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Revive the Dream: Session 3 with Adam Anderson of Chicago Public Schools

Just yesterday, we hosted the third session for the Revive the Dream Fellows Program.  Our Fellows were lucky to spend the evening with Adam Anderson.   During the session, the Fellows discussed Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the school closings in early 2013 and Adam’s role as Officer of Portfolio, Panning and Strategy.

The discussion about CPS is always a good one no matter what side of the fence you sit on.  The decreasing (yet still very large) budget, the organization’s most important priorities, increases in class size and student social-economic backgrounds are some of the most compelling topics.

Some people think CPS is getting it all wrong. They point to increasing class sizes, decreasing budgets, abismal test scores, and shutting down a few dozen schools last year. On the other hand, some people are more optimistic, understanding the challenges that come with running any school, and especially a pubic school in Chicago.  They realize that the class sizes and teacher salaries are the result of budget cuts, balance sheet deficits and not enough talented people entering the education space.  They also understand the hard work that it takes to move the needle just a little and the difficulty the students face not just in the classroom, but at home far before they ever step foot in the classroom.

We talked about this and more in our session last night with Adam.

As pre-reading for the session, I assgined the Fellows a popular trending article, The Invisible Child has been trending lately (I highly recommend reading this article). This was a perfect pre-read to get your mindset on some of the realities faced in urban districts.  I kicked off the session by doing some simple discussion of the article and student life in rural districts in the United States. We talked about the harsh realities of homelessness and the struggles that some kids face before stepping foot in the classroom, and we also brainstormed ideas to solve the problems.

Easier said than done of course. And that’s why programs like Revive the Dream exist. To bring more people together to understand that Education Matters for students in urban districts and to help equip them solve these education issues.

Thanks to Adam for coming to speak to our Fellows.  We look forward to staying in touch.