RYH Statements + Press | CPS BOE 5.26.21

At 9:30AM, we will be hosting a press conference with partner organizations. You can watch it here on our Facebook page.

Chicago Tribune: Calls for an elected school board in Chicago intensify with just days left for action in Springfield this spring

At 10:30AM, the mayor appointed CPS BOE holds their monthly meeting. You can watch it here. We will do some live tweeting. Our prepared statements will post below later this morning. We will also post press coverage of the day far below.

For more thorough live tweets, please follow the #ChiDocumenter. Here is the Chicago Documenters webpage of the meeting (scroll down for documents like the presentations and actions taken.)

You can submit Written Comments to the CPS BOE. Go to cpsboe.org & click on the link for “Board meeting May 26 Form” which will take you to a Google form. Comments are due by 5PM, Th, May 27.

Andrea Tolzmann, CPS Parent and RYH Board Member

I have been coming here for many years, asking this board for transparency and a willingness to work collaboratively with parents to address systemic problems that plague schools across this district. I have worked within the system by serving as an elected representative on my school’s LSC and I have been an elected leader of my school’s PAC to build parent involvement. I have also been appointed to serve as a member of the CPS Parent Board of Governors to help build collaborative efforts between district leadership and parents. My experience as both an elected official and an appointed leader has taught me the importance of prioritizing democracy and providing space for the voices of the community. With Raise Your Hand, I have advocated for, and will continue to stand strong with parents across the city who are fighting for equitable school funding, transparency in district-level decision-making, and adequate and appropriate staffing and support for our students.

I am also a long-time Chicago resident and taxpayer who has voted with an overwhelming majority of citizens for an Elected Representative School Board. I wanted to believe that election rhetoric would have turned into action, not just empty promises. I stand united with parents, city residents, and elected officials, to let you and our mayor know that we want a fully elected representative school board. This is not new or news. We need this now and you, the school board, have a responsibility towards making this happen. 

As CPS Board members, part of your job is to make decisions that lead the school district forward and create change that will impact our schools now and in the future. This Board can, and should, play a role in advocating for an elected board and help CPS transition to true democracy. You have an opportunity to voice your support for an elected representative board, not preserving power for the mayor. Your job isn’t to do the mayor’s or the newly appointed CEO’s bidding. You are in a position to provide counsel and directives to the mayor and the CEO about changes that will impact our schools. Your job is to make decisions that build and strengthen our schools and also to build and strengthen relationships with the people who are directly impacted by those decisions. You have been given this opportunity to create a stronger, better school district. Please, do not just sit back. There is work to be done, changes to be made, schools to strengthen, and students to support. Please, get up from your comfy, appointed, boardroom chairs, and stand up to work with Chicago’s parents, citizens and elected officials to demand a truly elected representative school board for CPS. Thank you for your time and commitment to ensuring this will happen.

Rousemary Vega, CPS Parent and RYH Parent Organizer

I am sure you know my story, but I am not here to talk about myself. I am here today to advocate for the communities you continue to ignore. You have continued to ignore the needs and wishes of our Black and brown communities, and continuously fail our students of color.

I have knocked on hundreds of doors, visited many communities and spoken to parents across Chicago. After months of walking, marching, and advocating for an Elected Representative School Board, I hear the cries and issues that our Black and brown parents are facing, how they feel ignored and voiceless in a system whose only interest is to profit from their children.

This past Saturday, I met a parent named Cleo, who testified how proud she was that I was visiting her community, and she wished parents like myself existed when her son was in CPS. She told me the story about how she felt CPS failed her child, leaving her feeling ignored, voiceless, and defeated. Cleo is just one example of how parents feel when up against CPS: alone and unrepresented.

Like Cleo's son who needed help but instead got labeled. Her son needed attention but instead was prosecuted.

I am here to ask the board to stop stripping resources from Black and brown communities. To stop starving our schools. To stop making our children fight over crumbs. To give our students all the resources and opportunities they deserve. To stop depriving our students of the education they are rightfully entitled to. But most importantly, to stop pointing fingers at the black and brown communities when it involves violence or graduation rates, without resources to aid and heal our communities.

I am here to advocate for an Elected Representative School Board. It is time for parents to have a voice and a direct seat at the table when decision-making for our children in Black and brown communities is at stake. I am here to remind you that you have failed as an appointed school board, and it is time for a change, now. It is time to step down.

Press Coverage Leading Up To The Meeting (Agenda Items)

WTTW: CPS to Promote All Elementary, Middle School Students to Next Grade Level

Sun-Times: CPS proposes giving Aramark, Sodexo another 3 months, $74M for facilities management

Sun-Times: CPS school to remove Andrew Jackson, former president and slaveholder, from its name

Press Coverage of the Meeting

Chalkbeat Chicago: It’s official: Chicago schools will fully reopen next fall, with mandatory attendance for most

Sun-Times: CPS rejects charter school relocation to Albany Park, cites potential harm to neighborhood school

Chalkbeat Chicago: ‘Turnaround is a relic’: Chicago officially winds down reform-era school improvement program

Sun-Times: Remote learning will return this fall for medically fragile students despite in-person mandate

Chicago Tribune: CPS fall plans: Full-time in-person classes, virtual academy for medically fragile kids — and as many students vaccinated as possible

Chicago Tribune: CPS to take back ‘turnaround’ schools: Controversial program that saw schools shift to private operators and teachers fired is being dismantled