A star principal who went toe-to-toe with Mayor Rahm Emanuel last summer was at it again Friday — this time by issuing a video released by mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia picking apart the mayor’s education agenda for a second term. Calling himself a Garcia education policy adviser, Troy LaRaviere said the mayor has not improved schools over the past four years but instead increased “low-quality school options throughout our city.” “Of the 50 highest-performing schools in Chicago, all 50 are public schools that were here before he arrived,” he said in the four-and-a-half-minute video, referring to NWEA scores. “Of the 20 lowest-performing schools in Chicago, 13 of them – over half – are turnaround and charter schools, which are cornerstones of the Rahm Emanuel education reform agenda.” He also accused the mayor of making preschool enrollment harder for parents, resulting in fewer children having “access to this critical resource for their education,” and for putting school leaders in a tight spot with an unfunded mandate of full-day kindergarten at every school. “Some principals had to increase class size, still others had to get rid of librarians and art teachers, and other principals had to eliminate key intervention specialists who worked with struggling students, students who were struggling in reading or mathematics to help them catch up, and that of course puts them on a track to failure,” said LaRaviere, who leads Blaine Elementary School in Lakeview as well as the activist arm of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association. LaRaviere made waves last summer when he blasted Emanuel for granting principals no voice in school policy-making. “While publicly praising principals in speeches and with awards, behind the scenes this administration has disregarded principals’ knowledge and experience. They have ignored and even suppressed principals’ voices in order to push City Hall’s political agenda for Chicago’s schools,” he wrote in a Sun-Times op-ed piece. Emanuel defended his mixed record on education issues during a news conference Friday at Kenwood Academy Friday called to announce a corporate donation that will make it possible to more than double dual credit and dual enrollment programs.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 18:48:07 +0000
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