Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, December 16, 2016

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: If teacher unions are the problem, why are wealthy suburban parents trying to clout their kids into CPS?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: If teacher unions are the problem, why are wealthy suburban parents trying to clout their kids into CPS?:

 If teacher unions are the problem, why are wealthy suburban parents trying to clout their kids into CPS?



Rauner wasn't the first or last to game the system.
QUESTION... If Chicago Public Schools are so awful -- the fault of the teachers union of course --why are so many wealthy suburbanites trying to get their kids into CPS/CTU schools through the back door?

Yes, we all know how our billionaire Gov. Rauner did it back in '08 when he made his now-famous phone call to then-CEO Arne Duncan. 

From Greg Hinz at Crain's:


Mr. Rauner changed his voting residence from Winnetka, where his wife continued to live, to a condominium on East Randolph Street. I kept asking why, not content with the answer I got back that the Rauners just were getting more active in the city.
As it turns out, in establishing residence in the city, Mr. Rauner also established the right of his daughter to attend a Chicago public school. But not just any school. She could have gone to New Trier, since mom still lived in Winnetka and New Trier is pretty highly rated itself. But Payton is rated better.
There only was one problem, the sources say: Her test scores, academic record and other factors weren't good enough to get her into Payton...Her application was denied. So dad called Mr. Duncan, a Duncan aide called the Payton principal and she was admitted. 
IG Tom Sullivan claimed he investigated but never released his report. Something aboutMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: If teacher unions are the problem, why are wealthy suburban parents trying to clout their kids into CPS?: