If you have a Chicago job - or are looking for one - it might be useful to know the city has set up its own YouTube channel.

Mayor Richard M. Daley and officials at Google Chicago teamed up to launch the channel. The channel will allow registered users to upload an unlimited quantity of content, which will be uploaded and maintained by ChicagoWorks.

The channel will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Daley’s duties by highlighting courtesy visits from various heads of state, offering a personal tour of his City Hall office and learning about his travels in the United States and abroad. The channel also highlights various economic and jobs initiatives, such as the recent Green Office Challenge.

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While the Chicago school system is looking to restructure in hopes to save money, one group feels it’s not worth the cost to students or those with Chicago education jobs.

Two recent studies state that the Chicago Public Schools plan to close and reorganize schools has not led to improvements and has only focused on poor neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. The report was completed by the Grassroots Education Movement, a coalition of community, parent and teacher groups.

According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Public Schools plans to close and reorganize 22 schools under the district’s Renaissance 2010 initiative. The initiative, which began in 2004, calls for the creation of 100 new schools in Chicago to be put under the control of private groups. Of the schools to be closed, 16 have underenrollment. Staff members at six of those schools will have to reapply for education jobs.

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Anyone with a Chicago management job, or any small business owner in the Chicago area that’s facing trouble because of the current recession will soon have access to some much needed advice.

The Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection is planning to hose a workshop from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 26 at City Hall to help small business owners succeed despite the economy. This initial workshop will cover the day-to-day realities of operating a business and keeping jobs during the current recession. Anyone interested can register for the free workshop by calling (312) 744-5344.

“We want to see businesses in this city succeed, the workshop is packed with value that people can walk away with,” BACP Commissioner Norma I. Reyes said in a press release. “We want to provide businesses with information about the effects of today’s economy and give them motivation and expert advice to help keep them in the rink.”

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Anyone looking for a Chicago education job is bound to have some tough competition.

While the State of Illinois certifies many teachers each year, only a fraction of those actually make it into teaching positions. For instance, during the 2007-2008 school year, only 6 percent of the overall teaching force was made up of first-time teachers. However, Chicago Public Schools have been inundated with applications recently. A recent career fair brought out 1,100 Chicago job seekers, and applications for teaching positions have doubled in the past five years to 23,568 during the 2008-2009 school year.

According to an article by the the Illinois State Board of Education, the State of Illinois as a whole is producing thousands more new teachers than public school districts are hiring. There is an oversupply of teachers in all subjects except bilingual education, and the highest concentration of teachers is in social science. In the year ending June 30, 2007, 5,033 teachers were certified to teach social science in Illinois, but only 373 were hired by public school districts for the following school year.

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