There is plenty to recap on the Chicago Public Schools beat. Let’s get right to it.

• The Sun-Times and the Chicago Teachers Union surveyed 1,200 teachers and found that in the last year, a fifth were pressured to change their students’ grades. It was more of a problem at high schools, where nearly a third were pressured, and overall, 20 percent caved and raised grades. 
• At the behest of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Progress Illinois says, Gov. Pat Quinn dumbed down a law that would have put more oversight on CPS’s school closure process. Daley will get to name two people to a committee that will review the process and make recommendations.
• The companies that provide bus service for CPS students are adding GPS tracking devices to help them monitor routes. The info will only be available internally, so parents won’t be able to check and see where their kids are.
• The funding cuts that affected dozens of Illinois State Board of Education programs also hit the $42 million the agency used to hand out to school districts to buy textbooks. Districts will get no money for textbooks this year. Last year CPS got $6.7 million. 
• One of Chicago’s newest charter schools, located in North Lawndale, is in a newly restored building that used to be a power plant for Sears, Roebuck & Co. The turbine room is now a great hall that will be used for assemblies and doubles as cafeteria. The architecture is inspiring, but will that make for a better educational experience?

Finally, Sept. 8 is the first day of school at CPS campuses that aren’t on year-round schedules. Last minute shopping trip to Staples, anyone?