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Chicago Public Schools are well known for having the shortest school days in the country. New Mayor Rahm Emanuel has plans to change that fact – sooner rather than later. Emanuel has announced plans to extend the Chicago school day by as much as 90 minutes, bringing the district up to par with the rest of the public schools nationwide. However, a decision to add a significant amount of time to a school and work day isn’t boding well with everyone who will be impacted by the decision.

Looking at CPS Track Record

The call for more time in school stems from the current problems the school district faces. According to a recent report at the , academic growth among Chicago public school students has been stagnant at best. More than 150,000 students are currently attending underachieving schools in the city, while a little more than half of all high school students are making it all the way to graduation.

CPS also released numbers that show less than one-third of all eighth-graders hit benchmarks for college readiness in reading and only 20 percent made or exceeded the benchmarks in math. By the same token, just under eight percent of high school juniors in the Chicago school system achieved college readiness benchmarks in all four areas on the state’s most recent PSAE tests. Chicago schools also stated that the city falls well below the state in hitting benchmarks; Chicago currently holds at 19

A new Gallup poll suggests that while most adults in this country are not thrilled with the state of public education today, they are supportive of the teachers responsible for the education of their children. The survey showed that three in four Americans have “trust and confidence in public school teachers,” but do not think much of teachers’ unions or the government when it comes to the current quality of education. The poll comes at an interesting time in public education history, when tight budgets, concern over academic performance and teacher layoffs have become commonplace across the country.

About the Poll

The recent survey was conducted by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International, a professional education association. The poll interviewed 1,000 people on some of the most compelling topics in the education world today, including teacher quality, the role of unions, and school vouchers. The results were announced and explained at a news conference at George Washington University last week.

Support for Teachers

The survey found that of the 75 percent who said they have the confidence of public school teachers, the highest rates of trust were found among parents, those with college degrees, and people who were younger than 40, according to a report at the . The same number also believed that teachers should have more control over their lessons. Two-thirds would support their children becoming public school teachers, and even more, thought that high-achieving high school students

Many of the students in Detroit Public Schools live below the poverty line, which means they qualify for free meals at school. However, some will skip those free meals to avoid the stigma of a “low-income” student, according to some school officials. To combat the problem, the city will take part in a pilot program that offers free meals to all students in Detroit Public Schools, beginning in the upcoming school year.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Option Program

The Community Eligibility Option Program introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is designed for schools in high-poverty areas, allowing them to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students and eliminating the need for excessive paperwork.

“Community eligibility is a great way for schools to cut through burdensome red tape for themselves and low-income families so that children in high-poverty areas have access to the nutrition they need to learn and thrive,” Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon stated in a press release on the . “Schools will benefit from reduced paperwork, parents will not have to fill out duplicative forms, and children in need will get better access to healthy school meals.”

The USDA selected three states to launch the pilot program during the 2011-2012 school year - Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky - according to a report at . Detroit is the only city in Michigan that has officially signed on with the program. However, other school districts in

When Rahm Emanuel was running for mayor of Chicago, one of his campaign promises was to avoid raising taxes as a means of dealing with a major city budget shortfall. Instead, Emanuel pledged to find the waste at City Hall and eliminate it to put the city back in the black. However, Emanuel was careful not to mention how he would fund Chicago schools while on the campaign trail. Mayor Emanuel recently supported a property-tax increase proposed by Chicago Public Schools. Mayor Emanuel defended his decision, but some lawmakers and taxpayers are up in arms about a new city leader who is seemingly so quick to go back on his word.

What the Tax Increase will Mean

According to a report at WBEZ, Mayor Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools are asking taxpayers to fork over about $84 additional property tax dollars a year for a $250,000 home – the maximum amount of a tax increase allowed by law. The additional $150 million in revenue generated from the hike would go to close the $710 million shortfall the school district is currently facing. Additional budget balancing has already come from district officials, who managed to trim $400 million off of the original budget proposal, without increasing classroom sizes or hurting students in other ways.

The tax increase was initially proposed by the school district and will have to be approved by the Chicago Board of Education. However, the school board is stacked with plenty of