Stand for Children: Performance Counts

We need to raise our voices together to make sure every child receives the best education possible. The time is NOW! It only takes a few minutes of time to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. We need YOUR voice to urge legislators to support Performance Counts.

Standing with you,

ElizabethOkey

“We’ve GOT to make noises
in greater amounts!
So, open your mouth, lad!
For every voice counts!”

-Dr Seuss, Horton Hears a Who

Dear Supporter of Performance Counts, Contact your legislators and ask them to support Performance Counts! The numbers are startling. A student who attends Chicago Public Schools from kindergarten through senior year of high school receives (nearly) four fewer years of schooling than their peer in Houston. How could this be? Because Chicago students have one of the shortest school days and years in the entire country. Chicago Public Schools students go to school for less than 6 hours a day, for just 170 days per year. Houston students go to school for 7 hours a day, for 180 days a year. And who suffers from Chicago’s short day and year? Students and teachers. This is unacceptable. Will you contact your legislators and tell them we need a longer school day & year? The more time students spend in the classroom, the more prepared they become for college or career. Chicago’s incredibly short day also results in students being deprived of enrichment, recess, and even time to eat lunch! The short day and year are equally frustrating for Chicago’s terrific teachers, who tell us the district’s short day and year keeps them from doing their best work for students. Given the tremendous challenges many students face, much more learning time is needed to help students succeed in today’s brutally competitive world. The sad fact is that right now CPS students generally aren’t well prepared - only 6 percent of Chicago Public Schools students receive a college degree by age 25 and the vast majority of CPS graduates need remedial courses in college. Despite Chicago's glaring lag in learning time, past efforts to lengthen the school day in Chicago have gone nowhere. Time and time again when Chicago Public Schools attempted to lengthen the school day and year it was thwarted by the Chicago Teachers’ Union leadership, hurting students and great teachers. From our perspective, enough is enough. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and say: “no more selling our children short.” It’s time to put students’ well-being at the center of contract negotiations. The Performance Counts legislative agenda would do just that. Click here to learn more and ask your legislators to address Chicago’s short day and year. I look forward to working with you to pass Performance Counts in order to lengthen Chicago’s school day and year to give students the education they need and deserve. Best, Jonah Edelman

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