Raise Your Hand

Dear Mayor Daley:

We, the undersigned parents, students, teachers and residents of Chicago, urge you to take the lead in reforming the system of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts to halt the diversion of funds from Chicago Public Schools (CPS). TIF districts in Chicago are annually diverting more than $275 million in CPS property taxes away from education, roughly the amount of the remaining FY 2011 deficit. Chicago, CPS and the more than 400,000 public school students and their families cannot afford this diversion.

Public education is one of the most important quality of life issues for families in Chicago. As taxpayers who are invested in the city and our public schools, we refuse to accept a public school system in which our children are expected to share a classroom with 35 - 37 students and accept reduced or scaled back programs that are necessary for a comprehensive education. We have all seen too many families leave Chicago for the suburbs solely because of the lack of quality educational options in Chicago, and that trend will only increase if CPS has to make further budget cuts. It is vital for our children, as well as for the future of Chicago, that we all stand up together to fix this problem.