December 6, 2012

“The teacher body are all inspiring. They make us well rounded. Notice the halls? At my old school, the halls are never quiet. You can’t even walk. There are fights everywhere.”

That was from Michael, a 15 year old freshman at Howe HS in Indianapolis, one of the four worst schools in the state, which thanks to legislation were able to be taken over from the district and turned over to new management. There is nothing like students to tell it like it is, and at Howe, Manual and Emma Donnan – 3 of the 4 I visited this week, order is more the norm than the exception these days. Pages could be written but this media piece tells part of the story as does this. If we just listened to the kids more we may actually make real progress some day.

by Jeanne Allen

The Chicago Teachers Union is behind the protest at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house, according to press releases handed out by CPS officials. Protestors are upset about the city’s plan to close or restructure failing schools, saying city officials didn’t take time to listen to community concerns or notify parents of what was going on. CPS fights back saying, “what has been tried in the past has not worked and going back to the same failed policies is not in the best interest of our students.”