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High HOPES City Council Resolution

The City Council will be considering a resolution for the High HOPES Campaign. Contact your Alderman now!

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Who's afraid of the low-income vote?

Two voter ID laws making their way through the state Legislature could end up keeping some of Illinois' poorest residents from exercising one of their basic democratic rights–voting. Come Election Day, voters would have to present a government-issued photo identification card at the polling place, if Senate Bill 2496, which was introduced last week, is ulimately approved by lawmakers. A similar measure--House Bill 3903 --was introduced in the lower chamber in December.

Tougher principal selection process in the works

Chicago Public Schools is embarking on yet another revamp of its controversial principal eligibility process, based on a new set of principal skills that will also play into new state-mandated principal evaluations.

The changes could take effect as soon as this summer, but it’s not clear yet what they will be. The current process includes an application with essays and an initial interview; a scenario exam; a school data case study; a more in-depth interview; and a mock teacher observation. (Those could still be part of the revamped process.)

At AUSL, progress but ‘this is not magic’

On average, AUSL turnaround schools are outperforming neighborhood schools on state tests. But most of the improvement has been in math and science, while reading achievement is still lagging. And some neighborhood schools that have not gotten the same resources are gaining ground at a similar clip.