The Black and White of Education in Chicago’s Public Schools: Privatization Schemes and Classroom Practice

• In Event: War and Peace: Unions and Teachers in Illinois and Ontario in an Era of Standardization

Abstract

In a city that previously closed 100 public schools and replaced them with charter schools, the 2013 closure of another 49 schools raises the question: is the policy of closing neighborhood schools and opening charter schools leading to educational improvements? The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the impact on teaching and learning of Chicago Public School (CPS) closings and charter proliferation.
The particular role of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in analyzing the impact of CPS policies is valuable, not only in its own right, but as it represents the insider perspective. Valuing the everyday work of educators and including their voices in both CTU’s education program and policy analysis is an important part of the story.
The CTU policy study was developed through a combination of a review of literature on CPS policies, charter school effectiveness, best classroom practices, and school segregation, as well as a statistical analysis of public data sets, and interviews with teachers and others with specific relevant knowledge. Part of the policy analysis included a case study of two similar schools, one of which was closed last year.
Data sources for the CTU study include the U.S. Census Bureau, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) teacher service records, CPS position rosters, other state and city school data, and numerous other sources. Additionally, the study collected evidence through interviews of teachers, principals, other school employees, and community representatives. Evidence also includes newspaper articles, CPS documents, and statements of school policy experts.
The CTU study reviews the history of Chicago’s school actions, promoted by the corporate community (Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, 2003), which have resulted in declining educational quality for students from low-income communities of color (Lipman, 2009). The study reveals the often-ignored subtle demographic differences in “comparable” charter and neighborhood schools (de la Torre, et al., 2012) which lead to exaggerated claims of charter success, and describes the harmful effects of school closings (Brummet, 2012; de la Torre, et al., 2009). The paper discloses the lack of educational innovations in Chicago charter schools: all of the charter “innovations” relate to management structure, student selection/transfer policies (Karp, 2010), and the non-unionized teaching force. Teacher retention rates are far lower in Chicago charter schools (Allensworth, 2009) and teachers are significantly less diverse (ISBE, n.d.), which impedes student achievement (Guin, 2004; Karp & Harris, 2011; Ronfeldt, et al., 2012). CTU offers member and charter teachers alike research based, collaborative professional development, as an alternative to the empty promises of reform policies enacted by CPS.
This paper is significant as a departure from the typical trade union role of working within the confines of existing policy; it presents a serious, research-based critique of the harm caused to students by current policy. In this regard, it represents the intersection of theory and action in the fight back against neo-liberal education reform policies.

Author

• Carol Caref, Chicago Teachers Union