CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois state Sen. James Meeks is outlining his plan to overhaul what he says is a broken public schools system in Chicago.
The pastor is running for Chicago mayor.
At a news conference Wednesday, Meeks said he'll
push for full day kindergarten and double the time that students spend on
reading and math. He's also proposing a voucher program that would allow 50,000
students in some of the city's worst performing neighborhood schools to attend
other schools.
Meeks, a Democrat, also says he's intent on getting
rid of bad teachers, explaining that if elected he'd give the teachers' union
one year to come up with a policy to identify and dismiss bad teachers. He says
if the union doesn't do so, he will ask state lawmakers to develop a policy.
Copyright
2010 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/David Banks)
