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

We joined with the Chicago Teachers Union on Tuesday, March 12, for an opt out of IAR press conference at Hernandez Middle School: “CPS test undercuts newly arrived immigrant children, charge teachers.” 

Here is our 2019 Standardized Testing and Opt Out Toolkit which contains an explanation of the "new" IL state test, IL Assessment of Readiness or IAR, as well as opt out resources in both English and Spanish.

Be an informed voter! Chicago’s Municipal Election is Tuesday, February 26.

As we go through our exciting new RYH changes, we plan to send an email newsletter every other week. Please sign up to receive these newsletters here. You can read the one sent Friday, February 8, 2019, below. 

On Friday, November 16, 2018, the IL State Board of Education (ISBE) held a meeting in Chicago. You can find a thread of live tweets here and many more tweets on our Twitter page here. 

Below are two statements from parents: one is a Chicago parent speaking about the ISBE inquiry into CPS special education and the other is a Downers Grove mom speaking about the new ISBE school ratings system. 

Important news for people concerned about the impact of high-stakes standardized testing on Illinois schools. There's not only a new state test this coming spring to replace PARCC, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), but there's also a new state rating system for IL being rolled out later this month, and opt out rate may play a big role in your school’s rating.

#cpsuccess! We are still retweeting away at @CPSuccessChi. Please tag us in your #cpsuccess tweets and use that hashtag! (Note the clever spelling.) Some recent & amazing #cpsuccess stories chosen randomly from our Twitter feed:

Raise Your Hand had a second meeting with a group of parents, the head of Special Ed and the Chief Operating Officer to discuss major nursing compliance issues at the district. Many students are put in unsafe situations due to lack of coverage, untrained nurses from temp agencies, and lack of continuity of care.

We all got the stunning news yesterday that Rahm Emanuel isn’t running for re-election, and that means there’s going to be a new boss of the Chicago Public Schools in May 2019.  If you’ve read our newsletters over the past eight years, you know that in Chicago, the Mayor oversees the schools, appoints the school board, and selects the CEO of CPS. The primary election is in February 2019 but the next mayoral term doesn’t start until May 2019.

With students back to CPS Tuesday, we wish you & your family a happy first day and an excellent school year where your children have the opportunity to learn and thrive. We hope you have a fun, yet relaxing, Labor Day weekend planned- enjoy!

It’s been a busy, productive summer for RYH and we are looking forward to another school year of advocating with you. There is so much to do to ensure that all students are getting what they need to be their best selves, and we hope you’ll join us this year to work on many of our campaigns! Stay in touch with us: Email sign up, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.