Editor’s Note
Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.
Quote of the Week
“This school is home to me…it has been proven time and time again that community is key to learning. Take away my community and send me to a school where I don’t know a soul, and I won’t learn as effectively.”
— Andrea Ayalla, a 7th grader at Acero Charter - Sandra Cisneros Elementary during public comment.
[Chicago Board of Education, Feb. 27, 2025]
“Estamos Cisneros”
The Chicago Board of Education voted to save five Acero charter schools from closing down. The 16-3 vote marks the board’s first significant decision since becoming a partially-elected body and comes after months of negotiations with the charter network’s operator. Under the new transition agreement, Chicago Public Schools will absorb five of the seven schools by the 2026/27 school year. The two remaining Acero schools, Paz and Cruz, will close in June.
Students and educators from the Acero schools showed up in force to implore the Board to keep their schools open and chastise the schools’ operator for trying to shutter them. Acero leaders announced late last year they would close the schools due to a $40 million deficit. Board members who voted against absorbing the five campuses questioned whether the district had the resources to keep the schools open. CPS faces a budget deficit of more than half a billion dollars.
Chicago Board of Education by Chitra Iyer
What you can do:
The next Chicago Board of Education meeting is 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Mar. 20. Advance registration for speakers and in-person observers opens Mar. 18 at 10:30 a.m. Click here to register for public comment and here to view the livestream of the meeting.
CPS will continue efforts to welcome all students despite the federal government’s ongoing immigration crackdown in Chicago. The board also discussed a recent incident where immigration agents detained a parent dropping off his children outside schools in Gage Park. “The fear that is gripping our families right now is unacceptable,” said Olga Bautista, vice president of the school board. “We can't expect children to be able to focus on learning when they don't know if their parents are going to be home when they get back.”
Chicago Board of Education by Chitra Iyer
What you can do:
Share Know Your Rights information
Print, order and share Know Your Rights red cards from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Share Know Your Rights resource guides available in seven different languages from the City of Chicago. New immigrants and refugees can find more city resources here.
Request a Know Your Rights training
The National Lawyers Guild Chicago provides Know Your Rights trainings and resources to help organizers and activists – including those who aren’t U.S. citizens – navigate interactions with police. You can always request training for a group by emailing chicago@nlg.org.
District strategies
New strategic plans identify problem solving and community engagement priorities for each police district. The plans are put together with the support of the Office of Community Policing as a means to address recommendations outlined both in the Community Policing Advisory Panel Report and the Consent Decree.
Reducing shootings, armed robberies and burglaries are the three main priorities identified in the 9th District strategic plan put together by the Chicago Police Department. The Southwest Side district covers part or all of several neighborhoods including Bridgeport, Gage Park, McKinley Park, Pilsen and Englewood.
The 1st Police District strategic plan highlights quality of life issues, robberies and motor vehicle theft concerns. That district includes parts of Downtown, Near West Side, Near South Side, Douglas, Armour Square and Pilsen. The strategic plans will be discussed by all district councils at the District Council quarterly meeting on March 8.
9th Police District Council by Benjamin Nober and Tamara Lipsa
1st Police District Council by Fabienne Elie and James Klososky
What you can do:
Attend District Council Quarterly Meeting
The next District Council Quarterly Meeting is 11 a.m. Saturday, Mar. 8 at Kenwood Academy (5015 S. Blackstone Ave.).
Find your Police District Council
Find your local police district here.
Head to chicago.gov and select your district’s specific page. Here you’ll find: The names of your district council member, notices and agendas for upcoming meetings and minutes from past meetings.
Get acquainted with your district council members. Check out the Chicago Reader’s deep dive into each of the police district council candidates.
A version of this story was first published in the March 5, 2025 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.
Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.