 |
||||
|
News > Features
Now, with the 2010 deadline swiftly approaching, Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman has unveiled a proposed "Student Bill of Rights'' and a new set of closing guidelines that would address some concerns raised by Daley's "Renaissance 2010" initiative. During Wednesday's School Board meeting, Huberman also revealed that he would not close any high schools this school year. But he did not rule out using a "turnaround'' model in which all staff at a school could potentially be replaced over a summer. Under the new closing guidelines, schools would have to miss academic performance targets for two consecutive years to face closure. Some 34 high schools and 47 elementary schools -- including six charter schools -- fell into that category, but several other factors could still spare them from closure. Other schools could face closure, consolidation or turnaround if they were less than 40 percent occupied and their enrollment fell below 250 students. New "student rights'' would include guarantees that kids from closed schools would only be assigned to better-performing schools. Transportation options would be offered for a year if the new, better school was more than 1½ miles from a student's home. At their new school, each student would receive a "personal learning plan'' and a staff member-mentor to help with the transition. If necessary, "safe passage'' to new schools would be provided. The new guidelines, said Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education, "sound like the empty promises of five years ago. . . . Are we supposed to believe it this time? I don't know why we would.'' However, Huberman said the Student Bill of Rights and new closing guidelines are intended to address parent complaints as well as concerns raised by a recent study by the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research. The study found that moving from a closed CPS grammar school had no impact on students who made the move between 2001 and 2006, largely because most students transferred from one low-performing school to another. Only when kids switched to a top school did they do better academically. |
|||
|
Students First Illinois | Ronald J. Gidwitz | 200 South Wacker Drive, Suite 4000 | Chicago, IL 60606 | email | (312) 943-1955 p (312) 943-8397 f © 2006 Students First. All Rights Reserved |
||||
