There are memes out there that say, “This is why we can’t have nice things…” I won’t bother posting one because they are pretty ubiquitous anyway. Either the picture in the meme depicts the reason why we can’t have nice things (like a cat tearing up a sofa) or depicts a person disappointed that we can’t have nice things (like President Obama frowning in despair). Someone could have taken a picture of my face as I walked around at the MOE ExCEL Fest 2017 this past Thursday. I kept thinking, “Why can’t Chicago Public Schools do anything like this?” I didn’t come up with a definite answer, so I can’t create a meme for why we can’t have nice things like the MOE ExCEL Fest.

The MOE ExCEL Fest is a “platform to celebrate and share exciting and innovative practices in schools.” I was so impressed as I walked around the huge Suntec Singapore convention center. Students and teachers were showcasing the work they do in their schools. TSS had a booth that showed their nascent work in the Applied Learning Program, which they recently began as a co-curricular activity. Students presented their work and visitors could interact with them about their projects. I got there toward the tail-end of the exhibition times, so I only got to say hi to the TSS students as they were wrapping up their exciting day. I did manage to snap some pictures of some of the exhibits.

So, I guess I took more than a few pictures. CPS does science fairs (what district doesn’t?). We also have school fairs, but those are more about feeding into the competition between schools and allowing schools to “market” themselves in one location. We don’t have a venue where schools are encouraged to show off the innovative practices they have. I can’t even say that schools are encouraged to BE innovative, now that I think about it. Of course, many schools are doing innovative work, but there’s not central place where it can be showcased and celebrated. What a shame.

My gut tells me that the reason that we can’t have nice things like this is because of funding. Singapore spends money on schools in a way that the US schools cannot compete. Education is a top priority. Singapore spent over 12 billion dollars (SGD) on education in 2015 (which is about equivalent to 8.5 billion in USD). Chicago’s budget is under six billion for this school year and there’s a good chance that the school year will end early because it doesn’t have enough funds to cover the entire year.  Chicago’s district serves under 400,000 students and Singapore schools enrollment is about 450,000 students. Those numbers just don’t compare. I think I know why we can’t have nice things. Sigh…