catalyst-chicago.org

Chicago Public Schools failed to enforce its mandatory furlough policy last school year, costing the cash-strapped district at least $460,000 when nearly 400 employees — principals, assistant principals and central office staff — did not take the required number of unpaid days off, according to an independent audit report obtained by the Tribune.

CPS is now under pressure to ensure that employees make good on these furlough obligations by the end of the fiscal year, June 30. The district is sending letters out this week asking principals and assistant principals to take their days off during district in-service days when students are not at school, an effort to minimize the disruption inside the classroom.

Noble Street schools, a Chicago charter franchise often touted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has pocketed some $387,000 in fees over three years by issuing demerits for “minor infractions” ranging from not sitting up straight to openly carrying “flaming hot” chips, parents and students charged Monday. (Sun-Times)

The civil rights advocacy group Advancement Project is considering a legal challenge to the discipline policy of Noble Street Charter School campuses, which charge students $5 each time they are issued a detention. (Catalyst)

A political consulting firm with close ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel has funded and helped organize community groups and faith leaders on behalf of the mayor's contentious education agenda as a counterweight to fierce opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union. (Tribune)

CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard is hoping Illinois can also get a federal waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act. (WBEZ)

The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) launched DiscoverDesign.org, a web-based learning tool that gives high school students the opportunity to solve real-world design problems. (press release)

IN THE NATION
Using high-tech data analytics to examine grades, attendance, course failures, declines in grade point average, and disciplinary incidents, education leaders in North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district are scrutinizing the habits and grades of elementary school students to determine who may fall off track and fail to graduate from high school a decade or more from now. (Education Week)

Despite city’s growth, D.C. school enrollment falls 1 percent. By contrast, enrollment in public charter schools increased by 8 percent. (Washington Times)

Research is increasingly indicating a link between teacher diversity and minority-student achievement. Yet despite that growing body of evidence around a long-known problem, local public school districts still can't seem to recruit and retain teachers of color in any significant way. In Seattle, 57.3 percent of students come from minority backgrounds while just 20.7 percent of their teachers do, according to statistics provided by Seattle Public Schools. The divide is equally stark for the district's most struggling minority groups - African-American students outnumber black teachers by nearly 3-to-1; for Latinos, the ratio is more than 4-to-1. (Bellingham Herald)

As part of his budget, President Obama on Monday proposed an $8 billion Community College to Career Fund, with the goal of training two million workers for well-paying jobs in high-demand industries. The fund, which would need Congressional approval, would be administered jointly by the Departments of Labor and of Education. (The New York Times)