News and Advocacy

The CPAA Renaissance Masquerade Ball
A Night of Mystery, Magic & Meaningful Impact

This victory belongs to EVERY SINGLE ONE of YOU.

March is National Sleep Month, a time to emphasize the vital role sleep plays in our daily lives.

As you know, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is conducting an inquiry into special education policy at CPS. Last Friday at 1:46 PM, LIz Kirby, CPS Chief of School Strategy and Planning, sent the following email to principals encouraging them to cooperate with the inquiry by sending the attached flyer home with students.

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has begun its public inquiry into CPS special education policy.  The inquiry team will collect evidence and testimony on these issues and present its findings to the State Board in a final report. The findings will then be made available to the public.

The ISBE inquiry is focused on four key questions:

  1. Do CPS' documentation and data collection requirements result in unlawful denial or delay in the identification of eligibility or provision of special education and related services to students?

On Friday, CPAA testified before the Illinois House Education Committee as the Illinois General Assembly sought to hold CPS accountable for defunding your schools’ special education programs. Three of the points we drove home with our research are:

  1. CPS lumped special education and general education into a zero-sum funding competition with one another by insisting schools pay for special education services through cutting staff from the general education program.

On Friday, CPAA testified before the Illinois House Education Committee as the Illinois General Assembly sought to hold CPS accountable for defunding your schools’ special education programs. Three of the points we drove home with our research are:

School Leaders:

As you know, CPAA and several advocacy organizations requested the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) intervene with the CPS Special Education program. ISBE has responded with anannouncement that they’ll investigate CPS’s special education practices.