Progress Illinois

Immigrant rights advocates, workers and other activists will march and rally in the city today in support of workers' rights and comprehensive immigration reform that provides a fair pathway to citizenship and stops deportations until a new law is passed.

Members of SEIU* Local 1 and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) prepared for the May Day event yesterday by making signs and hashing out final details for the rallies. 

"Having immigration reform is going to help a lot of families fix their status and come out of the shadows and stop living in fear," said Graciela Vergara, chair of the SEIU Central Region Latino Caucus, at the sign making event. "A lot of our people in our community live in fear, because they’re not here legally ... and we know that a lot of companies, a lot of employers have been doing E-Verify. A lot of families have been affected." Read more »

A list kept under former Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan’s administration of clout-heavy Chicagoans and public officials looking to get kids into some of the city’s top schools was made public last week.

Some education experts say the log is another example of the intense competition for too few high-quality school seats in the city and the disparity in education and economic investment in Chicago neighborhoods.

“The fact that there’s so many people who want to get into those schools shows that the people really want a quality education, and the system should be responsive instead of disinvesting in various school communities,” said Eric “Rico” Gutstein, faculty associate with the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education.

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