Karen's Issues
Just two years ago, my classroom had three different spoken languages, multiple students with IEPs, and students facing mental health issues. My school was small, but we still were not meeting all of our students’ needs because we didn’t have the resources. As I talk to principals and teachers, what stands out is that this need for more resources is persistent and widespread. As a particularly shocking example, three of my principals told me they spend time helping to keep their schools clean, due to the cuts in custodians. Their experience isn’t unique. A recent principal survey conducted by the Chicago Education Fund. For the first time “lack of resources” topped the need for more instructional time as the #1 concern of principals.
When somebody says to you “CPS should live within its means,” ask them how they would do if they were receiving just 70% of their paycheck. Here are some troubling facts:
- In 2017, the state created an Evidence-Based Funding Formula to determine what funding level each school district needs. According to the state’s own formula, CPS was funded at 81% adequacy in FY24 and is now at only 70% adequacy.
- The additional funding needed for adequacy has gone from $1.2B to $1.9B just in the past year.
- Nationally, states contribute an average of 45% of the funding for their public schools. Illinois, the 5th wealthiest state in the country, contributes only 25%.
Almost everyone agrees the state needs to live up to its own plan to fund Illinois schools. But not everyone is ready to do the work to get it. We need to pass progressive revenue solutions at the state level to raise the funds needed to fully fund our public schools. To make that happen, I have connected with state legislators, community based organizations, and school board members in other districts around the state. I am committed to building the strong coalition necessary to achieve adequate state funding for all of our schools. There are already several proposed bills that would raise more revenue for schools across the state by taxing the rich and wealthy corporations—now we have to get them passed.
There are two other ways in which the state’s budget decisions affect CPS. The state does not fund legacy teacher pension costs the way they do for every other district in the state, leaving CPS with an additional $650 million obligation in its budget. Another $75 million gap in our budget is the result of state underfunding of mandated categoricals: school meals, special education, and transportation. I will continue advocating for the state to address both these issues.
I am opposed to school closings. The moratorium on school closings ends next year and some think closing schools is an obvious solution to CPS’s financial issues. It’s not.
Studies show that closing 50 schools in 2013 saved about $25M a year–not enough to dent the budget deficit. Meanwhile, the costs of those closings were borne by students, families, and communities–costs like the increase in violence around shuttered schools, learning loss for thousands of students who never received access to the “better” schools they were promised, the trauma for students and families of having their community anchor replaced with a need to travel into or through hostile gang territory to reach their new school, the scars left on communities with the daily reminder that their children and families were not valued.
When people say we need to close schools, they are really saying we need to close schools in the Black community, because that is where enrollment has dropped. And it has dropped due to decades of disinvestment including the loss of many schools and half of the Black teachers, along with inadequate community resources and a lack of confidence that things would turn around. We should not increase this exodus by closing more Black schools, especially when alternatives exist.
As an alternative, look at Dyett High School. Its enrollment was down to 13 students and it was scheduled to close. The community fought back, designed the school they wanted to have in their community and carried out a hunger strike to win it. CPS reversed course and agreed to invest in the school instead of closing it. Today Dyett High School for the Arts is thriving with 500 students (and a stellar basketball team!). Dyett should be the standard, not the exception. CPS has not held out a hand to other communities whose schools have low enrollment, but as representatives of our communities, school board members can and some of us already are. We can invite communities to reimagine their schools and strengthen the whole system by making those reimaginings reality.
According to CPS statistics, approximately 1 in 4 students is an English language learner and similarly, about 1 in 4 is a student with special needs. We have to ensure ALL students have the resources to succeed.
Every school should have a full time case manager to ensure that all needs in Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are being met and to troubleshoot the many issues that come up. Student IEP minutes (time they have in classrooms with a specialized teacher who can offer extra assistance and modify curriculum) have to be met and that requires that schools are fully staffed with sufficient special education teachers and classroom assistants (SECAs). A common concern I hear from principals is the need to appeal to get sufficient staffing for their special needs students and the delay in providing the requisite support. Especially for teachers and SECAs who are new to working with cluster students (students with low incidence disabilities such as autism or Down syndrome), professional development should be provided. These needs are not currently being met in every school.
The number of English language learners presents challenges to a number of our schools. The district does not have enough bilingual teachers available to provide Transitional Bilingual Education programs which are required for schools with 20 or more students who speak a particular language. The district must continue to offer all teachers opportunities to become ESL certified and these programs should be free. A partnership with area university teacher preparation programs to increase the number of teachers pursuing bilingual certification and encouraging bilingual students to become teachers through the Teach Chicago Tomorrow program are pathways CPS could take advantage of to move toward a long term solution.
After hearing concerns about how much time their children were spending on screens at school from parents, I held a town hall on screen and ed tech use. A subject matter expert that we invited as a guest speaker shared that no ed tech has been peer reviewed–the only “research” on effectiveness is market research. Schools and school districts are buying products based on nothing more than the unsupported claims of the people selling them. We also learned about the effects of screen time on students’ physical, emotional, and cognitive development.
CPS has no policy regarding screens and ed tech in preK-8 classrooms. I have been meeting weekly with a dedicated group of parents and educators to learn more about the impact of screens and ed tech and what school districts around the country are doing in response to increasing backlash. Parents have formed a Chicago chapter of Schools Beyond Screens and we have been circulating a petition aimed at encouraging CPS to develop an intentional policy grounded in research and prioritizing the positive development of our students.
I have also signed onto the pledge developed by Illinois Families for Public Schools that includes a 3 year moratorium on AI use in schools so we can develop guardrails on this technology. Two years ago, when I was still in a high school classroom, students were already using AI to cheat. Now that cheating has crept down to the middle schools. Students are insufficiently prepared to understand bias and hallucinations in AI and the steps needed to verify accuracy. We know that even grown professionals avoid or skip those steps, as has been seen to embarrassing effect in multiple legal proceedings, “news” reporting, and more. There is no evidence that AI tools positively impact learning and cognitive development, and much evidence that it is detrimental. Rather than allow another generation of our children to be guinea pigs for tech companies using them for profit, let’s hit the brakes and study what the real impacts and potential use cases, if any, are.
Concerns about preK come up in every school community I visit. One concern I hear is about the process and policies involved in enrollment. I talked to a mom who couldn’t get her preschooler into the same neighborhood school her older children were enrolled in. Another parent couldn’t get their twins enrolled in the same preK. We have to work on making the enrollment process more transparent and more welcoming.
We also critically need all day preK for 3 year olds. Currently, parents have to figure out transportation logistics between preK and daycare, pay aftercare costs, and ensure their child is in a safe and nurturing place–how much easier it would be to just have them in school where all of that is taken care of automatically! It will require planning to work out the space needed, the qualified staffing, and how universal preK within CPS relates to the overall ecosystem of early childhood from 0 to 5 that exists within Chicago. We need to begin that planning right away.
Parents also really want to see comprehensive afterschool programming that extends until 6 p.m. This is clearly a child care need, but it is tied to a holistic view of education that includes developing children’s interests and abilities through arts, sports, STEM, and various leadership activities. As we pursue increased funding for CPS, we need to keep in mind the importance of an extended day to families and the potential for this kind of investment to increase enrollment in CPS.
Our children deserve to learn in healthy environments that invite them to be good stewards of the world around them. Every CPS school needs to be free of toxins like lead, asbestos, and mold. Every school needs a working energy efficient HVAC system and roofs that don’t leak. Every school needs to be well cleaned every day by union employees who receive a decent wage and have a manageable workload. Every elementary school needs a safe, up to date outdoor play area for recess.
In addition, we need to move our schools toward sustainability through use of green energy sources, and school-wide commitment to sustainable practices such as recycling, composting, and other energy conservation measures that are incorporated into everyday school life and learning. Students should learn about climate change and the importance of sustainable living at increasing levels of complexity as they move through school and the district should develop a CTE program in green technology that gives students the opportunity to explore up and coming careers.
I was proud to be a co-sponsor of the Green Schools Resolution this past year. Six school based projects were started, and some really exciting news is that students participated in the work that started this summer. I will continue to advocate for increasing access to green schools, particularly in communities most affected by environmental injustice, and an avenue for students to work toward careers in green technology. I will also continue to advocate for budgets that do not cut custodial staff who are so needed at our schools.
When I talk to parents, safety is often a priority. We need both our schools and our communities to be safe, and sadly, community safety has been put in jeopardy with the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign.
In Chicago, we are fighting back. I love the way my community and other communities around Chicago stepped up when the ICE invasion began, and continue to do so. I recruited participants for school patrols around the district and helped a couple of them get off the ground. I also worked with ONE Northside to set up a dedicated Signal chat for school administrators and aldermanic offices so that they could receive verified information to act upon. Patrols were active throughout the year and most are continuing or prepared to relaunch if we see more activity. We don’t know what the future will bring with this administration, but I know our communities will rise to the occasion.
ICE or not, ensuring our schools are safe and welcoming is a priority within CPS. The Whole School Safety Policy passed in 2024 lays out the need for physical safety, emotional safety, and relational trust as the foundations of a safe school. That means incorporating social and emotional learning into the curriculum, instituting restorative culture, providing a menu of activities to allow students outlets for their energy and creativity, and opportunities for leadership. The engine for this is the Whole School Safety Committee, which includes students and parents. This committee is charged with developing targeted plans to address the assessed needs of the school for creating a safe school community. Talking with stakeholders at schools makes it clear the policy has not yet taken hold, but it is necessary if we are to have the learning experience for our students envisioned in the 5 Year Strategic Plan. My commitment is to ensure we are implementing the policy as it was designed.
Students at all my schools agree: their number one concern is the food. Students want a palatable choice at every meal and have asked for seasoning/spice stations, yogurt, sandwich and salad bars, and smoothies.
Food can’t provide nutrition if students won’t eat it. In my school, many students came to afternoon classes having eaten only hot chips, or nothing at all, which is not a recipe for learning! Combining meaningful, student-selected options with more education about nutrition and its impacts on one’s day-to-day life as well as opportunities for gardening and cooking will help students invest more in making healthy food choices. Plus, they’ll develop skills that will follow them into adulthood.
The contract we have with Aramark and Open Kitchens expires next year, giving us the opportunity to pressure those companies for better food options ahead of deciding whether to renew or to select new vendors. I have let management of those companies know that we will be keeping track of whether or not changes are made and that their performance will inform our decision. Our current data shows that, across schools, less than 60% of students eat lunch every day. That means over 100,000 children are going without. That’s not acceptable. Doing a good job feeding our students absolutely impacts attendance and educational attainment and I am committed to elevating fixing the food as a priority.
When my students came back to school after the pandemic, one of them said to me, “Mental health was always an issue. The difference is now we can talk about it.” That has stuck with me, because it revealed how far away we are and have been from serving students’ mental health needs.
Awareness is step one. CPS has become far more alert to student mental health needs. CTU’s push for social workers and counselors in every school has made a difference. But as we craft policy that will best serve student needs, it is critical that we hear from the students most affected.
I have been meeting with students from a group called Youth Healing Chi. They are concerned about the mental health protocols CPS uses. They want to see a more healing-centered focus, a way to address mental health that centers student voices and moves away from surveillance, policing, and involuntary hospitalization. They’ve published a report on the current and desired state of affairs that you can access here.
My commitment to uplifting student voices and especially the voices of young people for whom the system does not work well includes ensuring that young people have a say in the mental health protocols they are subjected to.
As a former Student Voice facilitator, I have made it a priority to meet with students as stakeholders and will not only continue to do so but will work to expand opportunities for input. This is why I’m glad to see that student voice is more greatly emphasized in the 5 year Strategic Plan, Together We Rise. By 2029 every school should have a Student Voice Committee.
However, we are still far from authentic student input that informs district policy. Far too often the voices invited in are those of students who are already successful in school. I am committed to working on developing a structure for systematic and broad spectrum student input, not only to generate ideas but to work on implementation as well.
Students should be part of key school committees across CPS. Their participation is mandated in some committees, such as the one that develops and monitors the Whole School Safety Plan, and we need to ensure that mandate is followed. Some schools are using curriculum circles and are involving students in developing meaningful units to be taught that are culturally relevant and engaging while still being rigorous.
For our district to truly thrive, for students to truly be at the center, we have to do a much better job encouraging and facilitating their full involvement as leaders and creators within our system.
Sustainable Community Schools
Imagine a school embraced by the whole community, which is welcomed inside its doors. A school where students and parents are included in deciding what is taught and what kind of projects will allow students to use their learning to take action, while the curriculum remains rigorous and culturally relevant. A school focused on building restorative culture with student leadership. A school full of wraparound services and programs inclusive of arts, sports, STEM, and more. A school where parents and community participate in decision making and run programming that builds adult involvement in the school.
In some schools, you don’t have to imagine. Thanks to the Sustainable Community Schools initiative, they are already on the pathway to this dream. I have been working on moving Sustainable Community Schools forward since 2013.
In my community, I am fortunate to now have three Sustainable Community Schools: Uplift, McCutcheon, and now Courtenay. For the past year and a half, I have been working to help build and expand the Uptown Sustainable Community School Village. The Village includes all of the schools in the Uptown community in regular meetings where participants share best practices and resources. An exciting project of developing Uptown history curriculum using curriculum circles which involves students, parents, and community is underway. Our Village is a model for how Sustainable Community Schools can be developed and expanded in other parts of the city and I am very proud of that.
As a board member, I am committed to tracking the implementation of Sustainable Community Schools and making continued improvements to ensure that the initiative fulfils its principles. This is a bold initiative that has the potential to make our neighborhood schools thriving and attractive places for families, and we must remain committed to refining and improving it.