vocalooverdrive:

Karen: “We had to meet certain requirements as to food. We couldn’t use butter or salt.”
Luis and Shantell: “NO BUTTER, NO SALT?!”
Luis: “That’s all I cook with! Every day!”

Luis and Shantell had five culinary arts students from George Washington High School. The students in studio: Leonard Gutierrez, Leon Sanchez, Marina Nava, Vanessa Arnold, and Karen Rivera are competing in the national “Cooking Up Change” competition in the nation’s capital. The students talk about the big competition, their favorite dishes to make, and their celebrity inspirations. They even give some culinary advice to Luis and Shantell.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Vocalo, Overdrive, Peace Prize Thursday, youth, Chicago, Cooking Up Change, public radio, Washington, culinary winners, George Washington High School, CPS,

Full audio: Chicagoans react to school closings proposals at scores of public meetings

By: Linda Lutton

Chicago is holding more than 190 community meetings and public hearings this spring—all required by law—to gather feedback on its proposal to close an unprecedented 54 schools. The district also has proposed six school turnarounds (complete re-staffings that also turn the school over to the private nonprofit manager Academy for Urban School Leadership), and 11 “co-locations” where 23 schools would share space in 11 buildings. See a list of all proposals here.

Chicago Public Schools contracted with a vendor to record public meetings that took place between April 6 and April 15 in affected communities. Through an open records request, WBEZ obtained those audio files and has posted them to this site. Additionally, WBEZ is recording public hearings held at CPS headquarters (April 16-May 2) on the proposed closings, turnarounds and co-locations and posting that audio here as well.

We encourage our listeners to help flag the most interesting moments in these hearings by “commenting” directly on the audio. (It’s cool and helpful for other listeners!)

Source: SoundCloud / WBEZ

6SoundCloud, WBEZ, Chicago Public Schools, CPS, school closings, school actions,

morningamp:

“If you want a glimpse of what slash-and-burn free market education reform does in cities throughout the US, look no further than Chicago.” -Micah Uetricht in The Guardian

Chicago Public Schools maybe close to $1 billion in debt, but a lot of people are still getting paid. As the closure hearings enter a final dramatic stretch, labor writer Micah Uetricht (Jacobin Magazine, the Guardian) joins hosts Molly Adams and Brian Babylon to look at the confusing budgets surrounding the school closures.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Vocalo, Morning AMp, Education, CPS, Budgets, Free Market,

vocalooverdrive:

Luis and Shantell chat with Dave Stovall, a professor of education at UIC, and a member of the Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE). Dave and other educators in CReATE have been analyzing the proposed CPS School closings and come to argue that closing the schools would be more costly than keeping them open, and that CPS may have major discrepancies in their numbers: “What we’re finding is that CPS is operating now as a dishonest broker in terms of it’s report of under-utilization. “

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6vocalo, overdrive, uic, dave stovall, cps,

morningamp:

Sixty-one Chicago Public School buildings are slated for closure. What could happen to the empty buildings? Are there any benefits that will sprout from this decision? WBEZ Education reporter Becky Vevea joined the AMp hosts Brian Babylon and Molly Adams to discuss the latest developments of this story.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6vocalo, morning amp, wbez, cps, education, chicago,

morningamp:

“In a year or two from now will people still be mad about this?” - Host Brian Babylon, on if the CPS closings be good for students in the long run. The Morning AMp will have WBEZ’s Becky Vivea in the studio tomorrow to talk more about the economic impact of the CPS closings.

WBEZ’s morning reporter Lauren Chooljian is ahead of the curve, telling us what stories will have the media riled up this week. She joins hosts Brian Babylon and Molly Adams in the studio to talk about the closing of more than 50 CPS elementary schools, Rahm’s absenteeism when it comes to school news, gay marriage at the Supreme Court, and her Year 25 series.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Vocalo, Morning AMp, CPS, Education, Closings, WBEZ, News,

morningamp:

Barrel of Monkeys, a long-running theater collaboration with Chicago Public School students, is going to start churning out new plays en español. Molly Brennan, Artistic Director of Barrel, is in studio to talk about the process of putting together their show, which you can catch Mondays at 8pm at the Neo-Futurarium. We also have a live performance of actors singing in barber shop quartet style about a non-conformist ninja.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Barrel of Monkeys, CPS, Vocalo, Morning AMp, Ninjas, Theater,

morningamp:

As Chicago Public Schools decides which schools they’ll be closing before the start of the next school year, WBEZ Reporter Becky Vevea traveled to Philadelphia to look at how a school building’s life plays out when it is no longer filled with children.

“We look around and there’s this community here that just stares at an empty school building. I worry about the message that sends to the kids that go to school right across the street. I think it makes kids feel as if their prospects are limited.”

- Lee Marcus, Senior at the University of Pennsylvania, and student mentor.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Vocalo, Morning AMp, CPS, WBEZ, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

morningamp:

“What I don’t like is people getting up in arms when the house in burning down. I would rather people get up in arms when you see smoke.” - Host Brian Babylon, on the public reaction to CPS potential closures. 

Last week, Chicago Public Schools released a list of 129 schools to potentially close this year. Hosts Molly Adams and Brian Babylon debate how the closings will affect children and if it’s futile to keep underpopulated, under-performing schools open. Molly and Brian hear from two thoughtful listeners who call in to share their opinions on the closings. We also hear a clip from WBEZ’s Greta Johnson, who attended a meeting about the school closings in Uptown.

Source: SoundCloud / vocalo

6Vocalo, Morning AMp, CPS, WBEZ,