Greetings Craig,

COAL supports an elected school board for the city of Chicago, recognizing the overly political and ineffective performance of current and past school boards, which were fully comprised of appointees made by the mayors of Chicago.

We can all agree that speaking generally, there is significant room for improvement in the education of our children here in Chicago and a representative elected school board can be a key component of the change needed to chart an improved direction for Chicago Public Schools.

For the October Power Breakfast, COAL is honored to host Valerie Leonard, founder of Nonprofit Utopia, and Natasha Dunn, founder and Executive Director of the Black Community Collaborative (BCC), representing the Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting (IAAFER) to discuss the transition to an Elected Representative School Board and IAAFER's proposed ERSB district map and Chicago Board of Education Black Student Achievement committee.

COAL looks forward to you joining us for an important discussion on a topic that impacts the education of our children.

Respectfully,

COAL Board of Directors

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"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.

INFORMATION ON THE ISSUE

OCTOBER IS

About COAL

COAL is an umbrella organization founded by 13 of Chicago's historic African American mens clubs. COAL's overarching mission is to identify, examine, illuminate and find resolution to issues impacting the greater community. We strive to use our collective experience, expertise and resources to improve the quality of opportunity, quality of preparedness and the quality of outcomes (expressed as 'quality of life') for our Community.

What We Believe

The Coalition of African American Leaders believes that it is important to examine the critical issues confronting the African American community where injustice, inequality and the absence of access and opportunity continue to prevail, thereby negatively impacting us as a people.

COAL is an assemblage that advocates and organizes for appropriate and responsible public policy change, system behavior change and equality of opportunity. We aim to achieve for all of our people the fullness of the life experience without any form of racism or exclusion as a deterrent.

We believe we must prepare ourselves for the opportunity of this full participation, thereby achieving the necessary education and training to participate.