CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago Public School system plans to retake control of a number of schools it had turned over to private management 15 years ago.
The 31 so-called “turnaround” schools were said to have been run so poorly that they were given to a non-profit back in 2006 to manage the way it saw fit; which included firing all teachers and administrators and making them re-apply for their old jobs.
The Chicago Teachers Union had fought against the move, alleging that the non-profit Academy of Urban School Leadership basically purged those schools of black educators; contributing to the racial disparities in today’s teaching ranks.
Now, though, CPS said those schools have made significant progress and should be back in the CPS fold over the next three years, starting with 16 schools next year.
"We will continue our work to dismantle racist metrics — now branded SQRP by CPS — even as the mayor’s handpicked Board of Education lets these policies fester. We will continue to push the state legislature to give Chicagoans what residents in every other school district in the state have — the right to a fully elected school board that will not rubber stamp the racism of the past. We will continue to fight, and we will continue to win," CTU President Jesse Sharkey wrote in a statement.
"Unity and commitment to creating a truly sustainable community school district is what moves our struggle forward. Educators’ work is anchored in the fight for the schools our students deserve, and the right to recovery for every CPS student and family.
"Our mission remains to reverse the harm of racist policies like turnarounds, and move our bosses to provide school communities the resources required to support every student’s needs," Sharkey's statement concluded.
CPS will pay the Academy of Urban School Leadership $1 million a year for a teacher training program that will cover at least 75 teachers each year.
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