RYH Newsletter 6.16.21

Jun 16

We’re pleased to announce that the RYH Newsletter will be available soon in Spanish! Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Elected School Board Bill + ACTION ALERT

The IL House is in Springfield today to take care of some unfinished business including the concession elected school board bill, HB 2908. This bill passed in the Senate with an amendment so now it must return to the House for concurrence. There was a hearing this morning in the elections committee where HB 2908 passed. Coverage of this hearing this from Chalkbeat Chicago here: Chicago elected school board bill clears another big hurdle, despite lingering questions.

The bill now goes to the full House floor for a vote which is expected to happen today. The House session started not that long ago- you can watch here. We don’t expect HB 2908 to be called until later but if it passes it will next head to the Governor to be signed into law.

ICYMI… Here’s our one pager on the bill, HB 2908.

On Friday, June 18, at 1PM, SB 1565 will have a subject matter hearing. This is a trailer bill to HB 2908, and will allow non-citizen parents and guardians to vote in local school board elections.

ACTION ALERT. Witness Slips Needed. PROPONENT.

Submit A Witness Slip | PROPONENT

UPDATE: ISBE Delays Their Vote To Determine New Student Tests

Chicago Tribune: More standardized tests in Illinois schools? Vote delayed as educators raise alarms: ‘Our students and teachers are exhausted’

Success! IL State Board of Ed (ISBE) is delaying a vote on spending $227M+ over the next 10 years on a state-mandated testing program that increases high-stakes tests for students. Thanks to all of you who sent letters to ISBE!

RYH’s Advocacy Director, Naoma, spoke today at the monthly ISBE meeting and her prepared remarks are here. ISBE meets again on August 18.

Watch last week’s webinar: Reimagining Assessment in IL: Taking a Closer Look at ISBE’s Vision for Mandatory State Testing. Our live tweets of the webinar are here.

CPS Interim CEO, CEdO, and COO Announced

On Monday, Mayor Lightfoot announced three CPS Interims:

CEO Dr. José Torres; CEdO Dr. Maurice Swinney; COO Lindy McGuire

WBEZ: Former Elgin School District Leader Named Interim CEO Of Chicago Public Schools

Chalkbeat Chicago: Mayor names José Torres as interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Tribune: Nombran a José Torres como líder interino de CPS | José Torres named interim leader of Chicago Public Schools

Sun-Times: Nearly half of CPS students are Latino. Should the next CEO be?

ICYMI… An Open Letter To The Next CPS CEO* — Raise Your Hand

Webpage worth noting: Chicago Public Schools CEO Selection Process

CPS Board of Ed Meetings- Tonight & Next Week

There is a special CPS BOE meeting tonight: Wed, June 16, 6PM. We will be speaking and live tweeting.
There is a CPS BOE hearing on a waiver application: Wed, June 23, 9AM.
There is a CPS BOE monthly meeting: Wed, June 23, 10:30AM.

All of the above will live stream on the CPS YouTube channel. If you have any questions on any of the above, please email jennie@ilraiseyourhand.org.

CPS Parent Survey - Fall Reopening SY22 Survey + SY 21-22 Calendar

ICYMI... CPS released their Parent Survey - Fall Reopening SY22 late last week. We encourage you to take it and share it with other CPS families: cps.edu/familysurvey. Due Fri, June 18.

ICYMI... the CPS BOE approved the 2021-22 school calendar in March 2021. The 1st day for CPS students is Mon, Aug 30. Printable calendar here (click on SY2021-22 Calendar.)

SpEd News: Send a Letter to Your Alderperson re: #NoGoCPS | SSCA/UER Resources | FRDC For Advocacy Needs

NPR: After Months Of Special Education Turmoil, Families Say Schools Owe Them

There’s a name for what many of these families now want from schools: compensatory services.

This is one of the biggest demands from parents in our #TrustLearningCare campaign. Families are looking for comp ed services, not lip service.

At RYH we’ve been pointing out the discrimination in the HS application process for students with disabilities and have been talking to CPS about this for some time. It’s time to take collective action:

Send A Letter To Your Alderperson

If you have an 8th Grader with an IEP in CPS who you believe was denied opportunity for appropriate High School programs due to NWEA and grade cut scores (for either application or acceptance), we want to hear from you at bit.ly/NoGoCPS. Thank you!

Local School Council (LSC): SRO Votes & An Event Next Week

Chalkbeat Chicago: In Chicago, the debate over school police isn’t over — it’s just quieter

The Gathering: Organizing for Effectiveness

Hosted by LSCs.4.All Coalition

Tues, June 22 | 4:30PM | Register

Youth Led Meetings For Youth!

On Fridays, #PoliceFreeSchools youth host a call for fellow students to learn more and get involved. 5PM | Register

Are you an immigrant or refugee CPS HS student? Do you want to develop yourself as a community leader this summer? Join Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago's KINETIC summer program from July 6 to Aug12! They are looking for 15 dynamic young people to learn and grow with them this year. More here.