Education

Round Two In The Fight Over Outsourcing Chicago Schools

Angela Caputo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:44:41 -0800

With less than a week to go before the Chicago Board of Education votes on whether or not to authorize six new charter schools, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) held a round of public hearings last night. School reform advocates have long complained that CPS handpicks which charters will get the green light long before the hearings begin. And the opaque nature of the process generated a lot of criticism last year. As a result, officials are treading more lightly as they move forward this year.

Unlike in the previous years of Mayor Daley's Renaissance 2010 program, only a handful of new charters are being considered this time around. Still, CPS chief Ron Huberman is recommending that an additional 8,130 charters seats be made available next fall, according to an analysis by the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE). Alexander Russo reports that the established private school operators appear to have a leg-up:

Just six new schools are being recommended for approval -- most of them add-on campuses of existing networks. Fourteen did a full application only to get rejected. Meanwhile, a slew of existing contract schools are vying for charterization thanks to the newly lifted charter cap.

Contract schools -- which are also privately-managed but allow teachers to join collective bargaining under the Chicago Teacher's Union -- began to spring up when CPS nears the cap on the charter schools (originally set at 30). Regular readers may recall that the General Assembly agreed to lift that cap last spring, effectively allowing the number of Chicago charters to double. Under that same legislation, lawmakers also agreed to allow these schools to hire non-certified teachers to fill 25 percent of their classrooms. Tim King, founder of the all-boys Urban Prep on the city's West Side, tells Catalyst that he's among those hoping to transition from contract to charter status this year so he will have the "same freedoms as charter schools" (i.e., the ability to hire non-traditional, uncertified staff). That has members of CORE -- a grassroots, pro-labor coalition -- justifiably upset. "These so-called reform efforts have nothing to do with reform," high school teacher and CORE spokesman Kenzo Shibata tells us. "They're just a way of busting our union."

Indeed, am influential report recently revealed that there is no evidence that Mayor Daley’s school “reform” program is actually improving district performance. Not only is academic achievement flat, but the Consortium for Chicago School Research reports that a vast majority of the elementary students uprooted between 2001 and 2006 were merely shuffled into other failing schools. No wonder CPS has been so secretive about the closing process.

Shibata describes the school board's vote on the latest charters as the first of a 12-round fight. The second round will come in January as more school closure recommendations are announced. That's when Chicago Democratic State Rep. Cynthia Soto's hard-fought battle to bring transparency and create clear criteria over the closure process will likely come to a head.

In the meantime, CORE is setting its sights on overturning a 1995 state law that gave Mayor Daley control of Chicago's schools in the first place. "Labor law doesn’t allow a company to close down a union plant and open up a non-union one across the street," teacher and CORE member Jackson Potter writes in a release, "but that’s exactly what Chicago Public Schools has done for the last six years without pause."

Stay tuned ...

Budget Crisis Creeps Into Illinois Schools

Angela Caputo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:58:57 -0800

Two weeks ago, state lawmakers wrapped up the fall veto session and headed home with hopes that Illinois' financial crisis wouldn't follow them back to their own districts. So far, the bad budget news has trickled in slowly enough that many have been able to distance themselves from the severity of the state's financial situation. But they won't be able to dodge blame forever. For example, adding millions in school reimbursements to the growing pile of unpaid bills is weighing heavy on cash-strapped districts. And in places like the Central Illinois town of Pekin, the backlog -- coupled with other uncertainties and cutbacks -- is growing too big to sweep under the rug. The Pekin Daily Times explains:

The state has a multi-billion-dollar deficit. Inflation is down so far that school districts are limited in how much they can raise taxes to bring in new revenue. Corporate Personal Property Replacement Taxes and sales taxes are down.

General state aid funding for schools is running three months behind. Programs like special education and transportation will not be funded at the full levels. The state has not yet received an application for additional federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, which was used in lieu of state-generated general state aid payments.

Illinois State Board of Education Chair Jesse Ruiz summed it up best when warned that if the state doesn't generate new revenue for schools next year, "we fall off the cliff." That's why the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) is busy educating members of the Assembly about the devastating effects more cuts would have in districts across the state. Pekin's State Sen. David Koehler has gotten the message, pointing out the there is simply no way to cut next year's projected $12 billion deficit from the state's $26 billion overall budget without eviscerating public education. Too many other lawmakers have taken the decidedly cowardly approach, pushing off a vote on an income tax increase until after the February 2 primary election. Unfortunately, next year's projected $12.8 billion deficit will soon be simply too large to ignore.

The only responsible alternative is to find a new revenue source. Encouragingly, Koehler supports HB 174, the most viable tax plan to date. As regular readers may recall, that measure -- which would impose sales taxes on certain services and raise the personal and corporate income tax rate from 5 percent while doubling the state property tax credit and providing targeted tax credits to low- and middle-income families -- cleared the Senate back in May. The hurdle is the House. But it's not just finding 60 votes to pass the measure that's posing a challenge. Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has hinted that he won't even lift the bill from the Rules Committee until between 10 and 12 Republicans jump on board.

Encouragingly, we hear that a handful are ready to cross the aisle, but there's still work to be done on that front. "It's only going to get worse until all of us take responsibility for what we need to do," State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) told his Republican colleagues during a roundtable earlier this week, "and bite the bullet."

Chicago Charter Teachers Ratify First Labor Contract

Angela Caputo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:52:10 -0700

Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS) teachers made history last summer by becoming the first charter school employees to unionize in Chicago. Today, they made it official and ratified their first contract. Teachers at three of CICS' Civitas campuses -- Ralph Ellison, Northtown Academy, and Wrightwood -- have struck a three-year deal. Among the contract highlights are a commitment to cap classroom sizes at 29 and to formalize community and teacher input. Also, the 140 Civitas teachers will see their wages increase over the next three years, their evaluations will be standardized, and staff will have due process in disciplinary or dismissal cases. (Catalyst has a more detailed run-down here.)

When the General Assembly lifted the state's charter cap last June, they cleared the way to doubling the number of outsourced public schools. While Civitas' landmark contract is limited to only three of the dozens of charter schools in Chicago, the expectations for transparency and public input in these institutions -- which rely almost exclusively on tax dollars -- are certain to set a new tone. As Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, sees it, the agreement is a key step in keeping innovation, not cost cutting, as the driver of the privatization model. More from her statement:

This contract is a great example of how charter schools can be incubators for innovative reforms and good labor-management practices,” Weingarten said. “Civitas teachers are walking the education-reform walk by forging a new path for charter schools that value collaboration.

With elected officials making clear that they have scant interest in making these schools more accountable to the public, it's encouraging to see the teachers step up.

The Connection Between Wind Power And School Funding

Angela Caputo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:40:25 -0700

Back in July, we took note of an interesting development in Central Illinois' McLean County where a local school district used a new wind farm to generate desperately-needed education money. Encouragingly, other districts are following suit. Construction on a similar farm straddling neighboring Bureau and Lee counties is moving ahead and school officials already estimate that the 114-acre "Big Sky" project will bring in enough money to bail out a struggling local district. Ohio High School Supt. Sharon Flesher tells the News-Tribune that she estimates an additional $803,000 will flow into her district once the project is complete; another $735,000 will be freed up for local grade schools. That kind of money would double the high school's operating budget. But Flesher noted that the district won't keep all of the money:

"One of the first things we want to do is reduce taxes in the community. The community has supported this school at a very high tax rate for a long time. This is the board’s way of being responsible and saying thank you,” Flesher explained.

The Big Sky project serves as a reminder of how wind development can provide crucial benefits to rural communities. If it weren't for the impending boost in tax revenue, local school officials would surely be cutting costs or merging the strapped district with another nearby. Instead, they are entertaining ways to strengthen Ohio High's curriculum:

Jack Piper, who served on the Future of Ohio High School committee, suggested that in addition to lowering tax rates, the wind farm dollars could be used to hire more teachers and pay them more competitive salaries. Also according to Piper, the high school could even offer scholarships to all Ohio High School graduates, providing each student with several thousand dollars to help pay for college or vocational school. This opportunity might attract new families to the community, he said.

With new wind-development legislation now signed into law, we may be hearing many similar stories in the coming years.

MAP Grant Solution Reached, Larger Questions Remain

Adam Doster — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:34 -0700

Half of the 2009 fall veto session is now on the books and one legislative priority lawmakers identified before they trekked down to Springfield -- funding for the Monetary Awards Program (MAP) -- has been partially resolved. Yesterday, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law that gives him the authority to restore second semester funding for the need-based scholarships received by almost 140,000 college students. Earlier in the year, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission voted to eliminate grants for the entire spring 2010 term when it became clear the General Assembly was going to substantially reduce their budget.

Where that money will come from to reinstate the funding unfortunately remains a mystery.

Legislative leaders decided last week not to approve any new revenue to support ISAC, instead forcing Gov. Quinn to borrow. Specifically, he announced a plan to collect $1 billion from some of the state's roughly 600 "special funds" and devote one-fifth of that cash to the grants. Although the additional money must be repaid to its rightful agencies in 18 months, Quinn could use the windfall for "unmet needs" in the interim, possibly even paying down the state's backlog of medical bills.

Like most economic decisions made in Springfield these days, this "solution" isn't a sustainable one. The way our current tax system is structured, Illinois just doesn't generate enough money to pay for core services (like college aid) and the state's overhanging debt obligations. Until that is reformed, new problems will consistently arise. The Sun-Times drives the point home in an editorial today:

So where does this leave us today? How do we pay for scholarships, Medicare, public education and the rest?

By adopting a new tax system -- one that includes a tax increase and a new approach that places a greater burden on the rich than on the poor. For decades, Illinois has had one of the country's most unfair, regressive tax systems, charging everyone the same rate whether you make $1 million a year or $40,000 a year. [...]

Illinois needs a new tax system -- one that treats lower earners more fairly and generates more income. Until we get it, we'll keep romping in dreamland until the state goes broke.

The Latest Example Of Illinois' Achievement Gap

Angela Caputo — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:44:31 -0700

The evidence that Illinois' education system is riddled with shortcomings just keeps mounting. The latest, the results of last spring's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exams, has garnered surprisingly little attention but drives home how inequitable the state's education system has become. For the eighth consecutive year, low-income and minority fourth and eighth graders in Illinois continue to lag far behind their middle- and upper-income and white peers. What's stunning is how wide the gap is. The Tribune has some details:

In fourth-grade, for instance, 18 percent of low-income students were deemed proficient or higher in math compared with 54 percent of other children. And just 11 percent of African-American students tested at least above the proficient level, compared with 20 percent of their Hispanic classmates and 52 percent of white children.

That's a whopping 36 percent gap (PDF) between poor fourth-graders and their economically-advantaged peers. Unfortunately, eighth-graders didn't fare (PDF) much better; 45 percent of the "haves" proved proficient, compared with 14 percent of the "have-nots." Meanwhile, the gap between black and white students is even wider.

As the veto session began this week, education advocates were in the Statehouse to unveil a set of reforms designed to snag a portion of the $4.35 billion federal "Race to the Top" pot. "We say it's time to strike a new bargain," the Illinois Association of School Business Officials' Mike Jacoby said at a press conference unveiling The Dialog Group's proposal (PDF), which calls for new state learning standards and additional charter schools. "Local school districts are not equipped to handle this all their own. We need to face the fact that resources are needed."

But even with momentum building for Sen. James Meeks' (D-Chicago) HB 174, which would finally change the tax system to fund schools adequately, the bipartisan group sidestepped the issue and called for a "discussion" on school funding to be "framed in the language of student outcomes." As we've noted before, the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) has already been through this process. Five years ago, the group established an optimal per pupil rate for funding schools -- based on low-spending districts that post the highest results. Still, the state has yet to reach the goal of $6,405 per student.

Let's hope the latest round of dismal test results serves as a wake-up call to lawmakers. After all, even if the state is awarded Race to the Top money, it would still fall far short of the $3 billion a year that the EFAB says is needed to bring the state's schools up to snuff. If education "reformers" are serious about moving the state's schools forward, they're going to have to lead by example and show lawmakers how to stick their necks out.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user churl.

Soto's School Closure Bill Stands

Angela Caputo — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:02:33 -0700

Back in August, Gov. Pat Quinn dealt a blow to school transparency when he issued an amendatory veto against a bill that would give the public a voice in the rapid privatization of Chicago's schools. The measure, introduced by State Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-Chicago), initially called for a moratorium on school shutdowns, which was spurred by a dozen controversial closures in Chicago last year. But during the legislative process, lawmakers stripped HB 363 of its original intent, opting instead to create a committee that would hold hearings to investigate how and why schools are selected and to make legislative recommendations for shaping the process in the future. Quinn's decision to weaken the measure further -- by giving Mayor Daley more power to stack the committee with sympathetic appointees and to push its deadline back by five months, well after this year's school closures will have been decided -- blindsided Soto. Yet the decision made perfect political sense for Quinn, according to State School News Service's Jim Broadway. "The issue has the makings," he writes, "of a significant political resource for Quinn in the Democrat primary in February."

From the time Quinn inked the bill, Soto vowed to override his veto. And yesterday she succeeded. But the delay will have consequences. Julie Woestehoff, director of the education advocacy group Parents United for a Responsible Education (PURE) notes that the October 31 deadline could strain the potential committee in charge of the review:

Since we have to assume that the committee has not yet been named or officially appointed, it's very hard to see how anything helpful can be done by the end of the month. Even if someone has already been writing the not-yet-existing committee's report, that tight timeline does not allow for any meaningful public input, which is a key element of the bill.

After agreeing to lift the cap on charter schools last spring -- a measure that zipped through both chambers within 24 hours -- it's good to see that lawmakers are serious about holding Mayor Daley and Chicago school officials accountable for their notoriously-secretive school closure process. With the number of charters set to double in coming years, more neighborhood schools will inevitably be shuttered and Soto's measure is a first step toward making sure the process is finally transparent.

First Day Of Veto Session: What Happened?

Adam Doster — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:03:05 -0700

Back in Springfield for the fall veto session, state lawmakers made measured progress yesterday on some legislative priorities we've been tracking for months. Here's a brief rundown of what transpired:

Campaign Finance Reform

The big news was that a House committee approved a revised version of the ethics package vetoed by Gov. Pat Quinn in late August. This bill (SB 1466), introduced by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), covers much of the same ground as HB 7. It also applies campaign contribution limits -- $5,000 from individuals; $10,000 from corporations, labor organizations and associations; and $50,000 from political action committees or other candidates -- to the election cycle rather than the calendar year, an improvement designed to protect challengers who don't file until close to the election date.

But Madigan did make one major, self-serving change that has reformers up in arms. He stripped the $90,000 cap from party and legislative leader campaign committees to candidates, allowing himself to continue directing unlimited resources to his preferred candidates. It should be noted that HB 7 attempted to limit the leaders' capacity in this regard, but included loopholes that would have rendered that cap useless anyway. But critics like the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform's Cindi Canary contend that Madigan's latest move is a more blatant power grab, one that will make potential candidates even more reliant on the largesse of party elders. "In the primary, it is very hard," she told WBEZ, "for independents, non-incumbents, non-party-regulars; you know, people who haven't come up in the ward structure, to break through."

Unless some compromise is brokered, the legislation -- which passed on a party-line vote -- could stall until January, when a simple majority (rather than the three-fifths, super-majority required during the veto session) could pass it. Lawmakers from both parties are hesitant to slap their name to bill they see as fundamentally weak. Bethany Jaeger has more on those political ramifications in her full account for Illinois Issues.

MAP Grants

I guess we should have seen it coming. After talk from both parties of approving new revenue to fund the Monetary Awards Program (MAP) grants, lawmakers met yesterday and, as they too often do in Springfield, decided to appropriate money to fund crucial programs without determining exactly where the cash will come from.

Legislative leaders agreed to pass legislation providing an extra $200 million for the grants but demanded that Gov. Quinn tap into the $1 billion reserve account he secured this spring to restore the funding on his own. For the time being, it looks like two sensible ideas -- a state cigarette tax or a tax amnesty plan (which would have created a six-week window in which delinquent taxpayers could pay back income and sales taxes without interest or penalty) -- will be shelved. "He clearly had the money to spend all along," Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) told reporters after the meeting yesterday.

Thankfully, 138,000 Illinois students won't be denied scholarship money next semester. But now the onus falls back on Quinn, who will keep pushing for new revenue through the fall until his options run out. The safe bet is that the cash will ultimately come from the reserve account. Let's just hope he hasn't exhausted that fund already.

Cook County Veto

Reformers on the Cook County Board can't recruit enough allies to repeal President Todd Stroger's controversial 2008 sales tax hike, so lawmakers in Springfield are trying to make it a little easier for them. Yesterday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill lowering the override threshold from a four-fifths majority to a three-fifths majority. But State Rep. Deborah Graham (D-Oak Park) subsequently filed a motion to reconsider, placing an indefinite hold on the measure. So despite the Senate Executive Committee's unanimous, 9-0, vote to send the bill to the Senate floor, it is on hold until it clears a procedural hurdle.

Stroger, who the Capitol Fax's Rich Miller tracked down in Springfield yesterday, may be unpopular and ineffectual. But hey, you have to give him credit for finding inventive ways to preserve his administration's power.

UPDATE (1:45 pm): Crain's Greg Hinz is hearing that the veto bill will be released by the end of the day. More here.

Quinn, Lawmakers Agree To Fully Fund MAP Grants

Josh Kalven — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:35:01 -0700

We've been following the ongoing effort to restore funding for the Monetary Assistance Program (MAP), which provides college aid to needy Illinois students but was reduced by 50 percent in the state budget passed in July. The AP has some good news out of Springfield this afternoon:

Lawmakers emerging from a meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn say they agreed to appropriate an extra $200 million for the Monetary Award Program. But they said they haven't figured out where to get the money. [...]

Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, says the General Assemblly will appropriate $200 milllion to help 137,000 students pay tuition. But he acknowledged it will be next spring until they determine how to pay it.

This is a strange little news item. After all the talk in recent weeks of different proposals to fund the program, the leaders simply decided to reappropriate the missing $200 million with the hope of finding a way to cover the cost next spring. Still, it's got to be a relief to the numerous students who depend on the program.

Illinois Colleges: "We're Scraping The Bottom Of The Barrel"

Angela Caputo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:22:33 -0700

Late last month, university officials went public with their appeal to state lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn to restore college aid through the Monetary Award Program (MAP). As regular readers know, 138,000 Illinois college students are currently in the lurch waiting to see if the need-based grants -- funding for which was cut by half this year -- will be restored before second semester begin in January. Considering that 75 percent of MAP recipients come from families making $40,000 or less a year, the loss could force thousands to drop out. That could cause big problems for colleges and universities, particularly private institutions, who could lose millions in tuition, loans, and scholarship money as a result. The Sun-Times explores the impact:

With few exceptions, schools will ask students to take more loans, work longer hours in outside jobs or find the money other ways. The hope is that some students will be able to stay enrolled.

But if students leave, "that from an institutional standpoint is a complete loss,'' [Dave Tretter, president of the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities] said, particularly because many private schools rely on tuition for a larger share of their operating costs. "They are not going to be bringing their federal aid. They are not going to be bringing loan dollars. ... It wouldn't be a stretch to say that some schools will have a hard time making it.''

Once students quit school, the odds of re-enrollment are slim, a fact that could bruise Illinois colleges for years to come. Take Chicago State University, for example. More than half (58 percent) of its 3,000 students are MAP grant recipients. At the three University of Illinois campuses, upwards of 12,400 students were counting on $26.5 million in the grants this spring semester alone. Unlike private colleges -- who are struggling with tanking endowments and shrinking private donations -- state schools may be better equipped to weather the storm. But even at U of I, where efforts have been made for years to helped cover the gap between MAP grants and tuition, the rising cost of doing so -- from $1 million in 2002 to $35 million this year -- and a massive decline in state aid makes the proposition unsustainable. "We've been bleeding and bleeding and bleeding," U. of I.'s Vice President for Academic Affairs Mrinalini Rao told the Sun-Times. "We are scraping the bottom of the barrel.''

As we've pointed out before, there's plenty of blame to go around for how the cuts got this far. For students -- many of whom face a November 1 deadline for re-enrollment -- time for a solution is running short. All eyes will be on Springfield this week as lawmakers head back to the Capitol on Wednesday to come up with a solution.