CPS Obsessed

I just traveled by car (14 hours with a 7yo – thank you to whoever invented Nintendo DS!) to Cleveland this past weekend for a family event.  My cousin who I stayed with is a teacher so we had a lot to talk about.  She’s one of those people who made a mid-life career change to teaching and she works in a Cleveland Charter school.

Anyhow, first of all, the headlines in the Cleveland paper were all about the teachers’ union and how there is pressure for them to accept concessions to avoid laying off a bunch of teachers.  There was talk about class sizes of 45 (and they call 37 scare tactics?!)   It was largely the same story as we have here.  I did see a chart in their paper comparing the length of the workday of teachers around the country and Chicago was right around average (not a wide range, really.)  But it did make me wonder whether I’m just getting old and boring and I’m finally paying attention to articles about things like teachers’ unions?  Or whether this issue is really hitting some tipping point in our society right now due to the economy, changing demographics, changes in union sentiment, etc.   Is this really the first time in years that this has been a huge issue all over the country?  I know it’s going on in New York as well and I assume other states.  One of the big topics in Cleveland is the idea of tenure vs performance when choosing who gets to keep jobs.  Which leads me to my next topic….

Performance is, of course, measured by test scores since there isn’t any other objective way to do it in a big school system.  My cousin, working in a charter school, does not get any kind of tenure benefits and the principal is VERY test-score focused.  The teachers get a bonus of several thousand dollars a year for meeting goals of raising test scores.  There are 2 fourth grade teachers in the school who kick ass every year and always get the bonuses and tons of public praise from the principal. 

My cousin teachers 5th grade, so she has these kids the year after the 2 “awesome” teachers.  This year when the kids were doing their standardized tests, they inquired why she wasn’t helping them.  When she said she can’t they explained the way that their previous teachers would walk around and look at their answers and give them a thumbs up or thumbs down until they finally got the thumbs up on the question.  They told of a few other subtle ways that the teacher would nudge them along during the test.   She asked the other 5th grade teacher to subtley ask her class about it.  And yes, that teacher would put a little pencil dot next to questions that she wanted the kids to ‘rethink.” 

So… cheating clearly is going on.  My cousin took the issue to the principal who said he was “mad that she hadled it this way” and said should have gone to the teachers herself.  He *did* tell them that “if you cheat this year, you’ll be fired” but nothing is set in place to monitor them in any way. 

So now my cousin is faced with the liklihood of showing DROPPING test scores from this same cohort of kids.  She was actually friends with these 2 cheating teachers beforehand and still can’t believe they do it.  But you have to imaging that the pressure of test score performance makes otherwise sane people find ways to “help” their kids that they may not even thinking of as actual cheating.    I know in the book Freakonomics, the author had identified teachers in CPS who had filled in answers for the kids at the end of the test.  Clearly it goes on.  It’s just hard to hear about a real case that involves someone I know who believes in doing things the right way.

Cause I sure would like those frequent flyer miles…

One of my spies tells me (spies meaning people who actually read the newspaper instead of just reading CakeWreck and AwkwardFamilyPhotos online like I do) that the state has decided to borrow money to address Illinois’ budget issues for now and they’ll figure things out next year. 

Why do I feel like the entire state is going to have a big FORECLOSURE sign on it at some point?

Not sure what this means, but I think we’re safe from classes of 35-37 kids. For now.  

Nuts.  Who is running the place?

I see people are asking about the next round for gifted/classical/magnet, etc.  I guess we’re on 3rd round now?  I pretty much think that at this point they kind of stop with the official “rounds” and just keep filling spots as they come open.  Typically people might get a call and have a few days to make a decision… then they keep working their way down from there.

Of course CPS funding is still a wildcard here.  I’m really curious to see if they’ll suddenly announce that gifted/classical classes can go to 35 (or something higher than 28 for lower grades) and whether they’ll fill these up.  Yikes. 

I’m still puzzled by what’s happening at the different schools, even within the gifted program alone.  I’ve been told that my son is losing French, but have heard other schools will keep it.  Was some deal made behind the scenes?  Are we keeping something they’re losing?  I’m still totally uncertain about the decisions on half day K.  It seems to vary a lot.  Some principals seem to find money, some don’t.  Or maybe it’s a matter of priority.  It’s aggravating that within our city there seems to be disparity between the schools.

I know I should be doing more to lead the protest against the ridiculous situation we find ourselves in with funding.  I don’t get how Illinois comes off as one of the worst states in terms of education funding.  We don’t have low taxes (do we?) so what is the money being spent on? 

And finally, a comment on Catholic schools.  These are funding in part by the parish (and or deep pockets of the Catholic church,) no?  It’s a way to keep themselves in business by “creating new customers.”  My boss is sending her son to a great-sounding Catholic school in the suburbs.  Sounds amazing (other than the religion part.)  $4,500 a year.  There is NO WAY that is covering their expenses.  No way.  I asked her about it and she said that it’s funded by the parish (and they told her that plenty of people complain about the $4,500 tuition.)  Cry babies.  Someone send them a British School brochure!  Seriously though, I wondered once again if I should bail from the city.  I have no complaints.  None.  My son has had 2 fantastic teachers, the school is great, but I keep telling him “you should try out for the musical next year.”  And have to follow it with “if there is one.”   Our music teacher was cut.  I really don’t want it to be the schools that drive me out of the city.  Sure the crime, the pigeons, the tourists carrying American Girl dolls.  But please, not the schools!

A loyal reader suggested that I write something about the cuts that are happening at different schools and how each school seems to be affected differently.   CPS typically has a method behind their madness, so I can’t figure out why some schools seem to be facing fewer cuts than others.  Overall, the basic rules should apply:

Schools get money based on the number of kids
They get more money for lower income kids (roughly $700 per kid per year)
Magnet cluster schools get a position funded from a different pot that gives them at least 1 teacher in their subject matter (so a fine arts magnet cluster school gets a “free” art, music, or drama teacher (or 2.)
You need a certain number of kids to “earn” positions like a librarian, gym teacher etc.

I don’t think I’ve heard of any schools that claim to NOT be affected.  The principal where I’m on the LSC says the schools is “blessed” to not have to cut many positions (yes, the great Lord intervened into CPS matters!)   But what I can’t tell is whether the cuts that the principals are making reflect some behind-the-scenes decisions they’re making (ex: they have been wanting to can the music teacher all along, so now there’s a good excuse.)  Or if the decisions are made more centrally.  It seems like the budgets aren’t final, but some of these special teachers have already been told that they’re being eliminated.  Or perhaps they’re being told that if the money is found (somewhere, magically) that their positions will be reinstated.

All I know is that being in limbo is a crappy place for a principal and certain teachers to be hanging out.

If anyone has any insight, questions, or suspicions about how the cuts are being doled out, please share!

A reader here (and one of the people who have been good enough to call the OEA office) says that the office claims that 2nd round letters will mail out today, followed up by a phone call to confirm.

Back to mailbox watching tomorrow.  Keep the updates coming….

I am still in a sad funk about the state of CPS.  I attended the LSC budget meeting at my neighborhood school where I am on the LSC and it was downright depressing.  The principal was calm, but clearly pissed off about the situation they’re being put in, in terms of making enrollment projections without any knowledge of what will happen in terms of funding.  Not CPS’ fault – they just have to proceed as best they can.  But to maintain teachers, the schools need to increase class sizes to 35, which is just nuts.  More ranting to come on that topic later.

My son’s school got word of our potential cuts:

Basically all specials are up for cuts.  Foreign language in his gifted program (no surprise there,) music, half of art teacher, possible loss of science and computers.  Bussing, of course, is up in the air.
I guess I knew it was coming and for each class, I figured I could deal with the loss of it.  It’s just when they take basically *ALL* of it – everything except sitting in the classroom learning – that it gets really depressing.  It just seems like a really un-fun day for the kids not to have breaks for other topics.   I suppose the burden falls on the classroom teachers to cover some of these topics, which means that teacher quality and energy is more important than ever.  But of course teacher cuts have nothing to do with effort/ability/innovation, and everything to do with longevity.  Grrr.

I’m also sad thinking of these people being displace who will have hard times finding jobs right now.  French teachers, music teachers, and bus drivers are not going to be having an easy time of it out there.

From what I understand, schools are being given the worst scenario, and then we all hope/beg/pray that more money will materialize from the state.  At that point schools will prioritize what to add back in.

Where do we go from here?

So schools should be or are starting to hear about their budgets for 2010/2011.  It seems like some schools are reporting few significant cuts while others seem to be harder hit.

Pre-School-For all appears to be saved at all schools (?) which seems a bit weird to me.  If CPS truly believe in the Tier system as an accurate judge of socio-economic level, why would any Tier 4 (or even Tier 3)-heavy school get free preK?  Maybe I’m just bitter because I shelled out $8K-freakin’-dollars for pre-school. 

The most likely cut will be that schools will get funding for fewer teachers.  Although CPS has been publicizing the 35 per class number, the trouble is that things don’t always fall nicely into grades like that, meaning that staffing is going to be a nightmare.

Consider a typical neighborhood school that is running at almost full capacity.  They get a good number of local kids and pull in some out-of-district kids to make their class sizes line up.  So maybe they have 2 classes of about 28 kids in each grade (this isn’t necessarily common since many schools are more sparse in they upper grades, doing split grade classes.)  They get 1 teacher per class and it all works out.  For 8 grades, they get 16 teachers.  So they have 464 kids (28 in 1-4, 30 in 5-8.)  If the new formula gives them 1 teacher per 35 kids, they now get 13.26 teachers.  13?  So how on earth do they shift those kids?!  They need to make 16 classes into 13 classes.   It just screws things up.   Do they take in extra kids to fill the classes?  It’s not even that easy since CPS bases your teacher assignment on last year’s enrollment and THEIR projection’s (not the schools own projections.)  A school would need to get all the new kids actively enrolled before getting any new positions. 

I suppose it COULD be a chance for people who say they’re in crappy neighborhoods to get into some of the “good” neighborhood schools, but who knows if it’ll work that way.

This should be interesting, people.  Post any news from your school here.

But seems like they haven’t.

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to call the OAE office to find out what’s what.  I love how every person gets a different answer and some people on the phone will divulge a LOT more than others. 

It seems like there has been notification and movement on many of the proximity magnet lists (I really cannot believe that people are turning down Hawthore in the proximity lottery!)  But I guess the magnet borders are pretty big and once people really face the idea of driving, spliting up kids, changing schools, etc maybe it’s not that great of an idea.)

There doesn’t seem to be a ton of movement on the pure lottery lists, nor is it clear how the Tier factor is working in or how many lists a school is working from.

Some people have heard there will be letters about gifted/classical programs, others have heard phone calls.

I can say with certainty now, that my son wouldn’t have gotten into his current gifted program had the Tier system been in effect.  But he is certainly holding his own, which to me indicates that a lot more kids in the system could be working beyond the typical CPS curriculum.  But I think we all knew that.

Keep posting about notifications so other can be informed.  If only the OEA had any idea that people were comparing the results of all the phone calls there….

So from what we hear, the next round of letters/calls for gifted/classical programs should be going out this week.

Keep the obsessive troops posted if you hear anything!

And maybe some budget news this week?  I am a bit nerve-wracked wondering what will happen with my son’s gifted program.  And all of CPS really.

I am helping a friend who needs help with their LSC election at a magnet school.  The boundary for magnets is actually very wide, as you can see.)  If you are in the boundary, why not stop by the school and take a peek?  They have a great playground too.  Even if your child doesn’t attend, building strong magnets is always a good thing (especially if CPS continues to give neighborhood priority.)

I am urging, pleading and begging residents who live in our very big voting area (Diversey to Foster, Lake Michigan to Western) to come vote on Wednesday, April 21 at Inter-American’s Local School Council (LSC) election.

This is a critical election. Our school was without a contract principal for four years, and it’s challenging to recover.
At Inter-American, these parent representatives will put the instructional needs of children first: 
#12  LUIS VERA
#10  ANA CAMINO
#06  JOSE TORRES
#05  KAREN BARBOUR
#02  CLIFF MEECE

People can learn more by visiting http://progressivelsc.org and reading candidate descriptions and info below. The school is located at 851 West Waveland Ave. Chicago IL 60613 between the Whole Foods/Center on Halsted and Wrigley Field in East Lake View just south of Uptown. Polls are open 6am to 7pm. Bring 2 pieces ID, one with address.   Voters in need of a ride can call 773-360-0650 or text iams@txt.att.net.

Thank you, Jill Wohl
P.S. There’ll be a bake sale, and we’ll likely be serving Intelligentsia coffee!