Budget projections show CPS short $500 million for the upcoming year, but the state is not paying its share. If the state followed its policy of evidence-based funding, CPS would be receiving an additional $1.1 billion in funding from Springfield. In addition, if the state funded legacy teacher pension costs the way they do for every other district, that would add $600 million to the CPS budget this year. 

Our children’s future should be our top priority. We need to build a united coalition that includes not only CTU, CPS, and the mayor, but also the business community, our legislators, and parents. We have natural allies in downstate districts who also need more funding; we should include their legislators in our coalition. Budgets are moral documents. It is immoral for the state to fail to adequately fund education for the children of Illinois. It is our responsibility as the board to advocate for this

The money is available without regressive sources of revenue like property tax increases. We can close corporate tax loopholes that let wealthy corporations benefit from Illinois’ wealth and workforce without contributing their fair share. We can implement the Fair Tax which will stop making our lower income residents carry a disproportionate burden for our budgets. We can implement the “LaSalle Street Tax,” on financial transactions and require funds diverted from local taxing bodies to TIFs that aren’t being used for their intended purpose to be returned to those bodies, including schools.

We say children are our priority. We have to mean that, and prove it with our actions.

Inequity has been baked into Chicago Public Schools for decades as the facts show. Information published in a recent WBEZ article indicates that only 1% of students from schools that are mostly low-income and Black go to the most selective high schools. From follow up reporting, the pathway to selective schools begins with an admission test given to four year olds that few even know exists. 

This must be rectified, and it will be our job as members of the school board to take the lead. Our first step should be to actually follow the state policy and practice of ensuring funding goes where the need is greatest and direct future additions to funding neighborhood schools that have been under-resourced. We must also recognize that giving neighborhood schools the funds now that they should have always gotten will not repair the decades of damage that depriving them of resources has done. Extra supports will be needed. The Sustainable Community Schools model (see later section) is a way to achieve that extra support.

Some people are viewing this election as a referendum on school choice. They’re ignoring the fact that for the majority of families in the CPS system, the current model removes choices and leaves them with under-resourced schools. No parent would choose that. We must correct the inequities in our system so that every school is a genuinely supportive, nurturing environment that every parent would be happy to have their children attend.

Our students are whole, complete beings and our educational endeavors must treat them as such. On any given day in my classroom, a number of students would be dealing with some kind of trauma that prevented them from directing their full attention to learning. We must provide mental health services, social and emotional supports, a restorative culture founded on building strong relationships, a variety of activities and opportunities that nurture student interests, talents, and creativity, and a voice for students in decision-making. 

That’s what Sustainable Community Schools do. They serve as hubs for their community, are open for extended hours, and they welcome families from the school and the surrounding community to take advantage of the variety of programs they offer, and which were chosen by those families. They invest in improving classroom learning through high quality professional development and a focus on challenging, engaging, and culturally relevant curriculum, and they nurture the whole child through the inclusion of additional programming that encourages them to develop their interests and talents, creativity and imagination. 

We need to push for expansion of Sustainable Community Schools as a model that not only responds to students’ full range of strengths and needs, but enables us as a district to take steps toward true equity. Real choice means having a voice in the policies, practices, and programming at neighborhood schools in ALL neighborhoods. The Sustainable Community Schools model provides that.

A safe school is a school with a sense of community, a school with caring relationships among students and between students and all school staff, a school where everyone works together to keep student well-being and student learning as the central concern. To accomplish this, schools need to understand the strengths, needs and issues students bring with them. Addressing issues requires accessible mental health services and social and emotional learning as part of instruction. It requires ongoing work building trusting relationships, with resources to support staffing to build and maintain a restorative culture in the school. It requires opportunities for students to explore other talents through sports, arts, etc. and a true voice for students in school decision making.

Policing does not contribute to creating this environment. A recent Chalkbeat report documented that students in schools with SROs did not feel safer and experienced somewhat more severe incidents. Other studies, including research from Chicago indicate that schools with SROs have more suspensions and more arrests, disproportionately targeting Black and Brown students. Even one suspension has a negative effect on a student’s probability of graduating. 

Forty hours of training does not make a police officer an expert in adolescent psychology, counseling or social work. Police are not and cannot be a substitute for professionals trained to serve student needs and we can’t afford to continue pretending they are!

According to CPS statistics, approximately 1 in 4 students is an English language learner and 1 in 6 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 IEP needs 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). 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 influx of newcomer students last year brought new 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 and necessary for schools with 20 or more students who speak a particular language. These students may find themselves thrown into classes where they don’t understand the language. When they’re given written materials in their own language, they’re left to teach themselves from the material or struggle while their teacher splits their time among the different languages spoken. The district must continue to offer all teachers opportunities to become ESL certified and these programs should be free. Dual language programs are ideal and should be expanded. The district should also provide professional development for teachers who teach classes in multiple languages. Additionally, CPS needs resources to more effectively track newcomer families so that schools have a better sense of who is still on their rosters, and who will return the next year.

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. 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.

Throughout CPS, students regularly complain about the food. The food might be nutritious, but if students won’t eat it because it doesn’t taste good, that doesn’t matter. All too often students are consuming hot chips and soda, which do not make them ready to learn! Students need more opportunities to give input into what foods are served and food service providers need support to provide sufficient variety to appeal to all students. In addition, more education about nutrition and how proper nutrition impacts one’s day to day life coupled with opportunities for gardening and cooking will help students invest more in making healthy food choices and give them skills that will follow them into adulthood.