The Advocate Group is holding a series of Special Education Workshops to help parents determine if their child may be eligible for extra special education services. Please join us!

Marca Bristo, a dynamic and inspiring Chicago-based disability rights activist, died this past Sunday and leaves behind an incredible legacy where she transformed the landscape for people with disabilities in this country. The Founder of Access Living, she was tenacious, gregarious, strategic and had a vision of a world where people with disabilities would live in a world of inclusion, independence and empowerment.  As she took a leading role in the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, she changed the conversation about accessibility for people with disabilities from one where public and private institutions had no obligation to provide access to one where access for all is a Civil Right.

It’s just a start. We parents know that the reality on the ground, in our schools, ultimately doesn’t reflect the promises made by a mayor- we heard too many promises made at press conferences by Rahm.

CPS failed thousands of students in 2016 - 2018!

This new, Lightfoot appointed CPS Board of Education is implementing all sorts of changes to bring greater transparency! We attended and spoke at the July 24, 2019 meeting. You can see our prepared statements below. Our thread of live tweets is here. You can find press coverage of the meeting far below.

We attended and spoke at the June 26, 2019 monthly meeting of the CPS Board of Education- the first one of the Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed BOE. Find the new appointed BOE members plus their bios here. 

Our prepared statements are below. You can watch video of our speakers here. You can find our live tweets from the meeting here. Follow #cpsboard as well. 

Here is the document we submitted about the CPS School Quality Rating Policy(SQRP) written by Cassie Creswell of Raise Your Hand Action.

As you know, Jennie Biggs, our Communications and Outreach Director, participated in the three meetings of Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s Education Transition Committee. There were about 50 people in the Committee. We shared information about this Transition Committee and a link to the RYH Memo to the Mayor here. We were skeptical and wary of the process and we still are. We are dedicated to our parent powered and informed advocacy in Chicago and Illinois and we will continue to hold elected officials and decision makers accountable.  

We attended and spoke at the April 24, 2019 monthly meeting of the unelected CPS Board of Education meeting- the last one under Rahm. Our prepared statements are below with links to videos of our speakers. You can find our live tweets from the meeting here.

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...

Earlier in 2019 we shared the exciting news about staffing transitions in RYH and RYHA as both organizations grow. Earlier this week Raise Your Hand began the search for our next Executive Director. Now we need your help.