• New Leader in Chicago, p.3 • Homeless Initiative, p.7 LEGISLATIVE • Congressional Delays, p.10 The Nation’s Voice for Urban Education
Urban School Districts Take In Relocated Puerto Rican Students Tenisha Marie Bennett Rodriguez vividly remembers the night last September when Hurricane Maria made landfall in her hometown of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. The storm ripped off half of the metal roof that covered the house she shared with her 5-year-old daughter Melody, filling every room with floodwater and leaving almost all of their belongings in ruins. The days that followed were painful as she and her daughter struggled with a lack of electricity, often waiting in line for 15 hours to get gas, which was limited to $10 of fuel a person. And at the only working ATM in town, Rodriguez had to wait in line for 10 hours only to be told she could withdraw just $40 a day. Clean water and food were scarce and expensive and most days she and her daughter ate only one meal. Puerto Rican continued on page 6
January/February 2018
Vol. 27, No. 1
www.cgcs.org
Des Moines Superintendent Shelters Teen Whose Family Was Deported Thomas Ahart is the superintendent of Iowa’s Des Moines Public Schools and Jennifer Galdames is an 11th-grade student at the district’s Roosevelt High School. And the first time the two met was not at a school function, but when Ahart decided to provide her with a home after her parents were deported. The story of how they Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Ahart, right, became a part of each with his family, left to right, stepson Eli, wife Jami and Jennifer other’s lives was the focus Galdames, whose parents were deported. of a recent article that appeared in the Des Moines Register. earlier, a victim of the violence affecting Galdames was born in Guatemala and Central America. three years ago, at the age of 14, she travGaldames’ mother arranged for a smugeled to the United States to join her moth- gler to escort her to the border in Texas and er, who had left her in Guatemala with kept a lawyer on standby. relatives when she was 18 months old. Her father had been killed in Guatemala years Des Moines continued on page 4
U.S. Education Policy and Legislation Focus of Conference 2018 Annual Legislative/Policy Conference Registration Brochure
Big-city school leaders will discuss 2018 education priorities for the Trump Administration and education legislation on Capitol Hill when they converge at the Council of the Great City Schools’ Annual Legislative/Policy Conference, March 1720, in Washington. Discussions will also focus on 2018-19 federal education funding, the status of the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, updates on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability and state plans, and prospects for school infrastructure funding at the landmark Mayflower Hotel in the nation’s capital. Conference highlights are on page 9. To register, access www.cgcs.org.
March 17-20, 2018
The Mayflower Hotel • Washington, D.C.