Greetings Craig,

Black children deserve a quality education. It is a right. And yet, within the past few weeks, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) made the decision not to renew the charter of Bronzeville Academy Charter School (BACS), thus closing down the school as of June 30, 2024.

This non-renewal was done, after an initial conditional renewal in February, and despite the fact that BACS had addressed the ISBE's issue of it not having secured a facility to house the school - BACS entered into a formal agreement to use PUSH classrooms for the school, which is working to the staff's, parents' and students' satisfaction.

COAL hosted members of BACS leadership at its June 8th Power Breakfast towards understanding what reason(s) the ISBE would have to shut down a Black-managed institution of learning that is successfully educating Black children; what reason the ISBE might have to disrupt the learning environment of Black children; what excuse the ISBE could provide Black parents who support BACS' performance in educating their children.

CEO Alvin Boutte Jr., CFO David E. Ireland, and Assistant Principal Vince Payne did a compelling job of providing detail on this issue, providing information on the school's performance (it educates grades K - 8), including its financial position, and in responding to tough questioning during Q&A.

The bottom line: There was no credible reason for ISBE to shut down Bronzeville Academy Charter School (BACS). Period.

We, as a community, cannot sit by and silently accept ISBE shutting down Bronzeville Academy.

We, as a community, must challenge the systems that do not prioritize the education of our children, that devalue our community institutions, and that do not listen to the voices of our community. Voices who strongly support Bronzeville Academy providing our children with a chance to succeed.

Black youth matter. Black institutions matter. Black voices matter.

Bronzeville Academy matters.

Please take part in this critical call-to-action.

Respectfully,

COAL Board of Directors

_____________________________________________

"The time to work seriously and collectively, to improve the state of our Community, is upon us..."

Let Us be intentional in all aspects of the Work that must be done.

To state that COAL is very disappointed in this decision by the ISBE is a severe understatement, however it has become apparent that the ISBE does not appear to care about the education of Black children, nor the institutions of learning that focus on educating our children.

COAL is immediately reaching out to Governor Pritzker, the Governor's State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders and ISBE Chair Dr. Steven Isoye, to challenge the ISBE decision.

We are asking each of our COAL members and members of our greater community-of-interest to join in this call to action by doing one or more of the following, however, we ask that everyone place a call into the Governor's Office:

1) Place a call to the Governor's Office at 312.814.2121, to let him know that he must pressure the ISBE to reverse its decision or it will appear that he does not support the education of Black children, nor respect our institutions of learning;

2) Email the Governor via Chief of Staff Anne Caprara at ANNE.CAPRARA@ILLINOIS.GOV;

3) Email Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders at STATESUP@ISBE.NET, expressing your support for renewing Bronzeville Academy's charter, and the need for him to recognize that educating our children must be an ISBE priority;

4) Email ISBE Chair Dr. Steven Isoye at SUPPORT@ISBE.NET, expressing your support for renewing Bronzeville Academy's charter, and the need for him to recognize that educating our children must be an ISBE priority;

5) Call the ISBE and leave a terse message on this issue.

ISBE CHICAGO OFFICE

555 WEST MONROE STREET, SUITE 900, CHICAGO, IL 60661

(312) 814-2220

Springfield: (217) 282-4381

Board Services Office (217) 557 - 6626

6) Email your elected officials and voice your support for Bronzeville Academy and ask them to stand up for our institutions of learning; they must speak up and speak out for the education of Black children. Find your State Senator: click here or visit https://www.ilga.gov/senate, and your State Representative: click here or visit https://www.ilga.gov/house;

Find My Elected Officials

Note: Bronzeville Academy provided COAL with a draft letter our members could use at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_n2yotLoylbp30hQeFl840pUt-rw-z4OlPwLiJbtoZw/edit?usp=sharing

**PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO JOIN THIS CRITICAL CALL TO ACTION**

LET'S SUPPORT BRONZEVILLE ACADEMY,

LET'S SUPPORT THE EDUCATION OF BLACK CHILDREN!

And finally, please keep your family and neighbors informed and ask them to join us in taking this action! Thank you.

Why Are They Closing Top Performing Black Schools?

Why Are They Closing Top Performing Black Schools? – N'DIGO (ndigo.com)

ISBE breaks hearts of 320 Bronzeville Academy students ... The Chicago Crusader

The hearts of 320 Bronzeville Academy Charter School children were broken after learning that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has revoked its charter, and June 30, 2024, will be their last day at the iconic Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, which has been used as their temporary campus.

Future of Bronzeville Academy Charter School uncertain at Rainbow PUSH headquarters after IL Board of Education revokes charter - ABC7 Chicago

South Side charter school asking state board to reconsider decision (yahoo.com)

PUSH rescues Bronzeville Academy Charter School (chicagocrusader.com)