First day of school is Sept 8, 2020. Last day of school is June 22, 2021. Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago releases 2020-21 school calendar, says first day of school will be Sept. 8 and the Sun-Times: CPS releases calendar for 2020-21 school year have it covered.  Continue reading

Make a difference in your school community! Run for Local School Council (LSC)!  LSC Candidate materials: CPS LSC Elections web page. Candidate materials are due to your school on Th, March 5, 3pm, OR to CPS LSC Office (2651 W Washington Blvd) on Tues, Feb 28, 3pm. LSC Elections: Wed, April 22 (elementary schools) & Th, April 23 (high schools) Learn more at this upcoming event hosted by RYH and Teamwork Englewood. Sat, Feb 29, 10am - 1pm.  Continue reading

How are we supposed to trust our city government when the Lincoln Yards TIF report that was given to Alderfolks was authored by a Lincoln Yards lobbyist? What does it say about our priorities when the city is able to sweep this massive conflict of interest under the rug to give Sterling Bay $1.3 billion (almost $500 million less than what is being proposed for the Invest South West initiative)? Our schools are underfunded by $1.9B. Chicago Tribune: Aldermen relied on a study to approve $1.3 billion for Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards. Turns out that Sterling Bay hired the consultant who wrote it. We would love to see what the Lightfoot Administration has to say as they clearly believed that this conflict of interest should not exist (they quietly changed the policy in the summer; now City Hall can hire TIF consultants who will report to the city.)  Continue reading

  We are truly honored to receive the Ron Sable Award for Activism from Crossroads Fund!  We will receive the award at their annual benefit, Seeds of Change. We hope you can join us at this event on March 27 to celebrate our collective work and to support the phenomenal work of Crossroads Fund! Continue reading

Raise Your Hand is asking its supporters to sign onto a petition that calls for an independent authority to investigate racial inequities in our school system.    Continue reading

The Sun-Times reported this weekend that the CPS Inspector General (IG), Nicholas Schuler, was “under investigation” due to “accusations he allegedly berated employees.” On Monday, he abruptly quit. On Tuesday, Mayor Lightfoot said she accepted the IG’s resignation because “we need to go in a different direction.” Yesterday, there were new stories with Schuler responding to the situation. This is definitely a story to watch.  WTTW: Outgoing CPS Watchdog Admits Some Complaints Against Him Were ‘Justified’ Sun-Times: CPS watchdog admits he drove employees ‘excessively hard,’ urges mayor to appoint another ‘outspoken IG’ Continue reading

"Worthwhile" was how a few attendees described last night's CPS School Funding Working Group meeting held at Amundsen HS. These workshops are part of a larger initiative to examine Student Based Budgeting (SBB) with the possibility of changing it for the 2022 school year. Read a recent report on the inequities of SBB here. It will take all of us to challenge the current inequitable CPS SBB funding formula. Please plan to attend one of the 5 remaining meetings: Th, Jan 30, 6–8pm, Clark HS, 5101 W. Harrison St Sat, Feb 1, 11am–1pm, Corliss HS, 821 E. 103rd St Wed, Feb 5, 6–8pm, Hammond ES, 2819 W. 21st Pl Th, Feb 6, 6–8pm, Dyett HS, 555 E. 51st St Sat, Feb 8, 11am–1pm, Clemente HS, 1147 N. Western Ave Here's press coverage of last night from Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago mulls how to reslice the school budget pie — but what about a bigger pie? Continue reading

New! Whole Child Committee meets Monday. SQRP is the focus. The first meeting of the CPS Board Of Ed Whole Child Committee will be held on Mon, Jan 27, 5:30-7:30pm, at Englewood STEM HS. You can register or sign up to receive updates here. Here is the letter that came from board member Rome: English; Spanish. And from an email: The focus on our first meeting will be on SQRP [School Quality Rating Policy] as the CPS seeks to engage community members to create a policy that is more responsive to stakeholders. Recommended SQRP reading before attending the Whole Child Committee meeting: Chalkbeat Chicago June 26, 2019: Chicago school board approves new school ratings scale despite complaints and confusion and July 9, 2019 Chicago is changing its elementary school ratings. Here’s why educators are watching closely. CPS SQRP web page | RYH resources from What Makes a School Great? Feb 12, 2018, including South Side Weekly coverage: Beyond the Levels Continue reading

The Mayor Lightfoot appointed CPS Board of Ed held their monthly meeting on January 22, 2020. RYH's Parent Liaison for Special Education spoke on our behalf and on behalf of the ~3500 students who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication or “AAC” devices in CPS, as these students are being underserved. You can read her prepared statement below and watch video of her speech here. A thread of our live tweets are here. We have listed press coverage far below. (Before the monthly CPS BOE meeting, we attended the CPS Finance & Audit Committee meeting. Our live tweets are here.)   Continue reading