Thread by @il_fps

Tonight's last scheduled hearing for Chicago's elected representative school board is virtual from 6 - 8PM and can be viewed here: ilga.gov/senateaudvid.a…

https://twitter.com/il_fps/status/1645985682366627841

As with previous hearings, you may speak or provide written testimony. To provide testimony, email [e-mail] and also submit a witness slip here. (Click the relevant box if you will give oral or written testimony.) my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Cr…

You can also submit a map or community of interest here: survey123.arcgis.com/share/0479d313…

Hearing hasn't yet started yet (so if you are on the livestream page, do not fret: ilga.gov/senateaudvid.a…) We plan to live tweet at least some of this...

It's started. Chair Lightford presiding. Other Senators present: Senators Martwick, Hunter, Aquino, Villanueva, Villivalam

Chair Lightford gives preliminary info about elected board statute. Written testimony can still be submitted by email to the committee. Suggested maps will be able to be submitted as well via tool [ed note: think it still isn't working...]

(Here's the email to send it to: [e-mail])

[Remarks from Sen Lightford, Martwick and Aquino]

[First speaker is supposed to be lobbyist from Agudath Israel of IL but he's not present]

Brent Hamlet, a middle school program manager at Horizon center in the West Loop. Wants a smaller board bc a larger board will be too "wasteful" [ed note: some of this language is from other KidsFirst assoc speakers]

[side note there are 34 people signed up to speak tonight]

Next up @miriamcb, Miriam Bhimani, representing group of researchers, the FOIA Bakery. They've drafted additional guidelines for the school board districts

@miriamcb Bhimani: CPS students aren't evenly distributed across the districts and the districts should reflect where students actually live

@miriamcb Bhimani: Use existing attendance boundaries only as a way to check lopsidedness of district, but board itself sets those boundaries, so shouldn't be a rigid part of setting districts. Most CPS students don't attend n'hood schools

@miriamcb @cassiecreswell speaks for IL-FPS [we'll share those remarks in a bit!]

@miriamcb @cassiecreswell Next speaker CPS parent @jeffjenkins312: Compensation is very much needed for elected representative school board. Expecting board members to do this for free is a slap in the face for public school parents.

@miriamcb @cassiecreswell @jeffjenkins312 Next up, Grace Chan McKibben, ED of Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community: Asian American communities need to be kept together as boundaries for districts are drawn. Proposing 4 Asian Am. plurality districts

@miriamcb @cassiecreswell @jeffjenkins312 Next up: Nicole Johnson, alum of many places including Beasley Elem in CPS, Englewood resident: We need special attention & support for Black students in particular a standing committee to address the needs of Black youth in the city of Chicago

Next up: CPS parent, former LSC member Katie Gruber. A larger board is more representative and will make for fairer elections, more accessible board members

Next @CKaczocha1, CPS parent and board member of @ILRaiseYourHand: As you create map for elected board, center Black communities and students who have been most harmed by historic and current resource apartheid of city and district

@CKaczocha1 @ILRaiseYourHand Next up: CPS parent Maggie Cullerton Hooper: Listen to the Black and Latiné parents as you create this map. Do not overrepresent white pop. of CPS. Our voices are already well heard. Don't shrink size of board. Limit campaign finance spending. Enfranchise non-citizen voting.

@CKaczocha1 @ILRaiseYourHand Next up @citygirl622, CPS parent & organizer with @ILRaiseYourHand, children's CPS school was closed in 2013. She didn't even know the Board of Ed existed before she had to fight to keep Lafayette Elem open

Vega: Unelected board in 2013 was unresponsive and unaccountable to pleas of parents & students fighting school closings. Has spent last decade organizing for elected board bc of how appointed board damaged Black & Brown students & families

Vega: I was banned by appointed board for showing my emotions at a Board meeting. Sen. Lightford and Aquino please do right by Chicago's children. Please create a standing committee advancing Black and Brown student achievement

Chair Lightford thanks Vega for her passion

Next up is Shlomo Soroka, Agudath Israel of IL: Orthodox Jewish community is a community of interest. Most of our children attend private schools but some students with disabilities attend public schools & many students w/disabilities get services from CPS

[ed note: Agudath Israel is one of the primary orgs pushing for Invest in Kids to continue and get bigger ilfps.org/voucher_suppor…]

Next up Cliff Helm, @ChgoCivilRights, works on voter protection and voter rights: Elected representative school board is an important step & districting is vital component of this

Helm: We would like draft maps to be published with sufficient time for communities to give input before maps are voted on

Next Marc Kaplan, Northside Action for Justice, grandparent of two CPS students, longtime LSC member, have been organizing for ed justice for years: Mayoral appointed board did great harm as @citygirl622 pointed out

@citygirl622 Kaplan: Districts need to be structured in a way that the board is representative of the district population & that's why we support a map with 20 districts that respects communities & makes it possible for parent & community member w/o deep pockets to run

@citygirl622 Kaplan: No accident that orgs that didn't support an elected board are trying to derail process of districting and establishing a 20 district board. Please stand firm on this

@citygirl622 Catherine Francis, CPS parent, LSC member at Von Steuben: Appointed board has given us little voice. We've had scandals and corrupt contracts. Smaller districts will underrepresent interests of Black & Brown. We've waited generations for this change to an elected board

@citygirl622 Francis: Board members should be compensated. 21-seat board should be maintained

@citygirl622 Valerie Leonard, representing IL African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, North Lawndale resident: sharing presentation. [see their proposed map here: ilga.gov/senate/committ…]

Leonard: also wants a standing African American Affairs Committee of the Board of Ed

More about the org and signatories of proposal:

Leonard: their proposed map respects Ward boundaries which means it should comply with Voting Rights laws

Leonard would prefer 25 districts so that each district could be made up of two wards

Next Willie Cole: also supports map of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting and proposed standing committee . Esp concerned about special education students

Next up Dwayne Truss (former appointed board member): Supports map that Valerie Leonard presented. Does not support reducing size of elected representative school board. It is inspiring that many groups are still here advocating for so many years

Truss: Appointed members get the boot if they don't agree with the mayor [ed note: Exhibit A Truss himself]

Truss: Serving as a board member is a very big job and a very tough job. Elected school board will work for Chicago.

Natasha Dunn, Black Community Collaborative: Disappointed in process. Hasn't been sufficient engagement of Black community. Census data is not adequate. Loss of Black families in Chi & Black students & teachers in CPS has been dramatic. We need system to create real racial equity

Dunn: Absence of limits on campaign spending is going to be a huge problem. Cites spending in LAUSD races. Need board members that are independent

Dunn & BCC also support map presented by Leonard. Need culturally responsive programming for Black children and families

Next Tawana Watts, CPS parent: Supports map presented by Leonard. We need representation for Black and Brown families. My family has had terrible experiences in IEP process for students w/disabilities. Board needs to ensure parents of SWDs have a voice in process of creating IEPs

Next Dr Carmen Palmer: Many of these speakers have touched my heart. [incl speaker who was alum of Beasley who Palmer taught!] Retired CPS teacher, parent of alums, and alum herself: Lack of funding program and services, incl lack of preschool

Palmer: Founded Education Village Keepers in 2007. Dire need to replace appointed board was clear. Got support from IL PTA for elected school board. Worked on elected school board referendum in 2012

Palmer: EVK working with KidsFirst on analyzing elected school board bill and presenting to community on it. [ed note: nonetheless] Supports map that Leonard presented for many reasons, incl pairing with ward boundaries

Palmer: Ward boundary pairing has a lots of advantages in programming etc

Palmer describes the many things that well-resourced schools need to have, including supports for PreK to 3rd so that all third graders are at grade level for reading

[IL Network for Charter Schools' Jodie Cantrall not present]

Angie Lobo of Indo-American Center in West Ridge and a CPS parent: I support map that AAAJ's Grace Pai will be submitting. Asian American community is growing rapidly, has large undocumented population, lots of needs. IAC partners with CPS elementaries

Lobo: Plurality districts are very important because it's important to keep immigrant communities and immigrant school communities together to support parent engagement/welcoming schools/student achievement

Sonam Mohindra, IAC & CPS parent & Parent Mentor program volunteer at CPS school: Bilingual parents are super helpful as classroom volunteers. Language needs & immigrant families' needs require more support & parent engagement. Supports school board map from @AAAJ_Chicago

@AAAJ_Chicago [Some speakers from Educators for Excellence aren't present]

Next Yolanda Williams from KidsFirst Chicago, CPS parent of diverse learner, Gov's early learning council, CPS ODLSS family council: Special education students aren't prioritized in CPS. Black & Brown diverse learners also face unique challenges outside of school

Williams: KidsFirst map submitted map(s) that are representative of CPS demographics. That's what CPS parents want.

Next Ricky Ghandi, political director at @AAAJ_Chicago: Asian American community is fastest growing in Chicago. Not just Chinatown, also communities on Northside. Urge ILGA to draw at least four Asian Am-influenced districts out of twenty.

@AAAJ_Chicago Ghandi: Other immigrant communities share many same concerns including language needs, effects of xenophobia, needs of undocumented immigrants. [Describes districts; hopefully this will be posted here at some point: ilga.gov/senate/committ…]

Ghandi: Large coalition of orgs supporting AAAJ map. Encourage transparency and opportunity for meaningful feedback after draft map is shared

Next up @brothajitu, CPS alum himself: Lack of elected representation school board has led to destruction of education for Black communities and students. Billionaires & business community were determining what education was provided.

Brown: Chicago Black population has plummeted because Black Chicagoans have been driven out because of disinvestment.

Brown: Original map for #ERSB had 13 members. Community engagement of West Side in particular led to development of 21-member board bc of concerns of lack of Black representation

Brown: It was the Commercial Club of Chicago who wrote Renaissance 2010, launched first phase of school closings, decimated Black teachers, 44%->19% in CPS, tens of thousands of Black students gone

Brown: We don't have too many members on City Council, ILGA, US Congress. *Democracy* is how we get to equity, an elected board is how we get to equity

Brown: Sen Education Commitee needs to have a hearing on the harm that has been done by appointed board, not just sweep it under the rug

Brown: Bronzeville community had to go to unbelievable lengths to save Dyett high school, hunger strike. Those closest to the pain must be closest to the power

Next Rosita Chatonda, Teach for the Future Inc: Learned so much as teacher at first school closed under Renaissance 2010. Prison busses showed up & they shut down the school w/in matter of hours. In teaching career saw lack of advocacy for Black students

Chatonda: Stopped going to appointed board meetings after ten years of attending and not being heard bc it was a waste of time. Witness to decimation of Black teacher population, insufficient support from district or union

Chatonda: I support the map Valerie Leonard presented. I support the elected school board & want to bear witness to the lack of equity over my career educating children. Need a committee that addresses systemic racism's effects on Black children

INCS' Jodie Cantrell: 55K CPS charter school students, 98% are students of color. CPS has had charters for 25 years. "Representation matters" so INCS wants a smaller board, only 9 people. [Ed note: 🙄] also wants compensation for board members

Next Tina Augustus, another rep of IL Af Am for Equitable Redistricting, former LSC member: Also supports map Leonard presented. LSC members only have opportunity to vote on budget that district gives you. Elected board will give families true right to have say in education

Augustus: Gives example of CPS not participating in a national network supporting career development that ISBE would fund; this harms entrepreneurship on West Side of Chicago. Def supports board of 21 members

Chair Lightford: thank you to all the witnesses over last several weeks who shared insights. This will not be the last chance to provide input on district boundaries. Also go to ilsenateredistricting.com for map making portal, place to upload district boundaries.