This week, we’re taking a look at structural barriers to student success, how the city, state, and federal government have slashed programs to support students, and how privately-run charter schools impact public school funding and evaluation.
1. How Some Kids … 
Since mayoral control of Chicago’s public schools began in 1995, Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel have unleashed a tsunami of charter schools and school closings upon the city with devastating results. 
Contrary to the claims of some econometric reformer types, money matters in schools. To understand why Illinois and Chicago don’t have to be like they are, we must survey the national picture of school funding. Illinois has a revenue problem, and Minnesota points the way toward a solution. 
They were gathered in the name of Dyett, the high school that the leaders of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced in 2012 would be shuttered at the end of 2015. This group of parents, community members, and students sat in the 95-degree heat to demand a meeting with the alderman, Will Burns. They wanted… These are the reasons why I go hungry for Dyett. Because I refuse to accept that the current state of education is the best we can do. Because every child deserves a world class education in their neighborhood. 