RYH Newsletter | 6.21.19

Jun 21

TIF litigation update: motion seeking a preliminary injunction filed

On Wednesday, we and Grassroots Collaborative filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to force the City of Chicago to freeze its plan to create the Cortland and Chicago River TIF District with up to $1.3 billion in taxpayer money for a luxury development in Lincoln Yards. This is the next step after attorneys from Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed our TIF lawsuit against the city in April.

We’ve created a web page here where you can find a link to the filed and stamped copy of the motion for the injunction, links to media coverage, our press conference statement and a link to a video of the press conference. CLCCR has a webpage about the lawsuit here. Read this OpEd in Crain’s Chicago Business from Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Grassroots Collaborative: Chicago’s TIF policies keep racial inequities locked into place.

Raise Your Hand announces new Executive Director!

In case you missed it, on Wednesday we announced our new ED, Jianan Shi! You can read the announcement here. Jianan will be busy meeting with many people and organizations in the coming weeks. We’ll be sharing more info about our new ED very soon. Stay tuned...

In the news: School resource officers (SROs), student safety and well being, and student discipline

We are glad these important issues are getting some media coverage. In our Memo to the Mayor we said Mayor Lightfoot should "Remove Chicago Police Department officers from schools and reallocate funding to other supports.” We are glad to see the youth-led movement about police in schools getting some traction. We've also been paying close attention to increased reports of bullying and created this toolkit to help parents navigate the CPS Anti-bullying policy. School culture and climate is incredibly important for our children and we hope to see more attention and resources focused on making every school a welcoming, inclusive, supportive space for all.

SROs

Sun-Times: Secretive police meetings over cops in schools a ‘dog and pony show,’ community members say

Chalkbeat Chicago: Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx floats new proposal to reduce in-school arrests

WBEZ: Chicago Slow To Reform School Police Program: Report

Sun-Times: Lightfoot renews threat to remove police officers from Chicago Public Schools

Sun-Times: EDITORIAL: The latest evidence against police in Chicago schools

Student safety and well being

Sun-Times: Families of bullied students call on Lightfoot, Foxx to probe CPS policy

WBEZ: Chicago’s ‘Safe Passage’ Curbs Street Violence Without Police, Studies Show

Student discipline

Chalkbeat Chicago: A law made it harder to expel Illinois preschoolers. But it’s been slow to catch on.

Special education news

Hey, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) found that, for many students, CPS illegally delayed and/or denied (1) busing services; (2) paraprofessional supports; (3) extended school year (ESY) services; and (4) therapeutic day school placement. Do you think any of these services for your child may have been wrongfully denied any time from September 2016 to June 2018? We are hearing that CPS is going to reveal instructions for how to possibly get Compensatory Education services for your child who had services delayed or denied. Per CPS and ISBE, this process will be communicated to parents in the Fall of 2019.

ICYMI… Please make sure you check out this fact sheet (available in both English & Spanish) which explains the ISBE investigation (and subsequent take over) of CPS special education. It also includes links to read more. We continue to hear every day from parents of children with special needs regarding their child being denied or delayed services. EVERY. DAY.

In Chicago this week: Early Childhood Education film No Small Matter

There is a new documentary premiering in Chicago this week - No Small Matter, a film that explores early childhood education in America. No Small Matter will be playing for a limited run at the Gene Siskel Film Center 6/21-6/27, including a special panel discussion and screening on Thursday, 6/27, focused on the continuum from early education to the K12 system. SHOWTIMES & Special Theme Nights here. Most showings will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the directors. Chalkbeat Chicago interviews the filmmaker here.

Summer meals information via CPS website

Please share the CPS web page for the Summer Meals Program which you can find here. There is an interactive map to find a location, downloadable flyers, and this description:

Food That’s In When School is Out!
The Summer Food Service Program is designed to ensure children receive nutritious meals over summer break. At CPS, all summer meal programs provide free meals inside the school to students attending summer programs as well as all children ages 1 -18 years old in the community (children do not have to be CPS students). Free breakfast and lunch are available while summer programs occur. Program duration and meal time varies per meal site.
To verify times and locations of CPS programs or to find a site near you, call the Illinois Hunger Hotline at (800)359-2163 or text FOODIL to 877877.