Illinois Newsblast

Dear JOSHUA,

It is my privilege to guest-write this month’s newsblast on behalf of Josh Kaufmann, Teach Plus Illinois’ Executive Director. I have been involved with Teach Plus over the last several years as a Teach Plus Policy Fellow and now as an alum who helps train new Fellows to transform their classroom experiences into powerful testimonies in educational policy debates. One of the many issues that I have remained actively involved in is the Illinois school funding formula. When Josh asked me to contribute, I knew exactly the story that I wanted to share.

I am a teacher and librarian at Lindblom Math and Science Academy, located on the south side of Chicago. Just last week, my students and I transformed our school library into a suitable setting for a press conference. About ten minutes before everyone arrived, we learned that Forrest Claypool, the Chicago Chief Executive Officer, would be giving a press conference along with Chief Educational Officer Janice Jackson.

Five minutes before Mr. Claypool would enter, close to fifty students decided to protest via a sit-in in the visible stairwell nearby.  They chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Claypool has got to go!”  Chicago newspaper, radio, and television reporters inside the library rushed to collect footage and photographs of the protest.  They interviewed some of our students, and many spoke of how the recent budget cuts were negatively impacting their educational experiences.

We soon learned that Mr. Claypool and Chief Educational Officer Janice Jackson were about to announce that they were filing a civil rights lawsuit against the State of Illinois for unfair funding practices.  As Mr. Claypool and Ms. Jackson entered with the parents who were plaintiffs in the suit, the protesting students dispersed and the press conference began.  All who spoke reminded the audience of the inaction in Springfield, as we have heard before.  This time, however, Mr. Claypool proclaimed that Governor Rauner’s recent veto of a bill, that would close a $215M hole in CPS’ budget, discriminated more against Chicago’s minority students than any other students in the state.

As I sat with four of my students listening to the different speakers, I was torn between the passionate call for equitable funding and the conjecture that Chicago suffered the most under this unfair funding formula.  Since Governor Rauner and Mr. Claypool have taken office, I have felt like our schools have been in a never-ending tennis match, even though there are countless other districts in Illinois that also suffer under our funding formula, which is the least-equitable of all fifty states in the nation.  There are not just two players in this state; according to the Illinois Report Card, Illinois public schools currently serve around 2 million students. Close to fifty percent of those students are minorities and nearly that same percentage are also low-income.  We must do better for all underserved students in Illinois.

Currently in Springfield, advocates of equitable funding are applauding the recent House Bill 2808, which calls for any new money to be equitably given to school districts most in need while also taking into account local property tax contribution.  In addition to weighing in on this crucial funding debate, our Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellows have contributed significantly to the latest education plan for Illinois.  After the third draft was released, fellows saw many of their suggestions implemented in the plan and many of their questions posed during feedback discussions and listening tours. 

As we wait to see what will become of this bill in Springfield, I urge all of you to speak your truth about the state of our schools in whichever avenue suits you best.  Perhaps it’s a conversation, an op-ed or letter to the editor for your local newspaper, or a letter or phone call to your state representative or congresswoman.  As I speak with more and more teachers around the state, I believe that our largest commonality is that each of us is doing the best that we can with what we have for the children of Illinois.  It’s time that we take our calling further and fight the good fight to ensure that equitable funding exists in the near future and for generations to come.

Thank you,

Gina Caneva, M.Ed., NBCT
Guest Writer, Teach Plus Illinois

Practice Update- Kristen Ciciora, Chicago Teacher Engagement Manager

In February in Chicago, as the days start to get longer and we catch fleeting glimpses of spring, keeping our students focused can often be a challenge—between the several holidays, the restlessness of being indoors for the last four months, and the realization that winter in Chicago seems endless—it’s easy to feel a little down this time of year. Thankfully, February is also a time for celebration of Black History, which is an incredible opportunity to build in extra avenues of engagement for our students. As a science teacher, I struggled my first few years on how to incorporate Black History into my Chemistry and Biology lessons. I tried to highlight well-known scientists of color, but the ones that I chose often had contributions to modern science that didn’t align with what we were studying at the time. As you can read about in Teaching Tolerance’s “Do’s and Don’ts of Teaching Black History,” it’s best not to stop your “regular” curriculum and do a separate lesson focused on the topic because this “trivializes and marginalizes anything you are teaching, [sending]…the message that the diversion is not as important as the ‘regular’ curriculum.” Finding an engaging and relevant topic that fits with your content area and topic of study may take a little extra work, but is so rewarding for students. For instance, in my Biology class, our cancer and genetics unit always fell in February. At the suggestion of my co-teacher, who was reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks at the time, we came up with a way to infuse our science instruction with the compelling topic of the unjust treatment of people of color in the medical and healthcare fields. We guided our students through a close read of an excerpt from this book that described Ms. Lacks’ cancer cells and their properties, along with a description of how those cells were taken and still used today without permission or compensation, which led to an important conversation about how racism permeates every aspect of our country. This is just one example—I challenge everyone, no matter what subject you teach, to get creative with how you can introduce a relevant Black History topic in the context of your current unit plan. Jennifer Hartmann, a Teach Plus Policy Fellow, wrote a great op-ed for the Huffington Post about teaching Black History to students of color in a social science class, which you can read here. 

Opportunities & Events

Illinois Powered by Teach to Lead Summit-  March 1 Deadline Quickly Approaching!

The Illinois summit is a great opportunity for teachers to develop concrete plans to solve local problems in their districts and network with other teachers in the state.
 It is a unique opportunity for teachers to spotlight groundbreaking teacher-led work happening across the state of Illinois. Please take a few minutes to watch the Powered by Teach to Lead video. The first Illinois Summit will take place on April 24, 2017, in Bloomington Illinois. For additional details and to begin filling out your application, see this link. The application process should take only 20-30 minutes of your time and can lead to positive changes for teachers and students!  Please share the link to the application with teachers who you know are interested in actionable teacher leadership. 


EPIC Academy is Seeking a New Principal

EPIC Academy is seeking a Principal to develop and lead campus academic, guidance, and operations teams to build on our upward path of success and lead us to our next-edge of sustainable growth. The Principal reports to the Executive Director and will have direct supervision of key school leaders including the Assistant Principals, Operations Manager, and College Counselors.

EPIC Academy is a CPS Level 1+ neighborhood charter high school that opened fall of 2009 in the South Chicago community with the mission to inspire and equip every student to build a path to college and career success. We embrace the challenge of public education - to develop every student’s resolve to reach his or her full potential regardless of the odds. EPIC Academy serves one of the most challenged student demographics in Chicago: 96% Free/reduced lunch, 25% Students with IEPs, and 15% English Language Learners, with the average 9th grader entering on the 4th grade academic level. The prevailing area expectation is graduate high school and get a job.

Healthy Schools Campaign is hiring a Policy and Advocacy Manager

Healthy Schools Campaign is hiring a Policy and Advocacy Manager to advance HSC’s agenda at the national level and in Illinois. This key position will also conduct research and writing to promote policy initiatives and support HSC’s fundraising efforts. HSC is looking for someone with a strong knowledge of education, health or school health policy. 

More information and the application can be found here.

Good Reads/Views

Daily Herald- My Students Deserve Equitable Funding

IL Teaching Policy Fellow, Kali Skiles, wrote an op-ed about how the broken funding system is affecting the students of Round Lake's school district. "Low-income districts like those in Round Lake receive only 81 cents for every dollar available to non low-income students. Out of all 50 states, Illinois has the largest funding gap between low income and non low-income students". Read more...

LA Times- How to Make Your Voice Heard In Washington

Former U.S. Representative and current Teach Plus Board Member, George Miller, shares his advice for how you can make your case to Washington. "There are a handful of unwritten rules that can amplify your voice in these tempestuous times". Read more...

Huffington Post- Teaching Black History to Our Students of Color

IL Teaching Policy Fellow, Jennifer Hartmann, poses the important question, "As we celebrate Black History Month, how many of us pause and think about how much black history our nation's students of color actually learn?" Read More...

Teach Plus Video! The Policy Playbook

What does it mean to be bilingual in practice and policy? Learn more about the Teach Plus policy playbook. Watch now!