @125 S Clark, 8-10pm
Woodson South Elem. – 44th/ Evans
Wed. Feb. 1st @125 S Clark, 5:30-7:30pm

Mic Check at the Board of Ed

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Hand-Picked 1% Board of Education Gets Mic Checked!

Retirees Please Vote the ART Slate!

Please Vote ART (Alliance of Retired Teachers)

for CTU retired teachers delegates in the current election.

Mark your ballot for the following candidates and mail it back to the union now.

The candidates are endorsed by the leadership.

Fred Ackerman               Steve Livingston               Jean Schwab

Robert Bures                   Sarah Loftus                      Willie Scott

Theresa D. Daniels        Beatrice Lumpkin             Jack Silver

Marybeth Foley              Mary McCormick              Jenean simmons

Howard Heath                George Milkowski            Marlene Slavitt

Patricia Jones                 Monroe Morgan                Miriam Socoloff

Arthur Keegan                Lois Nelson                        Drunita Steward

Patricia Knazze               Debby Pope                        Brian Sullivan

Karen Knudstrup           Ernestine Qualls                James Ward

Al Korach                         Helen Ramirez Odell        Leandres White

John Lewis                      George Schmidt

Click here for an ART slate flyer

Stop the Hit List!

From Labor Beat
Watch it on YouTube:
In early December, 2011 Chicago Public Schools announced its “hit list” –
schools it is targeting for closings or turning-around. Recently, the Chicago
Education Facilities Task Force created guidelines, where the CPS followed none
before, on how targeting of schools had to be first discussed with those
communities affected. Gearing up for this next phase, the Chicago Teachers Union
held a teach-in about the hit list on Dec. 3, 2011 at MLK Prep High School. This
meeting and rally marked a new level of militancy underlined by Jitu Brown’s
(KOCO) statement: “This will not stop until we stop it!”
Speech excerpts from: Kristine Mayle (CTU Financial Secretary);
Angela Surnuy (Marconi school); Prof. Pauline Lipman (Univ. of Illinois-Chicago);
Jitu Brown (Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization).
There are also interviews with teachers and parents from Casals and Stagg schools,
which are on the hit list.
Video includes Valencia Rias-Winstead
from Designs for Change (and a member of the Educational
Facilities Task Force which legally formalized requirements mandating timely
public input on CPS school actions). Valencia Rias-Winstead talks with CTU
President Karen Lewis about what happens next in the public discussion period
and how Chicago Public Schools will manoeuvre between now and the final
decisions early in 2012. They also discuss the growing movement for an elected
school board instead of the undemocratic process now in place. Length – 26:35

CORE Meeting Monday December 12

December CORE meeting

Monday, December 12

4:30pm – 6:00pm

National Assoc. of
Letter Carriers Hall

3850 S. Wabash

CORE Holiday Party

Come to CORE’s Holiday party for food, drinks, music, dancing and karaoke!
Efebinas Cafe’s chefs will be preparing food and pitchers of sangria just for
us. We’re asking attendees for $20.00 to help with the cost of the party. For
more info about the party and to RSVP, you can call 312 375 8898.

When: Saturday December 17, 2011 6:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M.

Where: Efebina’s Cafe 1640 S. Blue Island Ave. Chicago IL