RYH Newsletter 3.24.21
THANK YOU to all who have filed witness slips!
Updates:
SB 1821: COVID-19 Learning Recovery for Students with Significant Disabilities in Transition Programs- passed out of committee!
Thank you to our friends at Legal Council for Health Justice and Access Living for testifying!
HB 2908: Elected School Board for Chicago- passed out of committee!
Thank you to CPS parents, Brenda Delgado Als (RYH board president) and Bridgett White, for testifying!
SB 148: Inclusive LSCs- passed out of the Human Rights Committee to the Education Committee!
Thank you to RYH board member, David Tolen, for testifying!
Two More Witness Slips Needed - 4 minutes
Two bills supported by RYH are scheduled to be heard in committee this morning at 8:30AM. Please consider filing witness slips as PROPONENT for both:
HB 2425: SpEd | ISBE Complaint Extension
Parents whose children were harmed by the CPS illegal delays or denials of special education services in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years will have an extended due date, Sept. 30, 2022, to file a state complaint.
HB 3223: Ensuring Success in School
Child survivors and teen parents need support to stay in school.
Tweet here from CAASE (Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation)
How to Submit a Slip:
Fill out: Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Email, and Phone
Write "self" for Firm/Business & Title & Representation
Under Position, select "PROPONENT"
Under Testimony, check "Record of Appearance"
There's a lot happening in the IL General Assembly this week. Follow us on social media to get updates on bills & action: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
Food Benefits For Families With School Aged Children (P-EBT)
Parents are starting to receive their P-EBT card(s)- it comes in a plain white envelope via USPS. If you are a CPS parent, you will be receiving a card for each of your children: 3 CPS students = 3 white envelopes = 3 P-EBT cards. (If you are not in CPS please see the resources listed below; you still may qualify.)
Please use this benefit if your family needs this assistance.
Please use this benefit if your family does not need this assistance then redistribute the money by paying it forward - donate the equivalent amount to local mutual aid orgs. CPS parent & RYH board member, Cassandra Kaczocha, explains why & how to do this in the Chicago Tribune: As CPS families get $450 food cards, some paying it forward.
PLEASE SHARE THIS INFO- not many people know about this yet and it will be hugely beneficial to many families and communities. We recommend the following resources to learn more:
New! Crusader: State announces expanded food support for every CPS family
The Southwest Collective has this FB post which summarizes the program and this new post with FAQs on P-EBT.
Greater Chicago Food Depository has a helpful FAQ webpage here. Leer en español.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless hosted a webinar on P-EBT.
We have a webpage here about CPS Meal Sites- there are changes with Spring Break next week.
RYH Statement in Response to Violence Against Asian Communities
We released this statement on social media Friday. Here are a couple of action steps we included:
Support the #TEAACHAct, which adds Asian American history to our curriculum. Email your legislators to co-sponsor and support the TEAACH Act here.
Attend a bystander intervention training. More can be found here.
Monday’s Press Conference: #TLCMakesSense
With Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Teachers Union, and Southwest Organizing Project, we hosted a press conference Monday. You can watch it here.
As part of the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed last week by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, Chicago Public Schools is projected to receive over $1.8 Billion dollars in funds. Parents, students and families demand ownership of these funds to use for the necessary programming and activities to address the unique needs of low-income children, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth.
WGN 9: CPS parents seek control of district’s share of COVID-19 relief funds
RYH and community groups worked together to develop the Trust Learning Care platform. Over 1,000 parent and student leaders from across the district have participated in creating the TLC plan through community meetings, including a virtual town hall in February which was attended by over 500 parents.
New! Check out this phenomenal video of the #TLCMakesSense press conference, rally and teach-in at the CPS Board of Ed last month.
CPS Board of Ed Meets Today
Our prepared CPS BOE statements will be posted here later this morning. We will also add press coverage of the meeting to the same webpage later in the day.
The meeting starts at 10:30AM and will be live streamed on the CPS YouTube channel here. RYH will be live tweeting parts of the meeting.
You can submit written comments to the CPS BOE through Thursday, March 25, 5PM. Go to www.cpsboe.org and scroll down to “Board meeting Mar 24 Form”, click, and this will take you to a Google form. On the agenda today:
Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago wants students back to school sooner this fall
Sun-Times: CPS’ Agassiz Elementary — named after a racist biologist — to be renamed for Harriet Tubman
Worth a read. The White Rhino blog (Ray Salazar, NBCT, Hancock HS Teacher): Chicago Public Schools needs to switch to a year-round calendar this fall
File This Under: "Ugh!"
Sun-Times: 6,000 CPS vaccines misallocated by clinic, city says: ‘This is completely unacceptable behavior’
Innovative Express Care has a $5M contract with CPS to administer vaccines to CPS employees. CPS and Chicago say there will be minimal disruption to those CPS staff with upcoming appointments.
Local School Council (LSC) Resource
If you are a LSC member and would like to connect to a larger group of LSC members from across the city, please email us: info@ilraiseyourhand.org.
#PoliceFreeSchools Youth Meetings
This is a CPS student ONLY space with the goals of connecting youth to other school communities, build their base, provide resources, listen to students and plan together to win Cops Out CPS. Fridays | Youth-led calls | 5PM
Special Education News
#NoGoCPS Discrimination in the HS Application Process. We want to hear from parents who have children with IEPs who were denied CTE, Arts and other high school programs due to NWEA and Grade cut scores. If this is you, please fill out this form.
Equip for Equality has a webpage here with all the resources linked (English and Spanish available) from our information sessions on the CPS SSCA (Student Specific Corrective Action) and UER (Universal Enrichment Remedy).
Student with IEP aging out of Transition Program at 22? If you or anyone you know has an adult child who has aged out of (or will soon age out of) Transition Programs in CPS or other school districts in IL during remote learning -- 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.
Family Resource Center on Disabilities is the free Chicago Area Parent Training and Information Center. They are a federally-funded not-for-profit whose purpose is to support families and people with disabilities. They will answer questions about the IEP process, specific concerns about your child’s special education, and even send an advocate to your child’s IEP meeting. To access all this valuable support, attend a know-your-rights training on Navigating the IEP Process: Special Education Rights Seminar.
Pandemic Schooling & CPS Quarter 4 News
CPS hosted a second HS town hall on March 17, at 5PM.
Our live tweets are here.
You can watch the entire town hall here.
Watch out for upcoming meetings at your own school for (hopefully) actual details on your school's individual plan.
Some press:
On Friday, parents were given an extension on Q4 intent forms to Tues, March 23, and CPS released in person attendance data. Some press:
Chicago Tribune: Fewer than 1/4 of CPS students eligible to return to schools have attended classes in person; high school opt-in deadline extended
WBEZ: Only A Fraction Of CPS Students Are Returning For In-Person Class
Chalkbeat Chicago: How to tell if Chicago’s school reopening is a success? Experts say it’s complicated
Healthy Schools Campaign has a resource page here for in person learning: In-Person Learning Resources for Parents and Caregivers at Chicago Public Schools. The report that is linked on this page (updated March 1) has some great questions that you could be asking at the school and district level regarding health & safety protocols.
On Monday CPS announced they were creating a "Healing-Centered" school district. We are excited that educators will receive training but additional school staff specializing in mental health is necessary and this staff is not part of the plan. Some press:
Must Read (or Listen) Series from WBEZ
Teacher Olga Contreras and her Little Village classroom at Saucedo ES are back, this time with a new installment about hybrid learning: Hybrid Classrooms In Chicago Present New Challenges
The first installment is here: Pandemic's Impact On One Family In Chicago's Little Village | Muerte, pérdida de empleo y aprendizaje remoto: El saldo de la pandemia en una familia de Chicago
RYH Intern Reflection
One of our fabulous interns writes a piece about her time with us! Repair The World blog: Serving the Moment in Chicago
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.
In Other News
Sun-Times: Teachers’ discrimination lawsuit over CPS turnaround policy cleared for trial
Block Club Chicago: Humboldt Park's Roberto Clemente High School Brings Back Boys Swim Team After 25 Years
Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago will no longer require SAT for high school graduation in pandemic year
Block Club Chicago | Chalkbeat Chicago: A 10-year-old student was picked up from school a few minutes late — so Chicago school reported his mom to authorities
WBEZ: Illinois College Enrollment Numbers Drop Amid COVID
CPS: Resources | Upcoming Meeting | An Email
CPS Online Reopening Guide | CPS Twitter | CPS Facebook
Watch out for emails from your school(s) and following your school social media accounts.
CPS FACE YouTube Channel- Ask The Expert session videos are here.
From CPS’ Family & Community Engagement (FACE):
Th, March 25 | 4-5PM
The Expert: Maurice Swinney, Chief Equity Officer
Topic: Leading School Quality Work Through an Equity Lens
RSVP Here (required in order to receive the invitation)
On March 15, the below email was sent to CPS parents (posting in its entirety):
A message from CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Dear CPS Families and Community Members,
Chicago Public Schools is committed to continually examining our systems and practices to identify how equity can be centered in our classrooms every day. According to the CPS Five-Year Vision (2019-2024), “We know that to truly address the inequities, it takes a comprehensive and multi-pronged approach. We have started a top-to-bottom policy review to ensure our policies align with our values...And, it means our decisions need to reflect equity through and through.”
Currently, two Board of Education policies, the Multicultural Education and Diversity Policy and the New Collection Development for School Libraries Policy, are under review by the Offices of Equity and the Office of Teaching and Learning. We are looking for input from the community to help inform these policy revisions and better serve our students and communities. With your help, we will improve these policies to define what culturally relevant instruction looks like schools, prioritize equity, and better serve students with different needs and resources, especially in the following areas:
Instructional practices
Professional development for our staff
Selecting and procuring district resources
In the coming months, there are multiple opportunities to get involved in the policy development:
Community Survey
March 15–April 2, 2021
(English | Spanish)
Complete this 15-20 minute survey to help inform the policy updates and learn about more opportunities for engagement.Virtual Community Meetings
March 23 and March 29, 2021
Community members will collaborate to review the drafts of the updated policies. Meetings will consist of a reflection, presentation, and small group discussions. English and Spanish facilitators will be available at all meetings. To participate, please sign up for our sessions March 23 or March 29. Please note there is a 500 person capacity at all sessions.Focus Groups
March 22–April 16, 2021
Following the survey and community meetings, some respondents will be invited to an empathy interview and/or a focus group to explore how best the two policies can be revised. Individuals will be invited to join focus groups by using the UIC Great Cities Institute Hardship Index (2017) and survey data to prioritize those most impacted by inequity.
For more information about the history, importance, timeline, and partners in this work, please review the Policy Redesign Executive Summary. You can also visit the Office of Equity’s website for more context about our work and further opportunities to engage with policy revisions.
In community,
Maurice R. Swinney, EdD Sherly Chavarria, EdD
Chief Equity Officer Chief of Teaching and Learning
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools