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Emanuel Goes To Washington To Discuss Education Reform

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard are in Washington, D.C., Friday to participate in a forum on education reform.

As WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is gathering the mayors and top school officials from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to share ideas about education successes and challenges.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

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Does Mayor Emanuel hope to learn anything himself? He says he already has, and so has Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is interested in charter schools run by Chicago's Academy for Urban School Leadership.

"He's already actually brought a group of people from AUSL to go to L.A. to take that idea that we're discussing, debating, and implementing here in Chicago – the turnaround model – there," Mayor Emanuel said Thursday. "I thought (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg – and there's an idea we're kicking around internally – had some very interesting ideas as to incentives for both teachers and principals."

AUSL is the charter school operator tasked with the turnaround efforts at Chicago Public Schools. A turnaround involves replacing the administrators, faculty and the entire staff of an underperforming school.

In a controversial decision last month, the Chicago School Board voted to stage turnarounds at 10 schools, and close or phase out seven others.

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