A ray of hope in Chicago

While the mayor and his City Council minions argue over which IG should investigate their own bad behavior, it's pretty clear now that there will be two viable, progressive opponents running against Rahm and his machine in next year's election -- CTU President Karen Lewis and the council's Progressive Caucus leader Bob Fioretti.

The Ward Room's Erin Carlson writes:

Should both Lewis and Fioretti challenge Emanuel, there's a chance the political progressives—who appeal to different segments of anti-Rahm voters—could together draw down the incumbent Democrat's percentage of the vote.

I hope she's right.

REFRESHING... Mayoral politics aside, it's important to know that out in the schools, teachers are still focused on teaching their kids. For most, it's not about Common Core, Charlotte Danielson, or which battery of tests is being imposed on them this year. Don't miss Chicago science teacher Phil Cantor's excellent piece in today's S-T on the work he and his colleagues are doing at North Grand High School (not a charter nor a selective-enrollment school). Phil and fellow teachers are focused on the social-emotional side of learning as opposed to current CPS testing madness.

When teachers get to know students’ lives, it’s easier to understand where a student’s bad mood or overreaction to a social slight might come from. When a teacher finds out a child is homeless and sleeps on a different couch each week, that teacher is more likely to take a problem-solving approach to student tardiness than a punitive one.

By scheduling weekly team meetings to compare how our students are doing emotionally we’ve been able to shift our school culture to be more holistic and more successful, even as standardized tests and impersonal data play a larger role in how schools are measured. 

There's hope.

Mighty Girl/Timeline photos

Happy 60th birthday to Ruby Bridges, As a six-year-old, Ruby became the first African American child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in the South. When the 1st grader walked to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans on November 14, 1960 surrounded by a team of U.S. Marshals, she was met by a vicious mob shouting and throwing objects at her. #Courage