Here's what we believe about Illinois' public schools and how we can best work to support them:
- Public schools are a public good. Every school is our school.
- Bake sales and silent auctions aren’t how a healthy society funds the education of its next generation. Parents can’t fundraise their way out of inadequate education funding systems.
- When schools are ready for all children, you don’t need to make children ready for schools.
- Choice, competition and ranking aren’t the route to a healthy public school system. Children and schools are more than a score. We cannot test our way to racial equity. High-stakes accountability serves adults, not children.
- School closings damage communities and hurt children.
- Learning is a human process. Certified, trained, unionized human adults are the key ingredient to a successful school environment. No advance in technology will replace professional teachers, social workers, librarians, counselors and nurses in our schools.
- The price of a public education can’t be a child’s personal data. When tech is free, you are the product, not the customer. No screen-time can replace interaction with human peers and teachers.
- Public dollars are for public schools. A parallel school system of publicly-funded, privately run charter schools diverts resources from democratically-controlled public system. Vouchers and tax credit scholarships do nothing to improve outcomes for the few, and hurt funding for the many.
- Collective action on the part of families is key to bringing about a just public ed system for Illinois that serves every community and every person in our state. Education justice is rooted in racial, economic and social justice.
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"What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.” --John Dewey |