Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Rutherford’s been exposed, Brady isn’t really cosmopolitan enough to run the nation’s fifth-largest state, Rauner is a phony baloney rich enough to buy the nomination and Dillard is the classic Edgar-Ryan-Thompson candidate except for his inability to run a campaign.”
– Me, in Tweeting The NBC5 GOP Debate.


Test Fest
“A simmering battle over standardized tests heated up last week as CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett sent a letter to parents warning that they shouldn’t opt their children out of state tests and local exams required by the district,” Catalyst reports.
“Though CPS has touted its cutbacks on testing, the classroom time spent on exams has recently increased because of the REACH assessments used to evaluate teachers.
“In fact, a Catalyst Chicago analysis of school assessment plans obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request shows that the steps to curb testing have apparently had little impact: Many schools are administering far more tests than CPS requires, and the youngest children are some of the most-tested.”
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Meanwhile, from a More Than A Score field report Tuesday:
“Some opting out students forced to take test, denied paper, pencil, treats, bathroom breaks. Scattered reports of real learning breaking out where teachers refused to give tests.”
Standing Room Only
“With rents rising and incomes shrinking across the country, the Chicago-area has fallen behind other major metropolitan areas in creating new housing for its poorest families during the past decade,” the Chicago Reporter reports.
“Unlike the Chicago-area, some places are actually closing the gap. Los Angeles County, for example, added more than 34,000 units for the county’s poorest during just more than a decade. New York City’s five counties combined to add another 30,000.
“If there’s one take away from the Urban Institute’s report it’s if public officials decide that improving housing prospects for their poorest residents is a priority, housing can be built.”
Seemingly related: Emanuel Looking At Soldier Field Expansion.
Coffee For Closers
“The list of closers with real value is very short, and it got even shorter after last season with the retirement of Mariano Rivera, who was the very model of consistency at a position that has very little consistency from year to year,” our very own Dan O’Shea writes in Part 5 of his Fantasy Fix Baseball Draft Guide.
“Yet, in Mo’s wake, it seems we do have another year-in, year-out dominant RP emerging. He’s the clear No. 1.”
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BeachBook
* Buy Useful And Odd Dominick’s Equipment Online.
* Wisconsin Tourism Department A Lot Cooler Than Ours.
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Assault our senses.

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Posted on March 5, 2014