cps

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet the CEO of Chicago Public Schools in a small informal meeting with some other teachers.

I arrived at the main office at exactly the appointed time, but the security guard did not let me pass until I finally said, "...with TFA?"  "Aha, I've heard the magic word. Up the elevator and take a right." When I arrived in the CEO's office I was led through a labyrinth of white cubicles to the conference room, which was vaguely  reminiscent of a hospital waiting room.  Apparently, those first few minutes were critical because they had already launched into a full-fledged description of the new teacher evaluation tool that will be based on three different kinds of student test scores.

I tensed. Most of my questions were already negated. How could I ask anything about progressive ed reform when they opened with accountability?

Next, they talked about the announcement of the school closings from earlier in the fall. I was heartened by their explanation of the strategy they used to decide on the failing schools to be closed. According to them, they only chose schools in areas where another (decent) school was within walking distance.

They talked about developing principals into leaders. They believe that good leaders will be the answer to the need for better schools. 

Then, charter schools came up. I was shocked at how immediately defensive they became. "The point of a charter is that you don't want to see us." With that, all of my remaining questions were thrown out.

Overall, I am glad that I went. I gathered a lot of information about the culture and climate of public ed reform in Chicago. On the other hand, I left feeling that we will continue to get more of the same from education leaders until it gets so bad that we have hit something lower than were we are now. The current feeling is that we just have to work harder, smarter, more and these same things that other people have been doing with magically manipulate into a solution under our guidance.