The Illinois State Senate Democrat Caucus puts out new map for an elected Chicago School Board. This is the map below
You can also click here for an interactive map
Over at CapFax there is a demographic background. According to this tweet from Ben Szalinski the breakdown is 7 latino, 6 Black, and 5 white districts throughout the city. A vote in Springfield could come as soon as next week.
If Davis Gates had simply defended her family’s decision by saying something like her son really had his heart set on going to that school, then I don’t think anyone could really disagree with her choice.
Instead, the union president initially stonewalled when faced with questions and then offered up an explanation to a local public radio station which threw the South and West sides under the bus and, more importantly, just wasn’t true.
Davis Gates said basically three things last week to a WBEZ reporter: 1) Course offerings for high schools on the South Side and West Side “are very marginal and limited”; 2) Selective enrollment and magnet public high schools were just too far away and would’ve forced her son to, according to the article, “spend hours traveling”; 3) A public high school with a good soccer program (a sport played by her son) and strong extracurriculars are just not available close by, or are in Latino neighborhoods that were too far away.
Look, there’s no doubt whatsoever that problems exist in public schools on the South and West sides. But that doesn’t mean the areas are completely bereft, no matter what internet trolls scream online.
Just as a small sampling, Davis Gates lives only three miles from Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep, a high quality selective enrollment high school which has a soccer team and extracurricular activities.
Lindblom Math and Science Academy in the West Englewood neighborhood has a pretty darned good soccer team and is 6 miles from the union president’s home.
The Catholic school her son is attending, on the other hand, is almost 9 miles from Davis Gates’ home.
Not to mention the area’s charter schools, which are taxpayer-funded and privately operated.
Let me enter a quote before we link to Capitol Fax
To me, the Chicago Magazine quote, “I can’t advocate on behalf of public education and the children of this city and educators in this city without it taking root in my own household” really leaves her open to this.
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I saw a communication about this months ago via State Sen. Elgie Sims.
Both the State House and State Senate has released maps for the public with regards to the elected Chicago Board of Education. h/t CapFax
Here's the map from the Illinois Senate so that you can see where your home will sit as far as who you might vote for in the future. There's a link the Illinois House of Representatives site however as I click through it seems the House is only linking to the Senate's map.
The school board districts must be drawn by July 1, 2023. According to the redistricting site of the Illinois Senate
In 2021, the Senate and House passed House Bill 2908, which creates a fully elected school board for Chicago Public Schools that will be in effect as of January 15, 2027.
Starting January 15, 2025, a two-year hybrid period begins, with 10 members being elected to four-year terms, 10 members being appointed by the mayor to two-year terms, and the board president being appointed by the mayor for a two-year term.
Starting January 15, 2027, when the mayor-appointed terms expire, the 10 members and the elected at-large member will be elected to four-year terms.
The General Assembly must comply to the July 1, 2023 deadline to draw Chicago school board districts, which must be consistent with the Illinois Voting Rights Act.
[VIDEO] A step in the right direction. Believe it or not it's been just about two years since this state and other states began their mitigation policies with regards to coronavirus. There were stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, schools were closed, some workplaces were shuttered temporarily, etc.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker already announced an end to the states mask mandate imposed from late last summer. And now the city of Chicago will follow suit. Feb. 28, 2022 the city will end its own mask and vaccine mandates for most public accomodations.
Of course as far as health care facilities or public transportation that hasn't changed as of yet. You still need a mask.
ALSO, forgot to note masks may still be required in the Chicago Public Schools.
Now it makes me wonder about the future of Harlan. The last time I saw enrollment numbers years ago they weren't too far above 300 students at that point. Here's what Newsalert blog states:
The mass exodus out of Chicago's government schools is making news. How can a school district with only 327,000 students ( many who aren't of high school age ) have 160 high schools !
A link in that quote is to another post which further discusses the enrollment decline of CPS schools.
Looking up Harlan's stats at the CPS website they list current enrollment at 295 students. I don't know if that's for this year or last year.
For those of you concerned about the back and forth between the city and the teacher's union. The union doesn't want teachers to go back to in-person instruction at the schools. If CPS teachers don't return to school all instruction including virtual instruction could come to a halt.
From the Sun-Times
If Chicago teachers collectively refuse to return to their schools on Monday in defiance of Chicago Public Schools’ reopening orders, the district will consider the labor action a strike, schools chief Janice Jackson reiterated Friday, suggesting the outcome could be all classes coming to a halt.
The 25,000 rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Union are voting through Saturday night on a resolution to continue working from home next week because of health concerns tied to in-person work.
CPS officials have said working from home is no longer an option for about 10,000 educators who have been told to report in person, nor for the 3,800 who have been ordered to schools since early January.
The union has repeatedly argued its action Monday would not be a work stoppage since teachers plan to continue working remotely. The CTU’s pending resolution instead says a strike would start if CPS “retaliates” by locking out all its teachers from remote work as it has done with about 90 pre-Kindergarten and special education staff members who were supposed to report to their schools earlier this month but haven’t shown up.
The below image is from state Sen. Elgie Sims email blast. Regarding CPS Holiday Break Meal Giveaways. Want to know locations visit www.cps.edu/mealsites or call 773.553.KIDS (5437).
Before Christmas you can pick up your meal kids on Monday thru Wednesday or December 21st thru 23rd this week from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at a mealsite near you.
These are a few nearby mealsites:
The Chicago Teachers Union recently asked a judge to issue an injunction ordering Chicago Public Schools to remain closed to in-person learning for the spring semester. It comes as the city public school system plans to return K-8 students in January and February, according to its reopening plans.
Catholic schools in the city and surrounding area have been open for a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning for a full semester now, with minimal problems. As private entities, Catholic schools have been allowed to stay open under health guidelines, while public schools have been fully remote for the fall semester.
I wonder how many of you are ready to send your children back to school soon.
h/t Newsalert
After weeks of voting by elected school councils on whether to keep police in schools, only about 24% of 72 Chicago public schools with officers will be removed, leaving the vast majority of school police officers in place after a summer of intense protests advocating for their removal.After what happened at the end of May it's suspicious that this issues is getting attention. It's correct that schools should decide whether or not they should have police officers posted. It also should be up to school what other personnel needs to be at the schools for the students.
The Board of Education considered ending the school resource officer program in June, but the measure was narrowly defeated. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the schools chief and some board members said the decision should be left up to local councils, made up of parents, teachers and community members.
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The result: The percentage of white and Latino students at schools with police officers will drop significantly in the coming school year. Now, about 48% of white students and 54% of Latino students at traditional city high schools will go to schools with police.
Meanwhile, about 73% of Black students will continue to be at schools with police. (The school district’s SRO program does not include charter schools.) Last school year, about 85% of students — regardless of race — went to a school with police officers.
The obvious answer is that the four votes don't want to face the political fallout when schools become uninhabitable for the good kids along with the three or four hundred teachers who would resign instantly should their last modicum of safety was removed. That makes them reasonably intelligent....for public school employees that is.Also from the above video, Miguel del Valle noted that LSCs can make the decision as far as whether they want police officers or school resource officers in their individual schools. I suppose if each school can make that choice then so be it as opposed to making this a system wide mandate. It was noted in this article that Minneapolis' schools made their decision to end their contraction with Minneapolis police. They also voted to abolish their police department.
CPS receiving about three adult sexual misconduct complaints per day https://t.co/raOqJ3b5cT— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) November 21, 2019
Why I’m not buying the numbers that the CTU is selling https://t.co/u6bFh5bozS— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 28, 2019
Pick a lane, please https://t.co/dUIUxtQn1C— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 22, 2019
Pressure intensifies on both sides as legislators stand with CTU https://t.co/bW3ySccRUx— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 24, 2019
Poll: Just 38 percent of Chicago voters oppose CTU strike https://t.co/A14GZCDUq4— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 15, 2019
CTU wants to negotiate affordable housing issues https://t.co/eeWL9tFAx1— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 9, 2019
