Three struggling Chicago schools to get Gates Foundation money

Three underperforming Chicago high schools are expected to benefit from a little over $10 million to be donated by the Gates Foundation to help convert them into teacher training centers.

The money will be given to the Academy for Urban School Leadership.

Executive director Don Feinstein says the academy has partnered with the Chicago Public Schools to manage eight schools, five of which also are training sites for teachers entering struggling schools.

Some of the money would help fund the academy's takeover of Orr High School on the West Side and two of its feeder schools, Howe Elementary and Morton Elementary.

Under the district's plan, which is expected to be approved by the Chicago Board of Education in February, the staff at all three schools would need to reapply for their jobs.