Turnarounds Proposed For 10 Chicago Schools
CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago Public Schools will spend $20 million to revamp eight under-performing elementary schools and two high schools that serve about 5,800 students.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard met Tuesday with parents of students who attend five schools that already have gone through the transition process.
The Academy for Urban School Leadership will lead the turnaround of six schools and CPS's Office of School Improvement will lead the transition at the other four schools. The transition will happen for the 2012-2013 school year.
Teachers will receive intensive training as part of the transition. The turnaround also will include one-on-one counseling with a full-time social worker, after school programs, enhanced extracurricular activities and tutoring services for students in reading and math.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis charged Monday that the Board of Education's plans to "turnaround" 10 neighborhood schools will have a negative impact on students.
"Today we learned through the press the names of 10 schools reportedly targeted for "turnaround" by the District—a decision that will impact thousands of students and hundreds of school employees," she said. "We are concerned that CPS continues to make serious decisions in isolation and without consulting and collaborating with the school communities that will be hurt by its actions."
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger Reports
Podcast
(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
