Let's Test All CPS Kids...Only If Every Policitician in The State....

Has to take the test every Monday morning too. Seriously, when every politician who supports this idea signs up to be tested on Monday mornings, I know we will have a winner of a policy.

What? Would they object to this amazing invasion of privacy?

So why would anyone advocate it is okay to do the same to a 17 year-old? Especially at the cost of $20.00 each. Is this district so rich it has cash to burn? 20 bucks per kid.

Think about that. According to the 2000 census (7 years out of date) there are 2,895,668 citizens in Chicago. According to the same census data there are 530,823 children of school age.

Let's just throw 30,000 out of the equation (moved, dropped out, etc.). Let's agree that CPS serves about half a million kids. Let's further stipulate that CPS would only test high school kids. That leaves, what? 150,000 kids in the high schools? Am I low balling or high balling that number? Let's give CPS the benefit and call it 100,000 kids in high schools.

At 20 bucks each, CPS would need 2 million dollars. And that is just to test kids once.

Since the school in New Jersey is using federal dollars, my question is are there really that many idiots working in Congress and the White House who think testing kids is a good use of federal tax revenues? And if they believe in it so much, would they be willing to send us here in Chicago...oh, say 10 tests worth of cash for all our high school kids. Say one test a month for the school year. All we need is 20 million dollars.

Oh, and we'll do just what the NJ school will do. Even if the kids test positive, there will be no penalty. According to the AP story "Students who test positive for alcohol will not be kicked off teams or barred from extracurricular activities. Instead, they will receive counseling and their parents will be notified, Reynolds said."

So, yes, whoever you are in the Congress or Administration, I say send us 20 million and...well, let's just say you can ask for an accounting of how we spent it once you find the missing billions in Iraq. But I know lots of people who could use that cash to help our kids.

Full story here. Here are some choice lines:

(AP) - PEQUANNOCK, New Jersey-Some teenagers who drink over the weekend could be in big trouble Monday morning: A school district plans to start random urine tests capable of detecting whether alcohol was consumed up to 80 hours earlier.

Pequannock Township High, with about 800 students, said it will begin administering the tests Monday.....

Critics say common household products such as mouthwash can produce a positive test result. Reynolds said the test has been recalibrated so that for students to test positive, they would generally have to consume one or two drinks.

The EtG test costs about $20 (€15), Reynolds said. The school's overall testing program is funded by a three-year, $120,000 (€92,506) U.S. grant.

"No one's really taking it seriously. If you want to go to a party, you're still going to go to a party," senior Matt Huber said.

We are truly ruled by fools. Rubes, every one.

Please Go Visit and Comment at Russo's 299

An excellent conversation is going on over at Russo's 299 blog.

All about new teachers and how (if so desired) to keep them in the system working for our kids.

Please click here and say something.

A Show of Hands

Hat tip to Desi (original post here)

More Promises From The Tribune Editorial Page

You can read it all here, but it appears the Trib is coming out full force for a change how Illinois funds schools.

Have the powers that be finally tired of being reminded that the way they fund schools ranks them 49th out of 50?

Will wonders never cease? Here is the money quote:

In Illinois, though, state aid accounts for less than 34 percent of school costs. The resulting overreliance squeezes businesses and homeowners. Local school districts wind up with profoundly inequitable amounts of money per pupil.

These editorials will address three questions:

How much revenue is needed to provide every child with an adequate education?

What is the most efficient way to raise money for schools without putting too much burden on the state economy?

How should that money be spent to give every schoolchild a fighting chance to succeed?

Unless Illinois voters and their legislators coalesce around good answers for those three questions, expect a decades-long pattern of mediocrity in education to continue.

The proof for me will be in how the Trib answers those three questions. Better yet, how does Daley and CPS answer those questions?

Honey, Let's Have Pizza For Valentine's!!

Hat tip to Russo's District 299 for letting us all know about the romantic get-away offered by Marilyn and the UPC folks at the Merchandise Mart.

I would laugh but April first is so far away.

Won't someone please send us photo's of the lucky couples who are part of the first 150?

They get free pizza.

Romance is in the air.

Now, who will go to the house of delegates and request an audit. If one cent of union dues is used for this....arrrgggghhh.

Is impeachment for stupidity part of the by-laws?

The Job Protection Record of UPC and Marilyn Stewart

In the four years that Marilyn Stewart has been president, the union has lost membership...BIG TIME. More than 4,000 dues paying members have simply vanished from the membership rolls. This information comes straight from the CTU's own reports.

This is a bigger number than can be explained by maternity leave or retirement. It is an abject failure on the part of UPC and Stewart to stem the growth of charters, contract schools and the devastating effects of RenTen and the privatization of public education in this city.

From 2003 to 2007, more than 270 high school teachers disappeared from union membership. In the same time period, more than 2,600 elementary teachers went missing.

More than a 1,200 ESP's are gone.

UPC, under the leadership of Marilyn Stewart, has done worse than nothing when it comes to job protection. And the children of Chicago are not better served with her 4 years of "leadership."

But don't worry, UPC team members get perks like conferences in Hawaii. Yeah, that got the job done for the rank and file. Way to go UPC! Good use of union dues!

In the 2003 election campaign, I remember Marilyn Stewart's famous quote that the CTU was a "union, not a university."

Many took offense that she was implying that the outstanding professional development offered by the Quest Center was somehow a misuse of union resources.

But I guess people wanted a back to basics style union...you know, grievances and arbitration. In short, people voted for "job protection", the most basic function of a union. (On a side note, many people didn't trust her with even that, since the election was decided 50.1% to 49.9%.)

Marilyn Stewart has failed.

Leadership Can Make A Difference

On October 28, 2006 in a post titled "Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way" I said that now that Democratic party is firmly in control of the levers of government in Illinois, school funding must change.

It took a little more than two months, but I am glad someone over at city hall is listening.

As reported in today's Chicago Tribune, Mayor Daley has taken up the challenge.

After decades of debate, the time has finally come to change the way schools are funded in Illinois now that Democrats are in such complete control of state government, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday.

Daley, who supports a so-called tax swap that would increase the income-tax rate while lowering property taxes, said lawmakers need to take into account all of the ideas for changing school funding and agree on a solution. He said his fellow Democrats, who increased their control of both the House and Senate and retained the governor's office in the November election, should lead the way.

"We have talked about this for 25 years," Daley said. "Now, no one wants to sit here and talk about it for another 25 years. The time has come to start the debate anew, seize the opportunity for reform."

I salute you Mayor and hope that you know I got your back on this.

Fix this and then we can chat about this charter thing you seem to like so much.

The Blogs Are On The Case

There are several blogs discussing the Tribune article (once again, thanks for that Christmas morning present Trib).

Check out Dr. Homeslice here.

Check out Edpresso here.

UPDATE: Way back on 9/11/06 I said this:

To save $3,ooo, a teacher would have to save $125 a pay period for the next 24 checks they receive. For $4,000, the amount goes to $167 for the next 24 pay periods.

Now it is 7 pay periods later. We only have 17 pay periods left before we need our own strike fund in our bank accounts.

How much do you need to save between now and then? To have $3000, you need to save $176 every two weeks. To have $4000, you need to save $235 every two weeks.

Why isn't our union telling us to do this?

Merry Christmas...And Let's Strike?

Thanks Tribune! What do I read on Christmas morning? More strike talk.

A quick quote from the Dec. 25th Tribune story:

What is clear is that this early strike talk is making district officials and teachers nervous as they head into contract negotiations early next year. The current four-year contract will expire on June 30, about a month after teachers and assistants elect a slate of union officers.

"There's a lot of unhappy teachers out there," said Tom Stonis, a social studies teacher at Fenger High School on the Far South Side. "And there's a little buzz going on that if we don't get what we want, we're going to go on strike. But I'm not going to be around next year ... because of the strike possibilities. It's not worth it to me to go out on strike in this district."

I have talked about the possibility of a strike here, here, and here.

What model will it follow? Detroit (god forbid)?

What say you?

James Brown - Prisoner of Love/Please Please Please

Rest in Peace Godfather.

No comment is necessary, but watching this video is required.

A BETTER QUESTION...I HOPE

Alexander and the gang at District 299 are talking about who may or not be the best principal in CPS.

I, if I may be so bold, think this is an unanswerable question. How can anyone know who doesn't work there? My principal is doing great after only a few months, but how can I know who is best if I don't work there?

Instead, I think a better question is what attributes, what policies are implemented, that makes a principal good or bad?

In other words, what kind of principal would you like to work for? What is it that makes a good principal great? I think even most principals would like to know.

Your thoughts?

Barack Obama on Monday Night Football

PAY: TWO HUNDRED SEVEN THOUSAND AND 00/100!!!

I thought the headline should read like a check, because that is how much CPS put in the pocket of James Levin and Tru-Link Fence.

I know the outrage is shrill. To the point that if James Levin was encountered in a dark alley...Well let's just say I hope he doesn't encounter a teacher.

The headlines at the Tribune said James Levin of Tru-Link Fence (a business in Skokie, not even in Chicago paying taxes) bilked CPS for millions of dollars.

You need to read deeper into the article. Turns out the scandal is not just that he got the contracts (worth 2.87 million) to build fences, in my humble opinion (IMHO) it was the overbilling of $207,000 for snow removal that gets my goat.

The day this story came out, I, and everyone I talked to, was outraged. The conversation centered around the idea of what could we do for the children of Chicago with 2.87 million dollars.

But let's put that aside.

I will assume the best here. He got the contracts (fraudulently of course) but let's assume he did the work for the amount billed.

It is the $207,000 that sticks in my craw.

That is 100 classrooms outfitted with the latest technology including an LCD projector and screen. 100 classrooms.

How about pencil sharpeners? High end, groovy pencil sharpeners are $24.99 each. For $207,000 I could put a brand new sharpener in about 8280 classrooms. 8280 classrooms.

What did you need this year? What did you spend your precious $100 on? Hey, let's kick in the nice $50.00 "gift card" CPS sent to the teachers. (This, despite that the average amount spent by a teacher on class supplies is $522.) What could you have done for your building with $207,000?

Seriously, if I could have handed you $207,000 for your building, what would you have done with it? Methinks it would not involve paying Mr. Levin for work not done.

Check out this anonymous comment from over at Russo's District 299 blog (and keep in mind that Russo posted this on December 7 and as of this writing on December 9, there has been only one comment about this 2.87 million dollar scandal):

Levin couldn't have defrauded CPS without help from CPS. Who gives a snow removal contract to a fence company and then lets them overcharge them by a quarter of a million bucks? Of course the guy who hands out the CPS contracts is the brother of the Streets & San guy who hands out contracts. And of course the Mayor knows nothing. But the Civic Committee wants to cut more teachers and use charter schools to trim the CPS budget. Fogedaboudit.

Here is a tidbit for all of you to chew on from the Tribune, and I quote: "According to his plea agreement, Levin, 47, learned of the fraud in 2001 from an unnamed co-schemer who oversaw Tru-line's work for the schools." The bold face is mine.

So I ask you, in all seriousness, who is the "unnamed co-schemer"?

Who is the "unnamed co-schemer" who robbed 100 classrooms of LCD projectors?

Who is the "unnamed co-schemer" who robbed over 8,000 classrooms of a pencil sharpener?

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon

Two weeks to go...

And You Thought We Had It Tough

The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.

The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others against defying Taliban orders to stop educating girls.

Full story here.

Violence In Our Student's Lives or When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong.

Did you see the Sun-Times story about the stabbing on Thanksgiving day?

The quote from the dad really got to me: ""I didn't know she had a knife, but I'm glad she did. It saved her life," John Jones said after his 18-year-old daughter appeared in bond court."

Read the Sun-Times story here.

I didn't know she had a knife but I am glad she did. Wow. I don't know what to say to that.

Kendra Jones is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Laura Joslin, a sixth-grader who died after being stabbed in the throat during a clash in the 7300 block of South Claremont.

This has been a topic of discussion with my colleagues, as students in our classes speak to us about how they knew one or both of the girls involved in this tragedy. All I know is that a sixth grader is dead, stabbed in the throat.

Then I stumbled across this story, all 4 sentences of it, that describes a shooting in Pilsen that resulted in two teens being seriously injured. The shooting took place very close to St. Ann Elementary School. UPDATE: The Tribune now has a longer story and confirms that the students who were shot attended Juarez H.S.

Even if we are lucky enough to have good security in our buildings, the fact is violence is very much a part of the fabric of our student's lives and the community in which they live.

Several teachers have spoken with me about violent female students. They share their sense that things are out of hand with our female students and that they witness young women exhibiting violent outbursts at a higher rate than the boys.

What is your sense of this phenomenon? How do you deal with these issues in you school, classroom, community?

I am at a loss for words.

November Elections - No Words Necessary

Open Enrollment Alert: Did You Know...

In this open enrollment period, here are a few facts for CTU members:

Did you know…

…that you can save up to $800 dollars on health care costs--every year--by using the contractual Flexible Spending Account (FSA) benefit? Check out the contract (page 282) and your open enrollment materials.

Did you know...

...that the most economical health care choice is the Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO? That the premiums are the same average percent of salary as pre-2005 and there are no deductibles, no out-of-pocket maximums, and the plan pays 100% of costs after co-pays? Check out the contract for details (page 278) and check out bcbsil.com/cps to see if your doctors and hospitals are in the plan. The majority of CTU members choose this plan. It may be the best choice for you.

Did you know....

...that you can save 50% on your prescription drug costs by using the mail order option? That it’s really easy, fast and a huge savings (e.g. generics are $5). Check out the contract (page 281) and your open enrollment materials.

Hope this is useful-
Deborah Lynch

Tribune Covers LPHS and the Dismissal of Eshoo

Full story is here.

Excerpt:

What started as a protest over the layoff of a popular librarian at Lincoln Park High School has escalated into a rancorous debate about student free speech and teacher intimidation at one of the city's flagship neighborhood schools...

...Principal Bessie Karvelas said Eshoo, who had been at the school for 16 years, was fired because of budget cuts. But students and teachers have questioned whether Eshoo was let go because she challenged the principal on various issues.

"We're supposed to be one of the best schools in the system, but a lot of teachers want to leave. They are so afraid to speak out," said senior Michelle Gautier

It seems the kids get it. Too bad Clark Street doesn't.

Got Off Track There For A While

I got off track (and some of you said so in comments) by posting items of a general political and/or cultural interest.

You said you wanted this to about CPS classroom and union issues.

So, to further that goal, I have deleted several off-topic posts and I will try to stay on track more.

Thanks for your feedback.

Now, how do you feel about Merit Pay?