Emanuel plows ahead to make school day longer

It’s taken Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel less than four months to advance an educational maneuver his predecessor attempted for years but could never pull off.

He’s keeping the city’s students in school longer.

A national report says Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest district, has the shortest school day among the nation’s 50 largest districts.

Emanuel, like Mayor Richard Daley before him, has made it a high-profile priority to change that.

But he faces opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union to his plan to add 90 minutes of instructional time to each school day.

So Emanuel is offering cash incentives to schools and for teachers who agree to work outside of the contract by voluntarily lengthening their day by January 2012.

Three schools have taken Emanuel up on the offer.