RYH Statements at the Feb 2021 CPS BOE

Feb 24

On Wed, Feb 24, we hosted a socially distanced and masked press conference, march, and Teach-In as we delivered the TLC Demands to both Mayor Lightfoot and CEO Jackson. We received an insufficient response from our initial email of the TLC Demands (sent Feb 11) from CEO Jackson late in the day on Feb 23. You can watch all of this action here on our FB page. Check out the beautiful photos from CPS mom and photographer Sarah-Ji!

Read the TLC Demands here: English | Spanish. Support Our TLC Demands By Signing Our Petition here.

RYH live tweets of all of the day’s action: Press Conference here | CPS Board of Ed meeting here

Chicago Documenters: Live Tweets of meeting | Webpage with meeting docs

Our prepared CPS BOE statements are below; press coverage of the day is far below. You can watch the CPS BOE monthly here.

You can submit written comments to the CPS BOE through Thursday, Feb 25, 5PM. Go to www.cpsboe.org and scroll down to “Board meeting Feb 24 Form”, click, and this will take you to a Google form.

Natasha Erskine, CPS Parent & RYH Parent and LSC Organizer

TRUST

There has been a lot of talk about building tables for parent engagement. We hear this from board members, CPS leadership and the Mayor. However parent and youth driven Trust Learning Care Demands have not been listened to despite being delivered almost two weeks ago only to receive an insufficient response (you can find out more at bit.ly/TLCmakessense). It’s hard to have faith in the district when parents were literally outside CPS today building their own parent tables. TLC makes sense and it is essential that the anticipated federal funding go towards these demands to support all CPS families. Parents who are LSC members have also been ignored. There have been over 135 LSC letters - LSCs are the only elected body in education - which have asked the district to listen to them, address concerns for both in person and remote learners, and work together. How can CPS talk about building more tables when the parents at the LSC table aren’t being heard? I want to share a few quotes from LSCs that show why we need to continue to fight for the Trust demands under the TLC platform.

Many LSCs spoke of the lack of inclusion in the current process. One LSC said, “The district has set a course that is isolating and contrary to the collaborative and open effort this moment demands.” This is why we must foster a culture of transparency. Parents and students should be included in safety teams. One LSC named that unlike the Board of Education, “we are elected by and accountable to our communities and feel responsible for ensuring the health and safety of our schools.” Common sense requirements should be followed such as training all staff before students come in and not opening if the required number of staff to keep that building safe is not met. Finally, dozens of LSCs spoke of the decades of distrust and CPS’ track record of cleanliness and follow through, which speaks to our public COVID tracker demand so we can all support in addressing issues that are inevitable.

One LSC named that “CPS’s constant indecision, inability to communicate effectively, and refusal to collaborate has created additional stress, fear and exhaustion for the families they seek to serve.” If nothing changes, how does CPS expect to gain trust from families? Support the Trust, Learning and Care demands. Thank you.

Aiko Kojima Hibino, CPS Parent & RYH Board Member

LEARNING

The Mayor and CPS leadership have given up on remote learning. Repeatedly, folks in power have said that remote learning cannot be improved. This is a slap in the face to almost all CPS families that will spend the majority of their time remote. This reveals how this district is stricken with a lack of creativity. This also reveals why it is essential that CPS listens to the parent and youth driven demands around Trust, Learning, and Care (you can find out more at bit.ly/TLCmakessense). The focus towards getting bodies in the building has actually decreased the overall quality of learning. LSCs are concerned about this and I will share a few quotes from LSC letters that show why we need to continue to fight for the Learning demands under the TLC platform.

One LSC fears that “the CPS reopening plan may jeopardize quality instruction for students who stay remote as well as those who come in-person” while another LSC notes that “Students who are remote will receive less direct, synchronous instructional time than their peers in the classroom”. Why are we robbing Peter to pay Paul? The vast majority of students will continue with remote and almost all will have remote on some days. Our demands state that we must not decrease remote learning quality and we must support local school’s autonomy.

What is most egregious is the lack of support for diverse learners, a primary group that reopening was intended for. On one LSC resolution their “diverse learners team have expressed that it isn’t possible for them to serve their students in a hybrid format as their schedules do not allow them to meet all IEP minutes- minutes that are required by law.” We must build our plans with Sp.Ed and EL in mind first.

A HS LSC wants to “urge the district to work with parents and teachers to focus on continuing to improve the quality of remote learning and make the needed investments in technology, staffing, and other supports.” This is why we are demanding a school based tech support center for families and doubling down to eliminate the digital divide. We still have so much more we can do to make learning better; this means more professional development for educators and families. This means more physical materials and manipulatives

If this doesn’t change the schools that were well resourced before the pandemic will continue to receive support that other schools will not. We will widen the gap.

Mary Fahey Hughes, CPS Parent & RYH Parent Liaison for Special Education

CARE

We want the current CPS reopening plan to focus on humanity and care instead of numbers and consequences. Lost in the logistics are the incredible strengths of our students and families. We must adjust our understanding of the true needs of our families. These needs cannot be measured in standardized testing, grades or truancy letters. If families are the greatest asset of CPS, how are we measuring CPS’ progress towards meeting our needs? Care is one of the three pillars under the parent and youth driven demands - the others are Trust and Learning (you can find out more at bit.ly/TLCmakessense). I want to share a few quotes from LSC letters that show why we need to continue to fight for the Care demands under the TLC platform.

One elementary LSC names that the current plan “is woefully short of meeting the academic, socioemotional and health needs of our students.” Our Care demands ask CPS to provide more accessible mental health supports and give schools the tools to implement SEL as a consistent practice.

The focus on grades, testing and compliance during a pandemic feels ignorant of the more pressing needs of our community. As one LSC notes, “Our community is more than a statistic and more than just numbers.” That is why we are asking for pandemic passes for students and families who have experienced hardship and to stop the over surveillance of students.

Lastly the pain from the pandemic has not been felt the same. One northside LSC wrote that they “will not be silent or neutral on a system that continues structural privilege which furthers the gap of educational attainment where race continues to be a consistent predictor of opportunities and outcomes.” This means that we need to expand learning hubs for our families of essential workers, connect and support our absent families instead of taking them to court, support the millions of dollars that low income families have had to spend to support remote learning; and CPS has an obligation to work with the City and its sister agencies to house our homeless families.

When this pandemic is over, CPS will be measured on how it listened to its community and how it actually supported families in need. Spin is temporary, the facts will remain.

Finally, I want to note that there are no Special Education Advocacy organizations in the CPS appointed SQRP overhaul Group. I encourage you to add an outside special ed advocacy org, as that voice is essential to ensure equity for Students with disabilities in CPS. Thank you.

Press Coverage of the BOE Meeting

Chalkbeat Chicago: Monday’s reopening will bring fewer Chicago students than expected

Sun-Times: High school reopening talks between CPS, CTU expected to start this week

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools pending reopening prompts list of parents' demands

Sun-Times: CPS open to remote learning fixes as F’s increase, attendance drops

La Voz Chicago: Cae la asistencia en CPS, más estudiantes sacan malas calificaciones

The Pantagraph: Days before Chicago Public Schools reopen, parents send demands on in-person and remote learning to mayor, board of education

WBBM AM: CPS parents ask for more resources as district battles declining enrollment

WTTW: CPS, Teachers Union to Begin Talks on High School Reopening Plan

WTTW: CPS Board Approves Policy Requiring Employees to Disclose COVID-19 Vaccination Status

Chicago Tribune: CPS looks to require COVID-19 vaccines for employees without medical or religious waivers, but teachers union wants input on shot policy

Press Coverage Leading Up to the CPS BOE Meeting (Agenda Items + Press Conference)