Meeks wants vouchers for 50,000 Chicago students

Fran Spielman:

Arguing that Chicago Public Schools are "broken'' and that parents deserve a "choice,'' mayoral challenger James Meeks said Wednesday he would offer $4,500-a-year vouchers to 50,000 low-and-middle-income Chicago families to use toward private school tuition.

If he is elected mayor, Meeks said he would also offer full-day kindergarten and character education in all Chicago Public Schools and double the time spent on reading and math in first through third grades. Full-day kindergarten would be financed in part by cutting bonus pay for teachers with master's degrees.

The 90 minutes of daily reading time -- up from 45 minutes currently -- is designed to make certain that students read at a third-grade level by the time they finish third-grade.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 17, 2010 1:30 AM
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