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These are troubled times in both Philadelphia and Chicago:
In Philadelphia…
“When a second grader came to the Andrew Jackson School too agitated to eat breakfast on Friday, an aide alerted the school counselor, who engaged him in an art project in her office. When he was still overwrought at 11, a secretary called the boy’s family, and soon a monitor at the front door buzzed in an older brother to take him home.
Under a draconian budget passed by the Philadelphia School District last month, none of these supporting players — aide, counselor, secretary, security monitor — will remain at the school by September, nor will there be money for books, paper, a nurse or the school’s locally celebrated rock band.
Read more in the New York Times.
In Chicago…
“The Chicago Teachers Union knew school closings were going to be a blow for its membership, and it’s starting to learn how big the hit could be.
“The announcement by Chicago Public Schools on Friday that 420 teachers, more than a third of them with tenure, will be losing their jobs because of school closings was just the opening shot in what figures to be a very tough summer for the union and its more than 30,000 members.
“More teachers figure to get the hook as principals at the 49 elementary schools and one high school program that are closing determine staff levels for the coming year. Another 125 teachers, 91 of them tenured, are being let go as CPS clears out staff at five underperforming schools that have been designated for a complete overhaul known as a turnaround.
“And the district’s budget woes — it faces a deficit of nearly $1 billion — could lead to even more cuts.”
Read more in the Chicago Tribune. |