Printed: Ready to Strike

"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing for big changes at Chicago Public Schools next year, including a longer school day, a different calendar and new teacher evaluations.  Lewis said CPS wants to lock in a five-year contract and is offering teachers a 2 percent raise in the first year, with salaries based on performance in later years.

Chicago Teachers Union officials say teachers at more than 150 schools are ready to go on strike.  Chicago teachers have not gone out on strike since 1987. Lewis, who said she was a first-year teacher during the last strike, said the climate at CPS is the most hostile she has ever seen." - wbez

Oy vey. I used to care 0% about these kinds of things (like unions and legalities) but now I know what an enormous deal it is.  Not sure what I would do if I was asked to strike.  Fingers crossed they find an agreement soon that values the teachers' work and keeps the needs of the students first.

Words: Urban Teachers

"As urban teachers, we need to have a real shift in how we see our work.  If teachers don't connect their daily tasks to the bigger picture of what they're doing in society, they're going to burn out."  - Ms. Stevenson, resident principal

Words: Red Jacket Ambassadors

"We changed our thinking from what can we do to what do children need?"  
- Lisa, executive director of City Year Chicago 

Printed: Finland's Secret

So we all know that Finland's education system rocks.  What I didn't know is this:

"What may come as a surprise is that Finland has neither engaged in researching its own, distinctive reform measures, nor generated change knowledge to steer education policy implementation. Instead, Finnish researchers have relied on the theories and insights of their international peers... Education ideas from the United States have played an especially significant role... Finnish authorities have likewise made significant use of ideas from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; the European Commission; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In short, the Finns have been open to learning from other education systems."  - EdWeek

Learning from others who are doing the same thing next door.  Genius!  

Equally as genius: "Second, formulation and implementation of education policies have been built upon close cooperation with education authorities, municipalities that govern the schools, and—through Finland's Trade Union of Education—teachers."  Teachers?  Who work with kids?  Informing policy about kids?!?  It's so crazy it just might work!

Another gem: "The key driver of education-development policy in Finland has been providing equal and positive learning opportunities for all children and securing their well-being, including their nutrition, health, safety, and overall happiness... They have not endorsed student testing and school ranking as the path to improvement..."

It's not rocket science, people.

Printed: School Closing

"CPS has schedule hearings in January and February for the schools that are scheduled to turnaround or close; however, the CTU and an army of activists, parents, and community members have planned protests for the week before..."

No one likes change.  However, when a school has been on probation for the past ten years, 19 out of 20 juniors don't meet state testing standards, 83% of eligible students choose to enroll in other schools, and more than 50% of students don't graduate, something's gotta change.  C'mon, Teachers Union.