City of Chicago excludes regular public schools from Schools Expo

[Hannah Bell]

Now in its fourth year, the "New Schools Expo" has evolved from an event that provides parents and community members with the opportunity to see a range of Chicago public schools to this year's event, which is simply to promote the city's every-expanding charter schools and a handful of privately managed "turnaround" schools at the expense of all of the other public schools in the city, new or otherwise.

For the first time, the majority of the schools featured at the "New Schools Expo" are non-union schools, since the small schools, military academies, and other speciality public schools are now excluded from the "New Schools Expo." Even the "turnaround" schools not being managed by AUSL (which operates union schools) have been excluded.

From its small beginnings at the Williams "Multiplex" school in the Dearborn Homes housing project in February 2008, the New Schools Expo has gradually evolved into an event designed and promoted to provide Chicago parents with the "choice" of charter schools only.

In past years, Chicago has provided parents with a complete catalogue of all public schools, charter and otherwise. Two years ago, the catalogue was delayed by Arne Duncan's administration until after the deadline for many of the city's selective enrollment public schools had passed, in December 2008.

As Duncan was becoming U.S. Secretary of Education in January 2009, the New Schools Expo was still featuring regular public schools, including the expanding military academies and the remaining "small schools" (which by then were being abandoned by CPS after the Gates Foundation, which had promoted "small schools", began promoting "turnaround" instead with a $19 million grant to Chicago Public Schools).

By 2011, the number of true public schools scheduled to be featured at the so-called "New Schools Expo" had decreased to the smallest number in history. "Small Schools" are no longer welcome at the New Schools Expo. The military schools are not listed in the program. And parents are no longer provided with the catalogue which gave them information about all of the city's public schools, not just the charter schools.



http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1936§ion=Article

[madrchsod]

1. this is where the real revolution has to start....

it was "the streets belong to the people" and now it should be "the schools belong to the people"

[leftstreet]

2. +1

"the schools belong to the people"

:thumbsup:

[Hannah Bell]

3. +100.

[Angry Dragon]

4. +1000

[demmiblue]

5. +10000

[senseandsensibility]

6. k and r

Keep posting about these situations, please.

[Starry Messenger]

7. k&r