Teachers in the pulpit

CPS teacher Linda Boyle, of Social Justice High School | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times

That's where they were Sunday in Chicago. A CTU spokeswoman said the union took its message to about 100 churches or schools for Labor Day.

Linda Boyle at Broadway United Methodist Church, 3338 N. Broadway. Boyle, a special education teacher at the Little Village Lawndale School for Social Justice, told church members that corporate reformers  are trying to undermine public schools and weaken the CTU, which, with 30,000 members, is the largest union in Illinois.

Boyle said a longer day could hurt many children at her school. She said students who need extra help get one-on-one instruction at the end of the regular day, and Emanuel’s plan would deny them that in favor of more classroom time.

“There’s just no evidence-based research that shows the additional 90 minutes is a good idea,” Boyle said. -- Sun-Times

Where's the plan, Rahm?

Sun-Times columnist Ester Cepeda asks Rahm, "Where's the plan for your longer school day?"

Emanuel is going around town asking everyone from clergy to youth task-force members to support a plan that isn’t actually a plan but merely a vague vision of a longer school day that miraculously improves student academic achievement. Worse, he’s balking at the idea that careful consideration of exactly what students will be doing during that time — and collaboration with the teachers who will be leading those activities — should be the driving factor in formulating such a drastic change.