The Importance Of Public Schools In Chicago

Pedro Noguera, a phenomenal urban sociologist and a professor at New York University confronts the problems which exist in our nation’s education system in his book, City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education. Noguera describes what he views to be the main problems facing urban education and suggests strategies for improvement. From years of experience as a teacher and school board member, he reflects on what he believes to be the real problems. Noguera blames the school’s failures on students, parents, and teachers which leads to blame local government officials or policymakers. Noguera states in City Schools and the American Dream, “The central argument of this book is that until there is a genuine commitment to address the social context of schooling — to confront the urban condition — it will be impossible to bring about significant and sustainable improvements in urban public schools” (pg.6). Noguera believes that we must address the central problem to make any type of solutions for improvement.

One of the quotes that stood out to me in my section was “First, there are many persons, within and without the Government, who do not feel the problem exists, at least in any serious degree. These persons feel that, with the lawful hindrances to osmosis off the beaten path, matters will deal with themselves in the ordinary course of occasions. This quote fundamentally says "African Americans have all the assets to do anything; they 're just lethargic and feel that everything ought to be given to them rather than really meeting expectations for it. Take a gander at President Obama, he made it." That is in reality genuine, however quite a few people think along these lines. Take a gander at the south-side Chicago Public Schools for

The Chicago Public School system was slow to integrate even after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling of 1954. It took much protesting, federal involvement and public outrage to finally bring about more racial equality for the students of Chicago. While the Brown v. Board of Education ruling is thought of as being the reason any racial equality was brought to schools after such long hardships for the African American students, Chicago had a difficult time bringing the ruling to fruition and federal involvement was needed. The Chicago Public School’s Desegregation Consent Decree of 1980 was the order that changed the public schools for the good. Chicago’s story of integration is different than those of other big cities in the U.S, due to the federal government 's large involvement. Through the years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, the School Superintendents changed and school desegregation was faced in different ways. This essay examines what led to the federal government 's involvement with the Chicago Public School system’s desegregation plan. As well as the effects of desegregation on all students in Chicago.

The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While

The Chicago Board of Education meets once a month to discuss issues relevant to Chicago Public Schools, entertain public comments, and make policy and fiscal decisions. Often times the Board meeting is held at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) central office at 10 a.m. However, both the timing and location of the meeting on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 differed. The meeting was held at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy High School at 4:30 p.m. Gwendolyn Brooks is located on the far south side of Chicago. Hosting the meeting at a CPS school has both positives and negatives. By bolding the meeting at a school it allows for a less formal atmosphere in addition to providing the opportunity to showcase some of the beautiful properties CPS possesses. However, this particular school is not easily accessible by public transportation. This may cause a problem for some stakeholders that would like to participate in the school board meeting. Furthermore, 4:30 in the afternoon is an awkward time for a meeting as it is more difficult to find childcare during the evening hours. Additionally, finding details regarding this meeting was not easy. After a search was conducted on the CPS website, there was no mention of the board meeting. Once redirected to the Chicago Board of Education Site, information regarding the location of the meeting was supplied. However there wasn’t a visible start time or information regarding if the meeting was being broadcasted on a local

Why do we need Chicago Teacher Unions? All they do is help the teachers create a contract and help them get paid a good sum of money. There are multiple reasons why we need Teacher Unions in multiple manners. The Chicago Teacher Union do not only help the teachers create contracts but protect not only the teachers but the students, from being taken advantage of by the Board of Education. Teacher Unions are an important step in a compromise for teachers’ rights and building safer conditions not only for them, but students as well through its access of striking together the support of other unions, and political action. Opponents believe that unions are bad because these organizations protect the workers that are not doing their job. Opponents

EDUC 512 Issue 1.5 Should Public Schooling be Redefined? Issue 2.6 Are Local School Boards Obsolete?

This article was created to inform member in the South Loop community and the National Teachers Academy members, about the actions of Chicago Board of Education that will affect the future of public education in the area. The author attempts to expose how Chicago Public Schools decision to transform a high achieving predominantly low income elementary school to a high school and build an additional elementary school to satisfy the demand of wealth residents in the area. However, David Matthews uses his text to update the public of the adjustments that CPS had made regarding the decision to close the school. The writer used statistics regarding the cost of this project, as well

Chicago Public Schools are the fourth largest district in the U.S and one of the lowest performing in the U.S. The school system in Chicago is struggling not only with student performance, but also with the large amount of debt the school has and the fight to come to an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.

The Great Depression, left the country in the worst economic crisis that any countries had seen, leaving a scar on the American society and culture. The Great Depression had also affect the public schools especially Chicago Public School, causing problems that even today we are still experiencing. The primary document I have choose is Chicago Public School and the Depression Years of 1928-1937 by Lyman B. Burbank. This primary document is interesting as I, myself went to a Chicago public school, both elementary and high school, and to see how the system has fail and how different mayors throughout the great depression tried to fix the problems.

There are three inevitable things in life if you have kids: taxes, death, and sending your kid to school. When most families move, they look for things like distance from their work, the class and safeness of the neighborhood the house is in, and the quality of the school their kids would be attending. Parents want to see their kids be successful and education plays a key role in their future achievements. The obstacles most people encounter is that they cannot decide which school to send their kids. They do not even know which type of school to send them. Public schools seem to be the route that many families opt to choose. Public schooling consists of two main types: grade schools, such as district controlled school, or charter schools. Most parents often wonder “which school has been proven more” or “which school is right for my

During 1971, the members of Chicago Teachers Union felt like they were not only under-appreciated but underpaid as well. Teachers had been laid off, their pay increase had been cut, and their classrooms were over run by students (The History of the Chicago Teachers Union). Since the 1930s, Chicago teachers have been trying to gain higher wages and improve working conditions. From their first official strike in 1969, the Board of Education had done nothing to meet those needs of the teachers and members of the union. According to Substance News, the union had always been “ organizing and negotiating over what were called ‘social justice issues’” (STRIKE WATCH 1971). These social injustice issues represented a huge problem for teachers in Chicago.

they must be reinvented. It is not enough to try to fix the schools; they must

For the second time in almost 4 years, over 350,000 Chicago Public School Students may not be able to go to school because of the CTU Strike that is currently in progress today (The Washington Post). The issue between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools has not been solved yet due to disagreements about the income received. The Chicago Teachers Union has made offers to school administrations; however, the responses were not in their favor. The union has been in progress of agreeing on a contract “since November 2011, [and the strike that occurred at the time] was the first to hit the Windy City in 25 years” (Liebelson). The issue must have erupted due to a misconception or a realization of problems occurring. Chicago Teachers Union choosing to strike does not affect charter schools since they are not a part of Chicago Public Schools. The issue of school strikes can be fixed by increasing the budgets and providing useful resources to teachers in order to improve the level of education.

Let’s re-examine the inner city school mentioned above. What are some assumptions about this school? It is a public school, it is in an area with lower incomes, the children and teachers who populate this school are mostly of a singular race or ethnicity, the education they receive may be less than sufficient, the majority of the children will not go on to higher education, it would take too many resources to fix a school in this area. What are some assumptions about a school in the suburbs? It may be public, the surrounding area is mostly middle class families, the teachers and children who populate the school are mostly of a singular race, the education is sufficient or above the current standard, the majority of children will go on to higher education, it is worth the effort to put resources into enhancing the school.