Op-ed: Gun violence dominates the news, but is crime out of control in Chicago

Something for you to read regarding Chicago crime, if you can get past the Chicago Tribune paywall perhaps it's worth reading.

h/t CapFax that provides an excerpt if you can't get poast the paywall.

Commentary: Red Line extension needlessly caught in the switches due to CTA/City Council beef

From Lee Bey at the Chicago Sun-Times:

Sun-Times: Altgeld Gardens Commercial Building

Via WisconsinHistory.org

Since I mentioned Altgeld Gardens a few days ago on this blog, I found this Sun-Times article on an architecturally significant building in that part of town called the Altgelt Gardens commercial building:

Sun-Times: Take the deal, CPS teachers. You’ve won

An editorial from the Sun-Times on Wednesday. I wonder what the results of that strike vote from CTU will be?

They should accept the latest contract offer from the Board of Education, a sweet deal that most Chicagoans would just love to get.

They should vote against authorizing a strike. Given our city’s dire financial condition, taxpayers wouldn’t rally around them.

And let’s not forget the 296,752 schoolchildren who’d be sitting at home learning nothing if the teachers walk out.

That’s a locked-in raise every year of 3% to 3.5%, more than what most workers are getting — if they’re getting raises at all.What employee, in any job, would turn down a 16% raise over five years?

Then add in the pay hikes to which teachers would be entitled based on seniority and level of education. With those “step” and “lane” raises, the average teacher would pull in almost $100,000 a year — up from about $79,000 now — by the end of the five-year contract.

But don’t stop there. Consider, as well, how little more teachers will be asked to contribute to their health care. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s negotiating team is asking CTU members to pay a modest 0.75% more over the entire five years.

Decline of Black Chicago

I shared a Sun-Times editorial about the decline in the Black population of Chicago Monday morning over at The Sixth Ward.

Decline of Black Chicago https://t.co/Nk2Xoewhlq

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) July 30, 2018

Tribune editorial: US Senators give Emanuel a pass on CPS scandal

Found this editorial on the sex assault scandal within CPS via Newsalert:

Days after the Chicago Tribune began publishing stories of alarming and unreported sexual abuse and assault within Chicago Public Schools, Illinois’ two U.S. senators fired off letters demanding accountability and transparency.

But something — or rather someone — was missing from their missives. No mention of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Must have been an oversight.

Instead of directing their concern at the person who actually oversees CPS, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sent letters to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Illinois schools Superintendent Tony Smith expressing their alarm and requesting more data collection at federal and state levels. By threading the needle carefully, they honed in on narrow aspects of the Tribune’s investigation that touched on state and federal data collection and transparency, not CPS’ failures.

Interesting.

Interesting indeed! Read the whole thing.

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Crain's: Why so many young Chicago men pull the trigger

Go Falcons!

One attempt to get a handle on the issue of gun violence in Chicago's crime ridden neighborhoods. At one point in time this blog strived to avoid issues of crime even though I recognize it as a reality in our fair city.

Regardless the fact that a shooting and the volume of them is news not just locally but nationally also is problematic. We all hope for a solution to save our young people. No easy answers, but something has to be done about the violence.

Also for this, there will be three parts to this series. I hope to be able to share the other ones as they're published.

There should be an elected school board

http://www.cpsboe.org/

It took me a while to come to this conclusion but I've finally decided that there should be an elected school board in Chicago. Not saying that this is the best solution for our schools in Chicago, but it's an idea that should be considered.

The only caveat that I've considered is that there must be a hybrid board where the people can elect members and the mayor can appoint members. This has always been my thought however the Chicago Sun-Times solidified this much further in an editorial.

This Tribune editorial makes further points about the various points of school boards whether hybrid, elected or totally appointed. To be sure, I have little problem with the Mayor of Chicago having some form of direct influence on the Chicago Public Schools. This is one reason I support a hybrid board.

I also believe that the most important interest group - the parents need representation to influence the decisions of the Chicago Public Schools. I propose that a majority of the members can be elected to the board of which there are currently seven members. Therefore four members should be elected and three should be appointed. In addition those four elected should be from districts divided up at least four ways throughout the city. The mayor can appoint the people he wants on the school board with their expertise and the people can elect who they want on the board of ed.

Furthermore I recognize how at time public education can be very politicized. Unfortunately the public schools have borne a lot of negative press over the years and this may cause more politicization. I hope that future members of the board of ed can recognize that the most important thing they have to do is ensure that the youth of the city of Chicago are educated and ready for the world.

Brizard: Chicago schools need radical change

Jean-Claude Brizard

Jean-Claude Brizard wrote this editorial recently. Brizard had been the former CPS Chief Executive Office for 17 months before he had resigned earlier this month. He made some good points here:

I believe that with bold change, we can create a system that provides the competitive, world-class education that our students deserve.

In 2011, fewer than 24 percent of Chicago Public Schools graduates were prepared to attend a four-year college, and only 1 in 7 African-American students tested college-ready. While we made tremendous progress in less than two years, resulting in some historic gains, transformational change will require a radical redefinition of the district.

The bureaucracy of CPS, like most urban districts, has great inertia toward the comfortable. The fact is the public school district is an outdated model that is not flexible or responsive enough to serve the needs of all students. We must abandon the notion that a central administration can do it all and instead flip the pyramid, entrusting and empowering our principals and teachers to create great schools.

In order to break up the bureaucracy that often paralyzes, confuses or distracts schools, the central office must shift from a top-down division that dictates quality and practice for schools to a team that acknowledges that quality and effective practices lie within our schools. Central office's primary role must be to set high standards, and then codify and disseminate effective practices found within schools.

He is right to say, "Education is the great equalizer". I couldn't agree more!

Hat-tip District 299 blog!