Workshops & Services

I'm looking outside to see if pigs are flying. It's also pretty cool out for August, but I'm pretty sure hell hasn't frozen over.

Still, the fact remains that CPS actually disciplined a principal for not getting the local school council's permission to rent out a school.

Dushon Brown, principal of Gwendolyn Brooks High School, was suspended without pay for 20 days for doing just that. As the Tribune notes, "Renting out a high school is not against district policy, but documents show Brown did so without approval from the local school council or her school district area supervisor."

While we're pleased at the man-bites-dog story, we know that CPS has been after this goofy principal at least since the time the Brooks LSC selected her as the school's principal after her statement that her high school experience consisted of having attended high school. Brown's selection at Brooks was promoted by a notable reverend senator and a local alderman.    

Brown was formerly principal of Curtis Elementary, where she and PURE had notable run-ins over her disrespect for the LSC, so her punishment is satisfying.

The problem is that CPS exercises its "support" for LSC decision making only when it has a beef with the prinicpal, and not when it refuses to touch a favored principal (such as at Blaine).

We're  still looking for that truly independent, professional mediation process that could handle these problems without the biases and favoritism that define CPS's action (or lack of same). Unitl then, none of these decisons can be trusted, and no one in CPS is really safe.

Planning your No Child Left Behind parent involvement program for 2007-08?

PURE’s workshops are a perfect fit.

PURE’s Active Parent  Programs...

• Help parents understand state learning standards and the ISAT and benchmark assessment tests
• Encourage child and family literacy
• Help bring home and school closer together
• Develop effective parent leaders

Here's the list of fees for PURE's workshops (Alternative plans are available on a case-by-case basis)

Here's the list of workshop topics in English and Espanol. Workshop categories include: 

• Home-School Connections
• Healthy Families
• Parent Leadership
• Special topics (Basics of No Child Left Behind;How to Apply to Magnet Schools)

You can use this Faxback form to request workshops or more information, or use the "contact us" link on our web site.

Read what school professionals and parents say about PURE’s workshops. 

Download the full Active Parent program brochure:

• in English
• en Espanol

Click here for a basic flyer for PURE's new workshop for parents: find out how you can help your child succeed in school using the benchmark assessment parent reports.