A candid Q & A with Dr. Reese, Pritzker Principal

<strong><strong>Dr. Reese on the last day of school.</strong></strong>

Q. How did you feel about Huberman not showing up and not calling today?

I got a call from his secretary at 4:30 on Thursday saying that he had chosen 12 schools to visit on Friday.

We have invited him before. I was happy that he would be coming but disappointed that it was to be on the last day of school when we would not be able to show off what we are doing.

Class was only to be for sixty minutes. It is a time teachers talk about the students' responsibilities for the summer, what class they'll be in in the fall and about having a safe summer.

I am not shocked that he did not come. Being able to visit twelve schools between 9 and 10:30 a.m., seemed to not be very likely.  He probably had an entire entourage and every one wanted to talk with him. He is a personable guy.

His secretary said he wanted to talk with the parents and children and to tell them to have a safe summer.

Q. What a about the fact that no one knows if they have a job next year?

Well that is not quite true.  I know that I have a job. Principals with schools that are being phased out or shut down know that.  There is no surprise element there.

Hwever, we have not been told what teachers we are to lose. We are to lose 4.5 of our 35 teachers.

I am at the end of my fifth year. Every year they have under projected my enrollment, every year I have appealed it and every year I was correct and they had to reinstate my positions.

This year they said that they based the projection on a five year trend.  My enrollment has been greater every year. But they project 625 students for next year. Currently we have 649, our boundaries are greater and we have schools that are phasing out in our area.

In my appeal, I asked that they please do not start us with a deficit.  My appeal was denied.  They are rolling out cuts in shifts and the cuts are based on lower projection of enrollment than last year.

Q. How can you can you plan for the new year organizationally?

I have told teachers that they are going to be teaching what they have been teaching. I am going to try to sustain continuity because it has been working.

There are Regional Gifted Enrollment issues that affect the situation. Children must test into the gifted program, I can not put them into the program.

CPS will not enroll more than 28 in each class even though there are enough students who are eligible and want to get in. Yet CPS calculates the number of teachers based on 35 per class.  So with three 28 student classes, I am down two teachers.  Scary but we manage to work it out.

Q. What about Emily Hutton not being able to get into a selective high school?

That is a very unfortunate situation. But, unfortunately it is rampant across the city.

There are far more qualified students than openings in high schools.

Children that have high scores, excellent grades and are excellent students want to go to selective enrollment schools. Contrary to public belief there are a lot of very bright students in the CPS system and selective schools do not have enough space for them.

There needs to be at least three or four more selective schools. One on each side of the city.

I feel horribly about Emily Hutton. This student is a principal's scholar, she has had all 'A's, and she is in the 97th percentile test wise. An accomplished artist, she is also an Irish dancer.  Her father is super active in school and community and he is a fireman. Now she can not go to a good high school.

What do you do as a parent? As a city employee, we do not make enough money to send kids to private schools.

Q. What are the real funding issues and answers?

School funds in the TIFs is criminal and then there is the State not paying their bills.

How about upward of $300,000 per year per person in government retirement funds being paid to criminals?  In what world is that OK?

I am happy that I have a job to come to. I am happy that I do my job well.  I am happy that I have people who are advancing because of work we do.

I try to do the right thing and ensure that things are going as well as they can go here at Pritzker.

You can not be worried about things that you can not control. The bottom line is that we are responsible for children's lives. We have to give them the best education we can give them whether there are 28 or 35 in a classroom.

We have to put our best foot forward and take the high road.  We have to do what is best for young people. In the end that is what matters.

Research says you can have 32 in a class room and have an excellent education program.  I have seen that, I know it can work. So now we could have three more. That is not optimal but we can do it.

I am more disturbed that we have no raises and have to do more with more children but with less money.

While we are getting less money, Mr. Huberman is getting a raise.  How is that just and fair?  You want us to do more work but he gets more money.  We are not even getting a cost of living increase and the superintendent is getting more money.

Editor's note: Dr. Reese has been given a new four-year contract by the LSC based on her productivity and success as rated by parents and staff.

For more info: Huberman No Show