In its annual school policy luncheon series, BPI and co-sponsor Catalyst Chicago invite policymakers and community members to learn about current public education issues and consider potential solutions, thereby helping to inform local policy debate and discussion.

Listed below are the themes and topics for each Chicago Schools Policy Luncheon series since 2000.  

2010: Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: Getting It Right

Who is this Next Generation of Teachers?

• Professor Susan Moore Johnson, Harvard University
• Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers Union
• Peter Martinez, Director of School Leadership Coaching, UIC Urban Education Leadership Program

Where Are We Headed?

• Audrey Soglin, Executive Director, Illinois Education Association
• Alicia Winckler, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chicago Public SChools
• Andrew Broy, Executive Director, Illinois Network of Charter Schools

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2009:  More Time for Learning: Necessity or Tangent?

Is More Time the Wave of the Future?  

• Jennifer Davis, Co-founder of Massachusetts 2020 and President of the National Center on Time & Learning
• Erica Harris, Officer, CPS Office of Extended Learning Opportunities
• Timothy Knowles, Lewis-Sebring Director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago

Click here for audio and visual materials for this luncheon. 

How More Time Can Ignite Change?

• Jeffrey Riley, former principal of a Boston Expanded Learning Time school and now Academic Superintendent for Middle and K-8 Schools
• Robin Johnson, Principal of L.E.A.R.N. Excel Charter School
• Paul O’Toole, Principal of Marquette Elementary School

Click here for a brief description, materials, and audio recording from WBEZ.  

Marrying Schools and After-School Time

• Mary Ellen Caron, Chicago Commissioner for Youth and Children Services
• Suzanne Armato, Executive Director, Federation of Community Schools
• Lila Leff, Executive Director, Umoja Student Development Corporation
• Sean Stalling, CPS Chief Area Officer/Area 21 and former Manley High School principal

Click here for a brief description, materials, and audio recording. 

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2008:  Is Great Teaching Enough:  The Impact of School-Community Connections on the Achievement Gap

The Evidence

• Charles Payne, Frank P. Hixon Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago; author of So Much Reform, So Little Change
• Penny Bender Sebring, founding Co-Director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research(CCSR) at the Urban Education Institute  

Click here for a brief description, materials, and audio recording from WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified.

 What Kids Think

• Michael Woolley, Professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago
• Mikva Challenge students and staff

Click here for a brief description, materials, and audio recording from WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified.

 What It Takes

• Paul Tough, Author of  Whatever It Takes on the Harlem Children’s Zone
• Nancy Aardema, Executive Director of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association
• Chris Brown, Director of Education Programs, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Click here for a brief description, materials, and audio recording from WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified.

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2007: Making School Autonomy Work for Children

School Autonomy: National Policy, Local Implementation

• Andrew Rotherham, Co-director, Education Sector; Chief Writer, Eduwonk.com
• Joseph Palumbo, Senior Executive, Focus on Results

New Schools for New Orleans: A Charter Laboratory

• Leslie Jacobs, Member, Louisiana State Board of Education
• Shenita Johnson Garrard, Director, Central Region of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA)

Chula Vista: Where Charters Helped Reshape the District

• Dennis Doyle, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, Services & Support, Chula Vista Schools
• David Vitale, Chief Administrative Officer, Chicago Public Schools

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2005-2006: Failing Schools: Replace Them or Overhaul Them?

New York City Goes for New Schools

• Michele Cahill, Senior Counselor for Education Policy, New York City Department of Education
• Hosanna Mahaley Johnson, Chief of Staff to CPS CEO Arne Duncan
• Mildred Wiley, Senior Director of Community Building Special Initiatives, Bethel New Life

Chattanooga Zeroes in on Worst Schools

• Dan Challener, President, Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga
• Timothy Knowles, Executive Director, Center for Urban School Improvement, University of Chicago

School Replication: What Matters Most?

• John Elwell, President, Replications, Inc., New York City;
• Darryl Cobb, Chief Learning Officer, KIPP Charter Schools

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2004

• School Choice Can Enhance Equity
• After NCLB: What Should a Good Federal Law Look Like?
• Repairing the Teacher Pipeline

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2003

• No Child Left Behind: Offering Real Choice to Every Chicago Student
• New Paradigms in Educational Leadership
• Transforming CHA Communities: Is Public Education the Key to Success?

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2002

• What Will Illinois' Next Governor Do for Public Education?
• How Can We Ensure That Our Neediest Students Get Teachers Of The Highest Quality?
• High School Redesign: This Time, Do We Mean It?

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2001

• Putting Teacher Quality First: Cincinnati's Experiment
• Closing The Achievement Gap: The Evanston Effort
• The Digital Divide: New Approaches In Union City

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2000

• Leadership For Today's Schools: How Two Superintendents Make The Grade
• Beyond Tests: What Can We Learn From The British Independent Inspection System?
• A New High School Culture: How Do We Get There?