Flunked Movie Screening

We have a problem.

Results of national and international tests show that our students are falling further and further behind. The average American student is no longer able to compete with foreign students, and in many cases, they're failing to meet even basic academic standards. Success rates are plummeting, and remediation and dropout rates are skyrocketing. Students entering the current American education system are in for a grim ride.

On March 1, School Choice Illinois is providing the only Illinois screening of the film Flunked, which is narrated by actor Joe Mantegna. The film explores the "story of failure" and provides "a formula for hope."

Following the film, School Choice Illinois will moderate an education panel discussion with some of the state's leading education thinkers.

Not only will you have the opportunity to view an explorative and insightful film, but you will also have the opportunity to support a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding the options Illinois parents have when it comes to educating their children.

Tickets are limited, so the sooner you act the better.

Here are the details:
Sunday, March 1st, Sunday, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Gene Siskel Film Center
Light refreshments will be served.

For more details or to register, you can contact us at
312-268-6880 or through our website at
https://www.schoolchoiceillinois.org/flunked.php.

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,
Phylicia Lyons
Founder, President and CEO

School Choice Illinois
1030 W. Chicago Ave, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60642
312-268-6880 phone
312-268-6864 fax
http://www.schoolchoiceillinois.org/

Studies cast doubt on CPS strategy

"Students at two elementary campuses in the controversial Chicago Public Schools turnaround program aren’t performing appreciably better than kids in nearby neighborhood schools.
That’s a key finding in one of two new reports released yesterday by the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Illinois-Chicago..."

Will More Money Fix Our Schools?

CER Newswire Vol. 11, No. 7 February 17, 2009: POLITICS
Published by The Center for Education Reform (CER) Making Schools Work Better for All Children

"JOBS vs EDUCATION. The economic stimulus has sparked serious discussion in newsrooms and at policy think tanks everywhere about whether the new federal spending bill is likely to have any impact on making schools work. Nicholas Kristof's weekend New York Times article praises the spending, but reminds us that "The implication is that throwing money at a broken system won't fix it, but that resources are necessary as part of a package that involves scrapping certification, measuring better through testing which teachers are effective, and then paying them significantly more - with special bonuses to those who teach in 'bad' schools."

Others remind us of the bureaucratic paths that all money takes before actually (ever?) having an impact. Checker Finn and Mike Petrilli call attention to this, saying "Especially challenging will be your innovation fund. Details are sketchy.... Doing this quickly - and without the appearance of cronyism - will be a whopping challenge. The rest of the education stimulus package will be tricky, too. If the short-run economic goal is to save 600,000 teacher jobs, as you have stated, then districts need to be able to use this flood of federal funds to 'supplant' state and local dollars that are otherwise on the chopping block. At minimum, that's going to take much written guidance to the field, for it overturns decades of ESEA practice. It might take new regulations, too. And how can you make sure that, in the rush to get money to communities to save jobs, some of that money doesn't get skimmed off or used inappropriately? (Someone will inevitably try to use the funds to buy football uniforms; what are you going to do about it? If you don't do anything, what will the GAO and Inspector General say later?)"

But what is the point unless the money stimulates reform at the same time it stimulates jobs? After all, even Arne Duncan admits that bad schools make him sick:

"Without getting into too many details, I am extraordinarily concerned about the poor quality of education, quite frankly, the children of Detroit are receiving. I lose sleep over that one. And I think the dropout rate there is devastating."

ARTIFICIAL DISTINCTIONS. Though private school students will continue to be eligible for non-secular, publicly supported programs for disadvantaged students, they lose out on any school facilities funds. Likewise, charter schools - though much anticipating precious "innovation" funds from the new Secretary's new $5 billion play fund - do not quality for any construction funds. If jobs and education are the point of the stimulus, why distinguish by school type? If the federal government can make an unprecedented expansion in federal support for schools, where is the rationale behind limiting it to just traditional district-based education?

ANSWERS. The answers to how best to spend funds are apparent. Award-winning veteran journalist Jay Mathews offers 7 cheap-as-free suggestions on how best to improve the nation's schools. Number 2? Unleash charter schools. Jay argues that "...they often attract creative principals and teachers who do more with less. School finance experts don't all agree, but I am convinced that charters are a bargain. So let's have more." Great minds think alike. Check out Mandate for Change for more along these lines. "

To see the rest of CER's Newswire, please click on link above.

"For Education Chief, Stimulus Means Power, Money and Risk"

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 16, 2009: The New York Times

"WASHINGTON — The $100 billion in emergency aid for public schools and colleges in the economic stimulus bill could transform Arne Duncan into an exceptional figure in the history of federal education policy: a secretary of education loaded with money and the power to spend large chunks of it as he sees fit.

But the money also poses challenges and risks for Mr. Duncan, the 44-year-old former Chicago schools chief who now heads the Department of Education.

Mr. Duncan must develop procedures on the fly for disbursing a budget that has, overnight, more than doubled, and communicate the rules quickly to all 50 states and the nation’s 14,000 school districts. And he faces thousands of tricky decisions about how much money to give to whom and for what....."

To read the rest of the article, please click on the link above.

School Choice Illinois Presents:

Please join School Choice Illinois for the only screening of the documentary flunked in Illinois!

Held at the famous Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago, the screening will be followed by an enlightened education discussion from a distinguished group of panelists. Light refreshments will be served.

Date: March 1, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Location: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60601

Flunked highlights the common threads of successful education: strong leadership, high standards, excellent teachers, and solid curricula. By focusing on schools that are successfully applying these principles, Flunked sends a message loud and clear: Parents, students, principals, and teachers do not have to settle for mediocrity in their own schools.

For more information call (312) 268-6880 or email us at contactus@SchoolChoiceIllinois.org

Tickets are limited. Student discounts are available.

Our Future, Bleak or Optimistic?

Acquiring education is necessary for any society to move forward, especially K-12 education. A society is at its basic level a combination of people with different skill sets coming together and contributing to its wealth. From this it would follow that every child should be educated. But, one question remains, a fundamental one, does every child deserve a good education? If we answered yes, then we agree that education is important and vital to the success of our nation. So changes need to be made to our current education system, especially those schools that are failing or need to be improved.

Many people across party lines, race, religions, etc. feel this way; so what are we waiting for? Should we wait as long as needed for everyone to reach the same conclusion(s), even at the cost of giving our current students sub-par education in the meantime? How do we expect our future to be better than our past and present if we continue to do nothing about the status quo? Will we be able to enjoy the fruits of a strong economy in the future? What are your thoughts??

To find research on this, you may start by looking at Education Next: A Journal of Opinion and Research (Hoover Institution) and read the article "RESEARCH: Education and Economic Growth".

Spring 2008(vol. 8, no. 2) Table of Contents
By Eric Hanushek, Dean T. Jamison, Eliot A. Jamison and Ludger Woessmann
"It's not just going to school but learning that matters"