RYH Communications and Outreach Director, Jennie Biggs, is serving on mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot’s Education Transition Committee. She attended the first meeting on Thursday, April 11. There are two more scheduled meetings of this Transition Committee: Wednesday, April 24, and Friday, May 3.  RYH submitted a "Memo to the Mayor" as part of the Education Transition Committee process. You can find our Memo here. The writing of this Memo was a collaborative effort by several parents and RYHers who have been active over the years. Our intent was to reflect what RYH has been advocating for since 2010. We also tried to incorporate the many things we've learned over the years, especially while working with so many community based organizations in various coalitions. Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback with us: info@ilraiseyourhand.org UPDATED May 9, 2019: You can find a public, shared Google Drive folder which will serve as a record of the Education Transition Committee's work here. In the folder, you can find meeting materials, survey results, feedback from committee members, education memos, and other documents referenced and used through the transition process. After the Education Transition Report is released, there will be a copy in this folder as well. All Transition Reports will be presented to Mayor-elect Lightfoot on Friday, May 17.  UPDATED May 23, 2019: You can find the full Transition Report in English here and in Spanish here. It was published on May 17. There is an opportunity to provide feedback on the Transition Report. If you would like to do that, please contact Jennie via email (jennie@ilraiseyourhand.org.) Note: All final feedback will be included on the public, shared Google Drive folder. All feedback is due by May 31, 2019.  UPDATED June 30, 2019: On May 31, we submitted this feedback on the final transition report. Continue reading

It’s almost CPS Spring Break! We have a bunch of stuff to share with you before CPS students are out of school for a week. Happy reading... Continue reading

In a historic election, Lori Lightfoot was elected mayor on April 2. For now, the mayor still controls the school system. On September 5, 2018, we released this statement: Rahm’s not running- What does that mean for the public schools? In it, we reflect on our time with Rahm and we list the ed policies we have deep concerns about. We stand by this list and look forward to Mayor Lightfoot using it as she works with all stakeholders - students, parents, educators, and community members -- to reimagine Chicago Public Schools. More on what parents want from our new mayor, here. Chalkbeat Chicago: Lori Lightfoot is Chicago’s next mayor — which means big changes are coming to schools and check this out: Letters to Lori Lightfoot: Tell Chicago’s mayor-elect about your school Continue reading

Downloadable and printable RYH Executive Director job description here. Continue reading