CPS will spend nearly $1B on capital projects as presented in their FY 2019 Capital Plan. CPS will hold simultaneous public hearings for the capital budget from 6 to 8 pm, Thursday, July 19, at the following locations (register to speak: 5 - 6 pm):

Truman College, 1145 W Wilson Ave

Malcolm X College, 1900 W Jackson Blvd

Kennedy King College, U Building, 740 W 63rd St.

Jennie Biggs, CPS Parent and RYH Communications Director spoke on behalf of RYH at the CPS FY 2019 Operating Budget Hearing. You can watch video (courtesy of Generation All) of Jennie here. Text of the statement is below. 

CPS announced it would open a new 20-person, $3M department to respond to sexual abuse allegations right before the BOE meeting Wednesday. Unfortunately, this came as a surprise to the Inspector General who is supposed to be working in partnership with CPS on this issue. It’s also concerning that the legal department is in charge of launching this department, given the recent revelations that their department was routinely interrogating student victims of sexual abuse without a parent present.

Welcome to the Summer! Even as the school year wound down, there was so much CPS and public education news. We will try to keep our comments brief below and we have included many press links for you to read more. Thanks for reading & being engaged!

The Advocates have asked the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to require CPS to distribute the flyer below to CPS parents of students with special needs. Please share!

We hope you enjoy this long holiday weekend and that you spend some quality time with your family outdoors! So you can get on with your weekend, here are 5 quickish things you need to know about this week in education...

Two Raise Your Hand board members spoke at the May 2018 unelected CPS Board of Education meeting. Their statements are below.

We live tweet every monthly CPS BOE meeting and use the hashtag #cpsboard. A tweet worth noting is this one: Watch the powerful performance of Lindblom HS's Varsity Singers. After the performance, their Choir Director delivered this joint letter to the unelected BOE on behalf of several CPS choir directors expressing concerns about the impact of expanded graduation requirements upon Choir programs and classes. It is worth a read.

The state voted yesterday to appoint an independent monitor to oversee almost all aspects of CPS’ special education. Please read this entire email... We need you to Grow With Us for more wins in public education!

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Other ways to stay in touch with us: 

Twitter... @CPSuccessCHI, @ILRaiseYourHand, @RYHAction, @MTAS_Chicago

Facebook... IL Raise Your Hand, Raise Your Hand Action, More Than A Score Chicago

YouTube... http://bit.ly/RYHYouTube

Two RYH staff members spoke at the April 2018 unelected CPS Board of Education meeting. Their statements are below. We've also included other statements of interest. One statement is about the recent LSC election, the next is about the privatized nursing contract and its impact on CPS students who require a high level of care by a nurse, and the last is about the ISBE investigation into CPS special education and the need for certain remedies that the Advocates group is demanding.