Wirepoints’ Senior Editor Matt Rosenberg joined the Steve Cochran Show talk about poor leadership at CPS, why the district’s enrollment rate is plummeting, and how the moratorium that lawmakers passed at the behest of the CTU means no closings until at least 2025.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- More failure at Chicago Public Schools: About one-third of traditional schools are half empty or worse
- The opportunity that Chicago – and Illinois – kids need is real school choice
- Chicago schools poised to end rankings in latest blow to accountability
- Lightfoot’s Election-Year Budget For Chicago Is No ‘True Path’ To Recovery and Stability
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Here’s a thought. What if these underutilized schools the parents were required to pay tuition instead of “Education shall be Free”. There would be an uproar about all the wasted costs but since it’s free not much is said.
Fred, My parents did just that. The rub was they had to pay twice. Once for the Catholic school that me and my siblings attended AND once again for the local public school district that none of us attended. The fix to the sorry state of CPS is to allow parents to pay only once for the school of their choice regardless of any religious affiliation. There will be a howl from the CTU that we’ll never hear the end of. However, there is probably no other institution in need of competition than CPS. Any parent who doesn’t move heaven… Read more »
You are SO right. My parents sent me and my two siblings to Catholic grammar and high schools though they were of extremely modest means. My husband and I sent our four children to Catholic grammar and high schools. And yes, it was a sacrifice, but one we would make again eagerly. I can confidently say that NO money we have spent or invested has brought the return that a non-public school education has. We would do it again without a second thought. I have little use for parents complaining that the cannot afford private or Catholic schools after showing… Read more »
Catholic school kid here as well. Grade school thru high school. Another aspect. I have pictures from those grade school days. 1 nun with 40 to 50 kids in a class. Never changed rooms, just grabbed the subject book from your desk and studied that subject. Amazingly many of my fellow students ended up very successful. Doctors, lawyers, business owners, cops, firemen, scientists, professionals in many areas and somehow managed a good education in those over stuffed classrooms. We even had religion as a subject, apparently that never harmed anyone emotionally either.
Ah, memories…and yes, they’re good ones. Regarding class size—with all due respect to the nuns, they could succeed in teaching that many children in one classroom because the students respected the nuns and if you got out of line and it was reported to your parents, woe betide you. Parents respected the teacher and taught you to respect them also. It facilitated the learning process.
I remember get 2 whippings for acting up. Once from Sister Donna and another when I got home!
The down vote is from an over worked CPS teacher whose school has a graduation rate of 3%
Same here Paul. My 1st grade class had 50 kids and 1 nun and I never heard her complain about class size. Were were stuck in that class room all day except for recess. We even ate lunch at our desk. I ended up as a mechanical engineer.
To paraphrase the Blues Brothers, Sister Jean really was on a mission from God. I hope I’ll get the opportunity to thank her in heaven.
Is it any wonder, that folks who work in Chicago continue to move further and further into the collar suburbs, routinely enduring endless hours commuting, rather than populating the Chicago School districts with their own children.
Societal collapse can’t be far behind. See the Soviet Union in 1989….
Empty schools with empty classrooms yet CPS teachers will still complain about too many students in a class and demand action or they will strike.