We are at a pivotal moment in Chicago’s schools. We face a daunting budget deficit,  uncertainty about the district’s new CEO, a highly complex transition to a 21-member elected Board of Education, and achievement gaps that have long plagued students who are furthest from opportunity. 

Chicago needs next-level collaboration to finally overcome the systemic financial and racial barriers to achievement for kids who are lagging behind their more privileged peers. 

The Chicago Education Alliance (CEA) is a new nonprofit organization that will convene, align, and mobilize the partners in Chicago’s education advocacy ecosystem to drive collective impact with the goal of enacting a shared policy agenda. CEA will amplify the effectiveness of the city’s diverse groups of education actors in Chicago in several critical ways: 

• Build and sustain a broad coalition across grassroots, grasstops, and nonprofit leaders

• Serve as a bridge between the field and decision-makers

• Activate policy solutions informed by those most affected—students, families, and communities

• Advance a shared, student-centered policy agenda that reflects Chicago’s collective priorities