Illinois Families for Public Schools

08/20/2026

Calling...everyone! Join us for a virtual forum about the new, harmful federal voucher school program (yet another tax giveaway for the wealthy!)—Tuesday Sept. 15th, 6:00-7:30 PM CT.

Register: bit.ly/fedvoucherforum

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation circulating about how this program—designed and intended to unleash private school vouchers funded by tax dollars nationwide—will impact our public schools. Our knowledge-packed panel will share the facts on how this program will harm our public schools and hurt education equity.

If you’re a school leader, community member, parent, educator, or student, the time is now to engage and ask questions about how you can educate and organize your community to advocate for keeping vouchers out of Illinois and strengthen our public schools.

08/18/2026

UPDATE! Chicago Public Schools’ "broader rollout" of Google's Gemini AI bot to HS students won't be happening next week, which is great, but we still have *lots* of questions.

Our full statement: CPS Canceling Google Gemini Rollout for Students, Continuing Use of AI-literacy product Amira: https://www.ilfps.org/statement_on_cps_cancellation_of_google_gemini_rollout

We began sharing information about the Gemini rollout just over two weeks ago and made an action tool available on August 13th for folks to write to the district about it. Thank you to everyone who took action to protect human-centered education in CPS by writing to CPS leaders and asking them to STOP this rollout. The post received over 10K views, so thanks for sharing too!

This now-cancelled rollout simply reinforces the need for the Chicago Board of Education and district to take the steps in the Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education that we’ve asked all candidates running for the Board to commit to.

We hope that any candidates that have not yet signed on to the Pledge are motivated to do so by this less-than-transparent episode. Find out if candidates on your ballot are committed to clear and protective policies on the role of tech in our public schools: humancenteredcps.com

The Pledge includes a commitment to a moratorium on generative AI use in the district until a thoughtful, protective policy is developed and put into place.

Many unanswered questions remain about how generative AI is being used in the district, including its relationship to screentime and biometric information collection, issues which the Pledge also weighs in on.

Moreover, it is clearer than ever that Chicago Public Schools needs a Chief Privacy Officer, another component of the Pledge. Families, as well as students and district employees, must have a point person who will ensure that students’ sensitive, private information is protected and not being exploited by Big Tech. The price of a public education shouldn’t be kids’ personal data.

08/15/2026

NEW! CPS Board of Education Candidate Scorecard: Who will protect human-centered education for Chicago Public School Students? —> humancenteredcps.com

Along with Schools Beyond Screens Chicago, we’re so excited to share this interactive tool to track which Chicago School Board candidates have signed the Pledge, find the candidates who will be on your November 3rd ballot, learn about the policy actions candidates promise to uphold, and more!

Check it out, share widely, and make sure the candidates on your ballot are committed to clear and protective policies on the role of tech in our public schools.

Questions? Please reach out: [email protected]

08/12/2026

🛎️ Action alert: Chicago Public Schools plans to give all high school students access to Google Gemini at the start of the new school year. Their own GenAI guidance says the guardrails in Gemini make it unsafe for student use! Google advertises Gemini as a tool to answer students’ homework problems and research their papers for them.

We’re calling on CPS to STOP this rollout. Students don’t need Big Tech to do their schoolwork for them. Help us protect human-centered education in CPS by writing to CPS leaders and asking them to stop this rollout:

According to the Chicago Public Schools' AI Guidebook, the district plans to provide access for all high school students to Google Gemini for the new 2026-2027 school year. Use this letter-writing tool to urge the CEO-Superintendent, Chief Education Officer and Chief Operating Officer to pause this....

08/11/2026

Our executive director, Cassie Creswell, joined WBEZ's In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss the recently released Illinois State Board of Education AI guidance, IL-FPS’ efforts to lay the groundwork for human-centered education in Chicago Public Schools, and concerns about the opaque Google Gemini rollout to CPS high schoolers this month. Listen here:

The Illinois State Board of Education is leaving it in the districts’ hands.

08/09/2026

The Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education in Chicago Public Schools is personal. Our working group on Human-Centered Education came together because as educators, librarians, parents, privacy and public education advocates, and LSC members, we care deeply about CPS students' educational experience and personal data.

The overuse and misuse of tech in schools is an important and pressing issue and one that hasn’t had sufficient public discussion in Chicago recently.

Here’s more on why we're asking all Chicago Board of Education candidates to commit to the Pledge. We must lay the groundwork for safeguarding CPS students amidst the rapid, and often unchecked, expansion of technology use in schools, both in and out of the classroom.

Learn more about the Pledge and which candidates have committed to protect human-centered education in CPS: ww.ilfps.org/pledge_protect_human_centered_ed

08/07/2026

Here’s the 21 Chicago School Board candidates who committed to protect human-centered education in CPS!

Update 8/7/26: Jessica Biggs, candidate for Board president, signed the Pledge.

Earlier this week we launched our "Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education” calling on Chi Board candidates to sign on and commit to addressing the important and pressing issue of the overuse and misuse of tech in schools.

Chicagoans, don't see the candidates running in your subdistrict listed here? Ask them where they stand and encourage them to commit to this Pledge! We will continue adding committed candidates through Election Day.

Find your Chi Board of Ed district here: https://www.cps.edu/about/chicago-board-of-education/member-map

The Chicago Board of Elections has the official list of candidates who will be on the ballot: https://chicagoelections.gov/getting-ballot/candidates

We'll be keeping an updated list of candidates who have committed to the Pledge here: https://www.ilfps.org/pledge_protect_human_centered_ed

Not in Chicago? Petitions for school board candidates elsewhere in the state start circulating later this month, and it's not too early to start asking where potential candidates stand on these issues!

Please help us get the news out about the Pledge to lay the groundwork for protecting human-centered education.

08/06/2026

We're calling on Chicago school board candidates to protect human-centered education.

Thank you Claudia Peralta for Chicago School Board 1B for committing to the Pledge.

08/03/2026

Prioritize kids over computers! We’re calling on Chicago School Board candidates to commit to a "Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education”—22 have signed on so far.

Technology use in and out of the classroom in Chicago Public Schools has increased rapidly over the past fifteen years, and especially in the wake of remote schooling due to the pandemic. Policies and practices have not kept pace sufficiently to protect students' educational experience and personal data.

For the first time ever, the entire school board in Chicago will be on the ballot for Chicago voters; Election Day is Tuesday November 3rd! Voters will have the opportunity to cast a vote for a Board Member for their subdistrict and also for the at-large Board President.

The Pledge’s four policy actions will lay the foundation for addressing the harm that overuse and misuse of technology in CPS is causing:
1) Enact a three-year moratorium on generative AI use
2) Appoint a Chief Privacy Officer
3) Limit screen time in all grades
4) Prohibit collection of biometric information

Find the full Pledge, the candidates who have committed, and more on why we must protect human-centered education in CPS: https://www.ilfps.org/pledge_protect_human_centered_ed

And if the candidates running in your subdistrict haven’t signed on to protect human-centered education, please ask them where they stand and encourage them to commit to this Pledge. We will continue adding committed candidates through Election Day.

Find your Chi Board of Ed district here: https://www.cps.edu/about/chicago-board-of-education/member-map

The Chicago Board of Elections has the official list of candidates who will be on the ballot: https://chicagoelections.gov/getting-ballot/candidates

Questions? Please reach out: [email protected]

07/27/2026

🚩 Federal school voucher red flags alert! Major proponents of Illinois’ now-defunct private school voucher program are attempting to sway PUBLIC school supporters by claiming Trump’s federal school voucher scheme will benefit public schools.

Check out our primer to learn more about the orgs behind the ploy and the harms this program will bring to public schools.

Agudath Israel of Illinois, the Catholic Conference of Illinois, Empower Illinois/The Urban Center, and the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) fought hard to keep Illinois’ discriminatory Invest in Kids school voucher program that diverted our public dollars to private schools. These organizations and their supporters are NOT invested in the success of public schools and public school students.

And please pass it on—don't believe the false federal school voucher hype! It’s a guise to gain mass appeal for a key Trump administration education policy goal AND part of their plan to privatize the public education system as a whole.