Chicago Public Schools Board of Education May 2013. | Photo by Josh Kalov/CC BY 2.0 Education Your Principal, Your School’s Budget, Your Classroom: Who Actually Makes the Decisions? Chicagoans will elect the city’s entire school board for the first time this November. Here’s what the board controls, what it doesn’t, and who families should turn to when they need answers. By Georgia Rau • 5 min read
First-gen high school graduate Forylan Suarez and his family faced numerous systematic barriers navigating the public school system. | Max Herman/Borderless Magazine Education He Watched His Mother Advocate For Special Ed Support in CPS. Now, He’s Voting for Change As Chicagoans prepare to elect its school board, first-generation Chicago Public Schools’ alum Froylan Suarez is voting to advocate for more bilingual resources for immigrant families like his. By Samantha Monje • 4 min read
A participant speaks during a public education meeting. Photo by U.S. Department of Education / CC BY 2.0 Education The biggest misconception about Local School Councils? They don't do anything. Local School Councils remain the most direct way West Side residents can influence decisions at their neighborhood schools. But participation remains a challenge. By Nel Afenya • 5 min read
A student holds up a newly grown cucumber. | Maya Swan-Sullivan/15 West Environment Forgotten to flourishing: Heritage students transform school garden Heritage Middle School students are learning that food doesn't just come from grocery stores; it grows from soil, seeds, and hard work in their seven-bed community garden. By Maya Swan-Sullivan • 5 min read
