Please sign your name in support of an equal and equitable education for all students in Chicago.

Dear Chicago Aldermen and Mayor Lightfoot:

I am a Chicagoan who is concerned about the enormous and persistent opportunity gaps between Black and Latinx students and White students in our city.

In the last decade we’ve witnessed over 50 school closures in predominantly Black and Brown communities, contributing to blight and lack of access to quality options with little to no evidence that school reassignment has benefited students who were displaced.

Additionally, there are fewer teachers of color in our schools, even as research shows that students of color receive real and lasting benefits from having teachers who look like them. 

Lastly, and most importantly, the students most in need still receive insufficient funding to provide them the education they deserve. Resources are inequitably allocated and perpetuate these significant opportunity gaps for Black and Latinx students.

I am asking you, as the leaders of our city, to PLEDGE RIGHT NOW TO MAKE OUR CHILDREN A PRIORITY. Chicago Public Schools are making gains. We have a new school board, a new mayor and a new contract with the teachers union. Don’t waste this critical opportunity to truly stand up for our children.

I am asking you today to work with our communities to support a plan that attacks these racial disparities. We must #CloseTheGaps.

Thank you!