IL State Budget Crisis

For the second year in a row, the Illinois Legislature and the Governor have failed to pass a state budget.  The Governor’s refusal to fully fund crucial social services, health and safety initiatives, and public education is endangering the lives of residents of Brighton Park, which is experiencing one of the most violent years in recent history. If a budget agreement is not reached, the devastating impact of budget cuts in the last year will only continue to threaten communities across the city and state.

Without a state budget by the end of June:

• Child Care programs will be unable to continue their operations

• The Parent Mentor program, which places parents in the classroom with teachers as assistants, will lose all funding at a time when class sizes could balloon to over 40 students per class.  

• Thousands of low-income families will not have access to Medicaid or assistance on gas and electric bills.

On Wednesday, the CEO of CPS, Forrest Claypool announced that Chicago Public Schools will not open in September without funding from the State.  While funding for public education from Springfield is imperative, the Mayor, the City Council, and CPS must support progressive revenue solutions in Chicago to limit the impact of the cuts. Illinois is dangerously close to taking away every student's right to a public education. We cannot afford to wait for action from Springfield.

Please join us in calling on our city and state elected officials to demonstrate leadership and take action.

Strip the Charter School Commission of its authority!

A bill (HB397) to strip the Charter School Commission of its authority--will be heard in The Senate Education Committee tomorrow at 2pm!

We need to contact the Senate Education Committee members and inform them that the State Charter School Commission usurps local control.

The Commission often makes decisions about adding schools to a district without proper consideration of the district's ability to assume that responsibility. In Chicago, it means that resources at neighborhood schools have been marginalized because the Commission has forced the district to absorb more charter operations than it can afford to administer.

Passing this bill is especially important as the district is threatening budget cuts.

Charter operators have gone to the Commission to appeal the decision of the board successfully. There was no appeal function for the 50 neighborhood schools the district closed in 2013.

Please follow the link below to complete witness slip in support / (as a proponent) of HB397.

http://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/84753?committeeHearingId=13919&LegislationId=84753&SCommittees5/30/2016-page=1&committeeid=0&chamber=S&nodays=7&_=1464061677531

7th Annual Youth Summit

Congratulations to the BPNC Youth Leadership Council for organizing another successful youth summit. We would like to thank everyone that participated in the youth summit. 450 seventh and eighth grade students from Brighton Park Elementary School, Burroughs Elementary, Columbia Explorers Academy, Davis Elementary, Evergreen Academy Middle School, Gunsaulus Scholastic Academy, and Shields Middle School participated in the event.

Thank you to Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia for your support and special thanks to Alderman Raymond Lopez (15th ward) and candidate for State Representative Theresa Mah (2nd District) for participating in the event.

Thanks to our funders that make all this great work possible. McDougal Family foundation, Generation All, United Way, and the UIC CHANCE Program.

Big thanks to all our supporters!

BPNC will receive a $25,000 grant to refurbish the two basketball courts at Kelly Park.

Great News! BPNC will receive a $25,000 grant from the LISC/ESPN Pilot Home Court Program to refurbish the two basketball courts at Kelly Park.

Letter to our members

Herbalife victims participate in symposium to detect and combat pyramid schemes

Herbalife victims participate in symposium to detect and combat pyramid schemes

More than $3.5 million has been lost by the 207 victims of Herbalife, Inc., who have filed complaints with the Illinois Attorney General’s office. The Illinois Herbalife Campaign shared those sobering stats with federal regulators and law enforcement officials who gathered for a symposium on combating pyramid schemes in Latino and immigrant communities organized by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). To further raise awareness of predatory business practices in our communities, the Illinois Herbalife Campaign’s Faces of Fraud exhibit was invited to the symposium to share the stories of how hardworking members of the community were drawn by Herbalife’s pyramid schemes. According to representatives from the SEC, speaking with actual victims at the event will help develop initiatives to alert consumers of pyramid schemes that target various ethnic and religious communities.  "This was a great event for federal regulators to meet and speak with real victims that have been scammed by pyramid schemes. We hope to have more events like these to build partnerships and raise awareness of the high rate of immigrant groups being targeted each day by fraudulent business practices," stated Maria Elena Jonas Executive Director for the Hispanic American Community Education and Services organization. Hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) the symposium held two panels that featured federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FBI, and the Illinois Attorney General's Office. The federal agencies came together to discuss and exchange tactics in detecting and combating pyramid schemes that target immigrant communities. Over the last two years the Illinois Herbalife Campaign has been bringing together community organizations and elected officials by working together to assist victims of fraud. Community leaders and victims attended the symposium to emphasize the need for regulations to protect immigrant communities from pyramid schemes and to protect consumers against affinity fraud. For more information on the Faces of Fraud exhibit or upcoming events, please email us at ilherbalies@gmail.com.

Illinois Herbalife Campaign

Please continue to share our hotline number - (855) 701-5437 - as well as notify us of any community events our organizers can participate.

Early Voting has begun!

Early voting in Illinois from February 29th to March 14th. For more information please visit: 

http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/elections/earlyvoting/Pages/EarlyVotingLocations.aspx

New Chromebooks for Burroughs Elementary

Burroughs Elementary received a $10,000 for new Chromebooks this morning! Special thanks to Senator Antonio Muñoz, Senator Martin Sandoval, and ComEd for making this possible and helping further the education of our youth.

Big week for BPNC is a big week for Social Justice

National Walk-ins for Education Justice

On Wednesday, February 17th, took part in a national school walk-in campaign to demand a world class public education for all children, revenue to fully fund public schools, and accountability and transparency for charter schools and operators. Nationwide a total of 40,000 supporters from 838 schools in 31 cities participated in the walk-ins.

BPNC organized walk-ins at 13 different schools on the Southwest side of Chicago. Hundreds of school staff, teachers, students, and parents participated in the historic walk-ins to support their neighborhood public schools.

Participating Southwest side schools: 

Brighton Park Elementary 

Burroughs Elementary 

Columbia Explorers Academy

Davis Elementary 

Evergreen Academy 

Hernandez Middle School 

Shields Elementary 

Shields Middle School 

Back of the Yards College Prep 

Curie High School 

Hancock High School 

Kelly High School 

Solorio Academy High School

Check out our Storify page to learn more about the walk-ins!

#77 Proud - Financial Education Resource Fair

BPNC held the #77 Proud - Financial Education Resource Fair on February 13th at Kelly High School to help empower Chicagoans and promote economic opportunity across the City. The Fair is one of 11 events taking part in the “77 Proud” initiative, sponsored by Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers. The fair kicked off with a panel discussion that gave community residents the opportunity to ask questions and learn about financial services and resources. 

Following the panel, attendees got the opportunity to visit resource tables from 27 different partners and attend workshops on various topics. The workshops offered included: first time home buyer, down payment, foreclosure prevention, banking, building and improving credit, FAFSA, college savings, and public versus private college cost. In addition, people were also able to have one on one sessions with financial coaches and were offered free tax preparation services on site. The event was capped off by Treasurer Summers and Senator Tony Munoz who took a moment to address and thank the community and our partners for making the event possible. 

BPNC in Springfield

BPNC community leaders Guadalupe Hernandez and Elizabeth Tellez went down to Springfield on Tuesday last week to advocate for the reinstatement of programs and services in the neighborhood. They spoke to elected officials about the need for a Fair Tax and funding for Teen Reach. Their efforts were rewarded as Senator Tony Munoz and Martin Sandoval as well as Representative Dan Burke and Silvana Tabares all expressed their full support towards these issues. 

The very next day, more leaders went to the state Capitol in Springfield to give testimony at the Elementary and Secondary Education School Curriculum & Policies Committee Meeting for the HB-557 bill for an Elected Representative School Board. Kelly High School student/leader Evelyn Solis spoke to the House Committee about her experience with school budget cuts and charter expansion in the Southwest side of Chicago, specifically at Kelly High School. She highlighted the fact that the CPS appointed school board did not care about charter opposition on the Southwest side. The bill passed committee later on that day and will be up for a general vote in the House of Representatives later this month.

Parent Mentor Program

The Parent Mentor Program participated in a Violence Prevention workshop at St Pancratius Church last Friday. The focus of the meeting was to learn about and identify domestic violence in the home, specifically towards women. The workshop was given by Aide Fonseca who is a School Base Counselor at Shields Middle & Burroughs Elementary School. The program curriculum promotes educational workshops for personal development.

#77 Proud - Financial Resource Fair

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