AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/education/page/2/)
The seven working groups will meet from Feb. 26 through March 7 at Austin Coming Together’s offices at 5049 W. Harrison. The working groups are: public safety, youth, housing, civil engagement, education, economic development and community narrative.
Dozens of people working on a five-year, quality-of-life plan met last week to determine next steps. Austin Coming Together is leading efforts to produce the plan, which is expected to be unveiled this summer.
Randel Josserand, the chief of schools in the Austin and Belmont Cragin neighborhoods, will talk at 10 a.m. Jan. 14, followed at 11 a.m. by Brenetta Howell Barrett, who will discuss the lessons she learned from the civil rights movement.
Austin Coming Together invited community members to vote on initiatives for a quality-of-life plan being devised for the West Side neighborhood.
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.
West Siders will meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 10th to discuss the development and support for a new school as part of Austin’s Good Neighbor Campaign.
That’s good news, though some advocates say West Side students continue to suffer from too little funding over the years.