Springfield owes us money.

In 2017 Springfield put together its Evidence-Based Funding Formula to determine what funding level each school district needs. According to that formula, CPS should be receiving $1.6B more that we are. That’s over twice the $732M we are short for FY27. That funding shortage is in addition to their refusal to fund legacy teacher pension costs the way they do for every other district in the state. If they did that for us, that would be an additional $650 million in the CPS budget. Another $75M would come to our budget if the state weren’t underfunding mandated categoricals: school meals, special education, and transportation. 

The state made efforts to develop progressive revenue streams in support of those funding obligations via the digital ad tax and by preventing state tax laws from following Trump’s tax breaks for the rich. It’s not enough. We need a billionaire’s tax and corporate accountability measures to prevent corporations from using tax havens to avoid paying their share.

I have advocated for and worked toward building a united coalition that includes CPS, the mayor’s office, parents, our union partners, the business community, and our state legislators. We have natural allies in downstate districts who are also underfunded.

Budgets are moral documents and nothing is more important than our children’s future. The CPS board must advocate for that future and continue to pressure the state for the funding we need and deserve.

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.

I met with students at all of my schools and the number one concern raised was the food.  Students would like to see seasoning/spice stations, yogurt, sandwich and salad bars, and smoothies offered, with a palatable choice at every meal.

The current food might be nutritious, but that doesn’t matter if the students won’t eat it. Students are turning to hot chips and soda which don’t support their learning. They need more opportunities to give input into what foods they’re served, and food service providers need support to provide sufficient variety to appeal to all students. Combining those changes with more education about nutrition and its impacts on one’s day to day life and 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 a new company.  I have let management of those companies know that we will be keeping track of whether or not changes are made and that 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 not eating it.  That’s not acceptable.  With better food available at school, students will be more motivated to come to school and engage with their learning.