A bitter financial dispute at an affluent Northwest Side elementary school is prompting Chicago Public Schools to rewrite policies to define more clearly the separation between schools and the increasingly influential charities that support them.
At a time when schools across Chicago are bracing for severe cuts in next year's budget, many of the city's elite institutions rely on independently run nonprofits to raise money to stem the losses of teachers, staff and popular programs.
The fundraising can be staggering: hundreds of thousands of dollars from well-to-do parents and businesses that can augment teachers' salaries, pay for language and art classes, or equip a high-tech computer lab. The only caveat is that the charities themselves, not the school's administration, ultimately determine how that money will be spent — and that is a growing source of tension and acrimony around
Emanuel predicts longer school days for CPS
Mayor-elect lobbies for education reform, saying he will add 90 minutes to school day.
By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune reporters10:25 p.m. CDT, April 15, 2011
Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel says he is lobbying to get the education reform bill passed in Springfield, and if it becomes law, he plans to bring longer school days and a longer school year to Chicago Public Schools.
"I want to have a discussion about what that 1 1/2 (hours) is going to be used for," he said, speaking Friday during career day at Johnson College Prep, a charger school in Englewood.
Emanuel said he met with state Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), House Speaker Michael Madigan and state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), who led negotiations this week for
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