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Are you LSC Curious? Come to this workshop.
Please join Raise Your Hand Action and Chicago DSA for this informative 2-hour workshop designed to inspire potential candidates to throw their names into the ring for a local school council seat!
Are You LSC Curious?
How to Run, Win and Make a Difference at Your Local School
Saturday, February 24
Mayfair Library, 4400 W Lawrence
Register here. Downloadable flyer for printing here and for social media here.
Thanks to our friends at DesignVolunteers.org for creating so many flyers for us and our events!
For all the official CPS LSC Elections paperwork and deadlines, see this page.
West Side Education Summit
Please join us as we present on CPS special education at this summit on Saturday, February 24, at Malcolm X College, 1900 W Jackson Blvd. Find out more about this summit via this Sun-Times article: Black officials organize to protect West Side schools amid Englewood closures.
Resources for talking and teaching about the school shooting in Florida
The New York Times has some resources for teachers and parents for talking to youth about the devastating school shooting in Florida. The NYT continues to update this article:
Resources for Talking and Teaching About the School Shooting in Florida
“What Makes a School Great?” Forum Recap
Thanks to the 90+ people who came out to our forum Monday night, and to our awesome panel and guest speaker Jack Schneider! See the event page for links to video, presentations and other materials from the event. Read and share our new one-pager: “School ratings: What you can do.”
Change in plans for Englewood schools
CPS changed course and decided to close one Englewood high school, Robeson, and to phase-out the other three. The fact that the CPS has already backed off on the plan to close all three schools simultaneously—two weeks before a likely Board vote on the plan—means that public pressure is working. Like every Chicago neighborhood, Englewood needs fully-funded, easily-accessible neighborhood schools for every child who lives there. A real facilities plan written as a community participatory process is needed in Englewood before any schools are phased out or closed.
New York Times: Op-Ed: Save Chicago’s Public Schools
Sun-Times: 3 Englewood high schools slated to be closed in June instead will be phased out
Special ed parent testimonies still needed for ISBE investigation
RYH is helping to collect parent testimonies from parents who have children who have had issues getting or keeping services over the past year. If your child has had a denial or delay in services, transportation or summer school denials or if network level staff has overridden the IEP team decision for your child, email us at info@ilraiseyourhand.org OR fill out this form.
In other news
Sun-Times: Rauner’s budget will ask local districts to pay millions more for teachers pensions
NPR Illinois: Old Idea Could Change School Funding Dollars
Washington Post: Education Department locks out union leaders who went to deliver ‘report cards’ to Betsy DeVos
Education Week: No Targeted Funding for School Construction in Trump's Infrastructure Proposal
Other Upcoming Events
Monday Feb 19, 6:00 - 8:00pm
DePaul Student Center, Room 120B
Registration is required: sign up here.
⟹ Better Funding, Stronger Schools
Tuesday Feb 27, 7:00 - 8:30pm
Sullivan High School, 6631 N Bosworth
⟹ Austin SPED Workshop
Saturday March 10th, 10:30am
Small workshop for parents to learn about their rights, get resources and information about IEP meetings, etc. Email us for location and more info: info@ilraiseyourhand.org