AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/chicago-public-schools/page/5/)
Some programs started this week, so Chicago high school students should apply as soon as possible for the more than 7,000 paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities across the city, including a number in Austin.
Randel Josserand, chief of schools for Chicago Public Schools in the Austin and Belmont-Craigin neighborhoods, talked Sunday of his decades-long respect for Linda Brown of the Brown v. Board of Education case and his belief that educational equity is the centerpiece of the civil rights movement today.
The Chicago Board of Education voted this week to renew Plato Learning Academy’s contract for two years, giving the Austin school more time to improve its rating. Specific conditions for the contract renewal will be finalized with Plato’s operator early next year, officials say.
The Chicago Board of Education is expected in early December to take action to shutter Plato Learning Academy, a K-8 contract school that has two campuses in Austin, for failing to meet the district’s academic standards. Parents, students and community members plan to speak at the Dec. 6th board meeting in hopes of saving the school.
The idea of opening a new Austin high school was met with mixed reviews at a meeting earlier this month; parents and other West Side residents discussed ways to ensure the schools that are losing students remain open.
The focus should be on showing West Side residents that students can receive an equitable and well-resourced education at Austin’s existing high schools, writes resident Dwayne Truss.
That’s good news, though some advocates say West Side students continue to suffer from too little funding over the years.
West Side business owners, parents and social workers met last week in Oak Park to discuss the potential and challenges facing the school. The conversation was moderated by Reesheda Graham Washington, executive director of Community First Association and owner of the LIVE café, where the meeting was held.
The layoffs will hurt West Side students and the community as a whole, educators and advocates say.
West Side schools in the state’s largest district will see fewer teachers, staff in September when classes begin, warn community activists and others.