RYH Newsletter 2.17.21

It’s TLC week! Join us on Facebook Live for teach-ins for CPS families to dig deeper into parent & student demands:

Trust Learning Care

Learning - Th, Feb 18, 6PM

Care - Fri, Feb 19, 6:30PM

Watch “CPS Parent Teach-In - Why We Need Trust” here.

#TLCMakesSense #TrustLearningCare #WeAreCPS

Over the past month, parents and youth have gathered to craft our Trust, Learning, and Care (TLC) Demands. Read the TLC Demands here: English | Spanish

Support Our #TLC Demands By Signing Our Petition here. Please share with 5 other CPS parents and/or youth + share on social media after you’ve signed. Thank you!

A Series of Reimagining School Safety Workshops

We are hosting a series of workshops and meetups during Feb and March- join Chicago's Youth and Adult Allies! Please complete this form to register for any of the upcoming workshops. 

In this email we are highlighting the next two workshops in our series:

• History of Policing In Schools & School-to-Prison Pipeline

  • TONIGHT, Wed, Feb 17 | 6 - 7:15PM | Register on Zoom

• Exploring Restorative and Transformative Practices

  • Sat, Feb 20 | 10:30 - 11:45AM | Register on Zoom

And recently in the news and in The Triibe:

CPD rejects 70% of recommendations for SRO policy in Chicago Public Schools

LETTER | CPD and CPS have chosen to ignore our feedback on police in schools — yet again

Special Education

• Equip for Equality held a webinar on the long-awaited rollout of CPS’ SSCA (Student Specific Corrective Action) and UER (Universal Enrichment Remedy). Here is a UER Fact Sheet and a UER Checklist with calculator, which should help you with any UER calls.

• If you or anyone you know has an adult child who has aged out of (or will soon age out of) CPS Transition Programs (or any IL school district transition program) at age 22 -- especially those who missed out on vital vocational training out in the Community due to Covid -- please give us your contact information via this form and we'll be in touch. Thanks. Please share.

Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) | Food Benefits For Families With School Aged Children

P-EBT is back. We recommend the following resources to learn more:

• The Southwest Collective has this FB post which summarizes the program.

• Greater Chicago Food Depository has a helpful FAQ webpage here.

• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is hosting a webinar on P-EBT TODAY, Wed, Feb 17, Noon. This will be available for viewing on their FB page.

We have a webpage here about CPS Meal Sites. 

LSC Summit 2021

The LSCs.4.ALL coalition is hosting our annual LSC summit on Sat, Feb 27, 10AM-3PM. Please note that we are adding additional time to the end of our Summit for an organizing plenary. 

Program of Events

Registration

We’re Hiring! (Again!)

Join our amazing RYH team! We are hiring a full time advocacy director. You can find the job description and how to apply here. We are accepting applications through Sun, Feb. 21. Thanks for sharing with possible candidates!

Elected Representative School Board

We have until the end of May to win an elected representative school board. We have upcoming actions and meetings ahead - please sign up here to take action! Questions? Email Jianan at jianan@ilraiseyourhand.org. As you can see via the article below, we have work to do. 

Sun-Times: Lightfoot says CPS would ‘never have opened without mayoral control,’ fuels speculation of backing away from elected school board

Petition To Consider

This snow though! We are thinking about families walking to school and being able to access school buildings safely during the Chicago winters. This petition calls on Chicago to prioritize pedestrians as much as cars and create a plan for clearing snow from sidewalks courtesy of Better Streets Chicago.

CPS’ “Ask The Expert” Sessions Continue

• CPS FACE YouTube Channel- Ask The Expert session videos are here.

• From CPS’ Family & Community Engagement (FACE):

  • Th, Feb 18 | 4-5PM

  • The Expert: Dr. Kavita Patel

  • Topic: Learn about vaccine safety and its importance

  • Click Here to RSVP (required in order to receive the invitation)

CPS’ 2021 Community Budget Meetings

From an email sent to parents on Fri, Feb 12:

CPS will hold town hall meetings to engage families around the district’s budgeting process. These meetings will provide community members and all interested stakeholders with an overview of CPS’ current funding methodologies and other aspects of the FY2021 budget. Attendees will also be able to share the needs of their school community and offer suggestions on how to make the district’s school funding process more equitable, transparent, and sustainable.

To learn more about our budget, such as where our money comes from and how we distribute and spend our dollars, we encourage you to review our 2021 Resident’s Guide to the Budget, explainer video, and our FY2021 budget on cps.edu/budget for a comprehensive overview of the district’s budget.

Three community meetings will be held virtually on the following dates:

Sat, Feb 20 | 10AM - noon | Register

Tues, Feb 23 | 6 - 8PM | Register

Wed, Feb 24 | 6 - 8PM | Register

In Other News

Sun-Times: Embrace the snow by creating a snowman for the Sun-Times’ newest student art contest

WTTW: CPS to Open School-Based COVID-19 Vaccination Sites for Staff Next Week

WBEZ: What Will It Take To Reopen CPS High Schools?

Chalkbeat: New CDC guidance: Vaccinate teachers, but don’t wait to open schools

CPF Insider blog: The ephemeral and timeless Karen Lewis

Upcoming Event

➡️ Monthly CPS Board of Education Meeting

Wed, Feb 24 | 10:30AM | Online registration to speak

• Online sign up to speak starts Mon, Feb 22, 10:30AM. The agenda will post at 10am. You can try to register via the phone (773) 553-1600- check the links above to make sure this is the correct number on registration day.

• You can submit comments to the BOE via a Google form which will be linked toward the top of the homepage of the CPS BOE webpage (this link to the form will probably go live on Mon, Feb 22, and you have until the day after the board meeting, 5PM, to submit comments) OR send them via US Mail at 1 N. Dearborn, Suite 950, Chicago IL 60602.

• The meeting will be live streamed on the CPS YouTube channel.

• Proposed board policies and/or rule changes that are and were open to public comment here.

• Please contact Jennie if you have any questions about the BOE meetings: jennie@ilraiseyourhand.org.