Chicago Teens Spend Their Summer Beautifying the City ‘One Block at a Time’

A group of Chicago teens are spending their summer building and designing signs for their neighborhood block clubs. Traditional block clubs are groups of people…

Colorado Is Showing Everyone Up in Funding Its Charter Schools

Can you feel that tension? It’s just about everywhere in this country. A mighty tug of war between traditional public schools and public charter schools.…

Everything You Need to Know About Illinois’ School-Funding Law

(T)he clock is ticking for Illinois’ public schools, most of which are counting on their first slice of their shared $6.7 billion in general state…

It’s Gonna Take A Miracle To Keep My Kid in Chicago Public Schools All Year

It’s August, yet it’s chilly enough in Chicago to roast marshmallows. That’s what some friends from our daughter’s preschool invited us to do over the…

See Where Tuition-Free College Is Removing Barriers for Low-Income and First-Generation Students

If you have to worry about tuition, it’s just about the only thing you worry about. You’ll recognize the following thoughts: Do I really need…

Rapper Vic Mensa Gets Real About Being Branded ‘Black’ and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Vic Mensa wants to be the voice of Chicago. That means speaking out against gun violence, the drug trade and other issues that have found…

Superintendent’s View: Right Now Students Face ‘Bare Minimum’ Education in Illinois Until Our Funding Is Fixed

Too often Illinois has been viewed as a laughingstock by the rest of the country for its broken finances and its notorious governors. The chaos…

Hey Pondiscio, Before We Talk Curriculum, Let’s Talk Turkey

In his recent response to a David Brooks column, Fordham’s Robert Pondiscio writes about the language of privilege in the United States and argues that…

CPS Succeeds, CTU Misleads

For the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), a glass that is three quarters full is still half empty. Consider the dueling announcements from the University of…

Lessons I’ve Learned on What Makes Or Breaks a Principal

So many say that the principalship is the hardest job in education…and I couldn’t agree more. Being the inspiration, visionary, coach, sounding board, disciplinarian, advocate,…