rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/email-board-member-ellen-rosenfeld-who-voted-for-closures?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-email-board-member-ellen-rosenfeld-who-voted-for-closures' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Chicago Teachers Union https://actionnetwork.org/groups/chicago-teachers-union https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg Board members Jennifer Custer, Ellen Rosenfeld, and Therese Boyle chose to close our schools. Their votes put our most vulnerable students and educators at risk. They justified this drastic action by claiming CPS can’t afford to keep these schools open without cutting staff. This is a false choice. We cannot accept a narrative that forces us to choose between our children’s schools and our educators’ jobs – especially when the real problem is a lack of funding, not overspending. The truth is that CPS’s financial challenges are not due to having too many schools or teachers – it’s because our district has been systematically underfunded by the state. According to Illinois’ own evidence-based funding formula, CPS is underfunded by nearly $1 billion. That means the state is failing to provide Chicago’s students with almost a billion dollars in resources that they are owed. Instead of using CPS’s budget woes as an excuse to slash and shutter, Board members should be fighting to get our schools the funding they deserve. They should be in Springfield demanding that $1B from the state, not making our neighborhoods bear the brunt of budget shortfalls. The bottom line: If CPS received full funding, we wouldn’t be facing these terrible choices. Send them an email today! Demand that they stand by students, uphold their responsibility as Board members, and stop enabling the closure of schools that serve Latine, working-class families. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/email-board-member-ellen-rosenfeld-who-voted-for-closures