Fri Oct 3, 2008 at 5:48 PMBy: "Public Hearings" CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) Alexander,
Your readers should be interested in the newly proposed Renaissance 2010 schools for 2009. "Public hearings" are being held this week with the usual lack of public notice or public explanation.

http://www.ren2010.cps.k12.il.us/docs/PublicHearingFlyer.pdf

Fri Oct 3, 2008 at 8:49 PMBy: jordan carjacking CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) from a reader:

This morning at around 8am in front of Jordan Community School the 6th grade teacher was held up at gun point. The man took her cell, wallet, car etc. She asked for her house keys so she could get into her house. Mr.White the principal as usual did not arrive until 8:45am. Yesterday an over intoxicated man was found wandering around Jordan School. Mr.White had to escort him out. This is the same school that a teacher was assaulted at last year and the Principal did nothing about besides let her go for demanding security. Add this to your hotspots!

-- alexander

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 4:52 AMBy: George N. Schmidt CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) "...this also from a reader -- you guys are great -- brawling students force early closure of foreman CLTV..." (Alexander, yesterday).

"And police are now trying to figure out what caused the uproar..."
(CLTV yesterday).

What caused the uproar is the Daley administration's policy of allowing the charter and "Turnaround" schools to dump discipline problems into the remaining general high schools. This year, the students who can't attend school in Austin (there are no general high schools in the Austin community that have to take everyone) are also being pushed out of Orr (the latest AUSL "Turnaround" school). Orr kept more than 100 students (sources say as many as 300) locked down in the school's auditorium beginning the week after Labor Day. Why? AUSL refused to register those students and give them programs because they had serious discipline problems last school year.

Most of them now have scattered across the northwest and west sides. Few were able to round up "parents" (remember what happens to the kid from the group home you ask to give his "mother's" name in the real world?) to sign those discipline contracts. Basically, Mayor Daley's "Turnaround" buddies are guaranteeing that their "Turnaround" teachers (the Kiddie Korps) don't have to face too many "bad" children during the first year of "Turnaround." It might jeopardize that $9 million in Gates Foundation "Turnaround" money Arne, Daley, and Mike Koldyke are splitting.

Once again, Arne is sabotaging the general high schools, and when the problems are reported in our city's dwindling media, they are usually reported out of context and with that noisome City Hall spin that is still the dominant narrative here in Chicago.

Anyone who wants to continue tracking these problems in real time in the real world, we'll try to cover them, from the gangsters that have beset Washington High School all the way up to the MLDs who are stalking the buses along Austin and Narragansett hunting for Vice Lords (or alleged Vice Lords) coming back to Austin from the northwest side.

Last thought: As Homecoming season develops, someone could do a complete movie just about the security being marshaled in the games and the extra precautions necessary for the dances.

But as long as the sun's shining at Washington and LaSalle and the TIF dollars haven't all been drained away, it's City Hall smiley faces for the downtown TV "reporters".

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 10:05 AMBy: Kudos to Receiving Schools CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) Great to be so up on the law; just don't count on many kids (yes, even the ones you think are so hard and so tough) surviving too many rounds of I-don't-want-him-you-can-have-him ping pong before he just walks away and doesn't come back. That's probably what Arne and Richie were hoping would happen in the first place.

Then he can become a person Jody Weiss is justified in treating like just another piece of trash to be cleaned up and swept away.

And apparently throwing children away isn't exclusively a big-city practice -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/us/03omaha.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 10:43 AMBy: To:to Russo -fadsasdfasdfasd CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) I could not agree more. Thank you for bringing that up "fadsasdfasdfasd" (I will refer to you by that name). I was reading that and thinking to myself "what a waste of money!". Now that I know it comes from the members dues I am furious! If they want to distribute outdated garbage that the teachers could care less about let them do it on their own dime. And talking about their website! What happened to the website? I went there and was unable to find any necessary information. I needed a form and it was no longer posted. Why did they take down all of the helpful information? This was brought up at a teacher meeting I was at. Everyone was frustrated at how they have made it more difficult for us to find important information ie. grants, opportunities, upcoming events, forms etc. We all agreed they should rename the site to www.marilyn.com None of us liked the fact that she is trying very hard while spending our money to defame Ted. She is sending incorrect information to teachers (more money wasted). This is only making the teachers (the ones I know) dislike her more. What a backfire. Does she think that teachers don't read a newspaper? Talk about ignorance.

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 3:39 PMBy: Marricat CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) Security has been a problem at Orr and other high schools for a long time (over 20 years ago, I was shot at the bus stop in front of Orr in a drive by shooting). CPS has never taken teacher security seriously because to them we are expendable. Unfortunately, turning to the Union hasn't done any good either (except for the period when George was head of security). Unfortunately, the problem has trickled down to the grade school even in so called good neighborhoods. The neighborhood paper reported that two teenage gang members forced two grade school boys (under threat of a gun that one of them supposedly had in his coat) to fight each other. I saw supposedly because they saw the outline of a gun but it was never drawn so they aren't sure it was real. The incident happened at 4:30 in the afternoon in front of Rogers School in West Rogers Park. More and more graffiti is being posted in the neighborhood and several of the parks are having problems in the hours right after school especially. The gang members were a male and his girlfriend. Neither the park district nor the school had security present at that time even though the park district runs an afterschool program. It is a sign of the security problems when grade schools have police officers on duty.

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 5:29 PMBy: To:Marricat U must kidding CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) The New Orr has no security problem.As a school run by the AUSL they were able to provide the most intelligent and competent administration(the Principal was able to apply and receive his type 75 certificate in one day -June 16 in spite of not having any teaching certificates).They are really great ,competent and most friendly people in thw world.So please do not attempt create negative impression about Orr.

Sat Oct 4, 2008 at 11:05 PMBy: Marricat CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) To: By to Marricat U Must Be Kidding

I love your sarcasm. How do I get my certification as an administrator in 1 day? I'd love to go out and start my own school--I'm sure I could do as good of a job as some of these 1 day wonders.

Sun Oct 5, 2008 at 1:50 PMBy: To:Jordan School Terror CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) Yes that is the same school, Jordan Community School in Rogers Park. I have heard awful things about that school ever since the old principal retired. Whoever the principal is there now needs to be tossed out for letting all of these things happen. I would love to sit down with him. If I were those teachers I would have gone to the media asap. It is principals like these that put the children at risk in addition to the teachers.

Sun Oct 5, 2008 at 2:58 PMBy: Retired Principal CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) The "new" principal at Westinghouse High School is Janice Jackson. What title does the former principal of Wells High School have at Westinghouse High School?

Mon Oct 6, 2008 at 2:24 AMBy: George N. Schmidt CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) We hear that Nicole Jackson (no relation) got an administrative job at the "New Westinghouse" after Arne removed her as principal of Wells High School. She had done her dirty work at Wells by firing four tenured veteran teachers, so is now (apparently) guaranteed tenure in the higher ranks (at more than $130,000 a year) forever. The only remaining question is why the Chicago Teachers Union supported her and worked against the teachers. But since Marilyn Stewart will never hold another House of Delegates meeting or press conference or answer any press conference, we may never get to ask that question -- let alone hear her answer to it.

Mon Oct 6, 2008 at 12:24 PMBy: cps budget CPS Hotspots (Fall 2008) http://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/Citizen%27s%20Guide%20Budget.pdf