By Sarah Rothschild | May 9, 2018 | Health, Housing, Schools
File under: Environmental Racism, Segregation
The appalling filth and environmental hazards in our schools are driven by decades of neglect, particularly in schools that serve Black and Brown children. But Chicago’s working class communities of color have been dogged by generations of environmental racism, as well.
By CTU Communications | May 16, 2017 | Health
File under: health care, special ed, Special Education, Trump
In Washington, the Senate is getting ready to vote on the Republicans’ new legislation which would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. This bill, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), would also strip important federal funding away from special education... 
By CTU Communications | April 3, 2017 | Health, Justice
File under: incarceration, Mental Health, police brutality, trauma
New research is emerging that further emphasizes how important public resources and social services are to our Chicago neighborhoods. A study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities highlights the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder... 
By Sarah Rothschild | May 2, 2016 | Health, Schools
File under: asbestos, Budget, disinvestment, school facility research, student safety, teacher safety
The Asbestos Nation campaign of national watchdog the Environmental Working Group recently issued a report and interactive map on the continued prevalence of asbestos in CPS schools. In total, 184 CPS schools had asbestos-laden materials that needed to be repaired or... 
By Carol Caref | June 12, 2015 | Health, Housing, Schools
This submission was made by a CPS counselor/case manager, working in a school that received students from the massive 2013 school closings. With the demands of a caseload of 150 students as well as my duty as the school counselor, my time in the school day is limited....By Carol Caref | June 12, 2015 | Health, Justice
Chicagoans desperate for mental health services are deliberately committing petty crimes and getting arrested because the only place they can get the medication they need is in jail! That is the sad state of affairs for mental health in Chicago, as detailed in the...By Carol Caref | June 8, 2015 | Health, Housing
As A Just Chicago documents, health issues such as lead poisoning contribute to students’ problems in school. Not surprisingly, lead poisoning disproportionately impacts poor students. As the Chicago Tribune reports, Children ages 5 and younger continue to be harmed... 
By Sarah Rothschild | May 29, 2015 | Health
File under: Clinicians, Counselors, Social Workers, trauma, trauma centers
The University of Chicago closed the only adult level-one trauma center on the South Side of the city 27 years ago and is finally considering reopening it, after years of protest, and after an Illinois Department of Public Health investigation found that the... 
By Sarah Rothschild | May 29, 2015 | Health, Schools
File under: CTU contract campaign, healthcare, Nurses, Outsourcing, Privatization
CPS is once again entertaining the idea of expanded outsourcing of nurses. This is not new, unfortunately – CPS has been working with nurse staffing agencies since the early 1990’s. The number of Certified School Nurses (CSN), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and... 
By Nathan Goldbaum | April 29, 2015 | Health, Justice
File under: Anita Alvarez, Chicago Reporter, incarceration
As the report A Just Chicago notes, as an alternative to incarceration “drug treatment in the community is twice as effective at curtailing drug use, keeps students from having a parent in prison, and, in Illinois, costs 63% less (Kane-Willis, 2009).” (see page...
