Editorial: Real hurdle to education reform is poverty
Editorials December 31, 2012 9:54AM
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis addresses the City Club of Chicago during a luncheon at Maggiano's Banquets in Chicago, Ill., on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. | Andrew A. Nelles~Sun-Times Media
There is nothing easy about trying to boost academic outcomes for poor kids.
That is why we’ve supported a range of aggressive interventions for the Chicago Public Schools over the years, including school closures, charter openings, turnarounds, improved teacher evaluations, a longer school day and changes to teaching tenure, hiring and firing rules.
We remain convinced those interventions can make the difference at individual schools, for individual kids and, across all schools, can move the needle slightly.
But until society and our schools figures out a way to deal, in a comprehensive and systemic way, with child poverty — a parent’s income and educational level is the biggest predictor of school success — the odds of major improvement are low.
The Chicago Teachers Union has been pressing this point with greater urgency in recent days —
