education
UNO charter-school scandal has Wall Street worried
THE WATCHDOGS: Now under investigation by two state agencies, the United Neighborhood Organization is also facing tough questions on Wall Street from the investors who lent tens of millions of dollars to help pay for the rapid expansion of UNO’s charter-school network. The questions were prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports on state grant money paid to companies owned by two brothers of Miguel d’Escoto, a top executive of the politically well-connected group.
CTU files civil-rights lawsuits over school closings
Attorneys backed by the Chicago Teachers Union filed two federal class action lawsuits Wednesday charging that the closing of 53 public schools in September will violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Civil Rights Act. The suits, filed on behalf of parents with children in schools designated to be shuttered, seeks an injunction to delay or stop the closings.
River Forest student dead in crash on way home from Indiana University
A college student from River Forest was killed in a car crash Saturday as he and three friends headed home from Indiana University, and less than an hour later a Valparaiso, Ind., woman died when the car she was in lost control as it approached backed-up traffic near the first crash scene.
Mayor isn’t promising to follow hearing officers’ school-closing recommendations
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday he appreciates the work done by hearing officers who want to keep open 13 of 54 Chicago Public Schools targeted for closing but made no promises to follow their recommendations.
Hearing officers oppose 10 planned CPS closures, have reservations about others
Hearing officers appointed to review the school district’s plan to close underutilized schools across the city are opposing 10 of the slated school closures at the end of this school year and have reservations about several others, according to reports released by CPS. CPS said hearing officers either misinterpreted the requirements of state law or exceeded the scope of their authority in issuing their findings.
Work is stopped on UNO high school after state halts funding
Construction was halted Tuesday on a new, state-funded charter high school being built on the Southwest Side for the state’s largest charter-school operator, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, after the project’s general contractor said UNO has fallen behind in its payments for the work. The move came five days after Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration suspended funding to UNO following Chicago Sun-Times reports on insider deals.
Parent: Some Payton players want beleaguered coach out
The captain of Walter Payton College Prep’s baseball team and another top player told the team’s beleaguered coach Thursday they no longer want to play for him, the captain’s father has told the Chicago Sun-Times.
UNO charter teachers vote to unionize
Teachers at one of Chicago’s largest charter-school networks — run by the United Neighborhood Organization — have voted to organize into a union.
Scientist Toshio Narahashi, expert on pufferfish toxin
It isn’t every scientist who would cite James Bond’s poisoning by pufferfish toxin in a research paper. But Toshio Narahashi was a scholar with a sense of humor, and both feet in the real world, where “From Russia with Love” is a classic book and film. He described one of the best Bond battles —with Russian spy Rosa Klebb — in a 1967 paper he co-authored, titled “Tetrodotoxin’s Highly Selective Blockage of an Ionic Channel.”
Payton coach returns to the dugout after controversial cancellation of baseball game
The coach of Payton College Prep’s baseball team remained in his post Tuesday night while school officials tried to sort out a controversial situation that arose this week when the North Side coach said he was forced to cancel a game on the South Side because parents feared for their children’s safety.
Quinn surprises Englewood teacher with Golden Apple
Freshman English teacher Katherine Dube encourages her students to yell insults at each other during class. Those would be Shakespearean insults.
Brooks coach puts Payton on his do-not-play list
Bryan Street, Brooks College Prep’s baseball coach, said Sunday he doesn’t want to play Payton College Prep ever again after a group of Payton parents refused to send their kids to the Far South Side school for a night non-conference game, citing safety concerns.
CPS cuts standardized test for youngest students
A day after some high school juniors boycotted standardized tests, partly blaming them for school closings, Chicago Public Schools announced thedistrict will cut one of the computerized standardized tests given to its youngest students this year.
Jesse Owens’ family voices objection to proposed school closure
To Jesse Owens, all children were champions, the famed Olympian’s daughter said Tuesday evening, trying to save the West Pullman school named for her father from the Chicago Public Schools’ closing list.
Jesse Owens Community Academy is one of 54 schools proposed for closing, and …
With the ax expected fall on state funds, school busing fee could be on the horizon in West Aurora
Gov. Pat Quinn is proposing in the next fiscal year budget to cut transportation reimbursements to a 19 percent level, which would be about an 81 percent cut from this year and translate to an estimated $1 million less for the district.
CPS removes special-ed teacher after abuse complaints from parents
A special-education teacher at Finkl Elementary School in the Little Village community has been removed from her classroom, Chicago Public Schools confirmed Tuesday — with the move coming after parents of her students complained of physical abuse against their children.
