9.28.2011 CPS School Board Meeting

9.28.2011

CPS School Board Meeting: 2.5 hr

125, S Clark Street, Chicago IL, 60603

Main issue: Extension of school hour

·      Speaker/ Supporter (5 max) each speaker only have 2 mins for their speeches

·      There are 45 speakers in total on that day, and the order for speaking is arranged based on the issue they address.

·      Me as an observer (divided into another space)

·      -We were directed into a room with a TV. We watched a real hearing through the TV. I wonder who control what we see? What do they want to show us?

·      -There are three screens from the camera: judge /juries /parents and principals

·      -At the beginning of 30 mins, the CPS was doing a presentation about what CPS’s system did to the society.

·      -The judge compliments on the achievement of the education system and admires some outstanding schools.

·     - The CPS is promoting the idea of cultivating science and math students for global competitive environment. The emergence of art education in science and math is crucial to succeed in the future. Government policy makers should consider whether the policy would enhance such emergence. The school resources should be allocated equally to both art education and science, while the rights and benefits of teachers are taken care of.

·      -There were three main groups in the room: students, faculty and parents, they want to make some differences of school. The criteria of the PowerPoint from CPS focus on time/people/money, the leadership development in school for future engaging in the community.

·     - For students, professional learning is crucial for the future employment. Therefore, the CPS advocates the idea of longer school day and focus on science and math especially for future labor market needs.

Speaker:

·     - The issue of respectfulness for teacher and learning, and the school should focus on the quality of the education instead of quantity. Inequality of school resources is the main issue in Chicago education environment, and the lack of psychological counseling for teachers, where in Beijing, every school has at least one psychological counselor.

·     - Some people address the issue of the lack of social time in school to balance school experience, and school shouldn’t focus too much on the core studies. However, whenever there were speakers supporting the idea of extending school hour, the judge will compliment the idea.

·     - The reason of extending the class hour is that by comparing to the class’ hour in countries such as India and Asia, students in those countries need to spend more time on their science, technology and language skill to improve their global skill set.

·    -  Although this was a democratic meeting, there was a phenomenon of roles-playing in the CPS meeting. The hierarchy of the judge, educator, and speaker are defending their own rights and beliefs.