CPS Proposes Cisneros Share Space with Shields Elementary

At 3:45 p.m. this afternoon, Chicago Public Schools will hold a community meeting at Shields Elementary, 4250 S. Rockwell, to discuss the possibility of moving the Acero Cisneros school community into Shields next year.

Expect pushback. "At least what I'm hearing from the Shields community, it will not be well received," Alderwoman Julia Ramirez (12) said yesterday. Yesterday, the Cisneros community appeared no happier about the idea.

Last night, the proposal to co-locate with Shields Elementary was unveiled at a meeting at Acero Schools' Cisneros campus, 2744 W. Pershing, where Cisneros parents, teachers, and staff expressed their concerns to Acting Chief Portfolio Officer Conrad Timbers-Ausar and his staff.

In its proposal, CPS argued that of the district-operated school buildings within the proposed 1-mile radius, Shields Elementary has the most space to take in the Cisneros community. "No decision has been made," Timbers-Ausar said. "We are here to gather information so a recommendation can be made December 1st." (According to a state law passed in 2011, the Chicago Board of Education must announce its plans to close or consolidate school buildings by December 1 of the calendar year before the closing or consolidation.)

If CEO/Superintendent Maquline King were to recommend this co-location, the school board would hold two additional community meetings and a formal public hearing in January. The board would then vote on the co-location, likely in February or March.

Board member Yesenia Lopez was present at the Cisneros meeting and stayed afterwards to speak with parents.

To stay informed about all the Acero campus plans, bookmark the CPS Acero Transitions web page. Para español, haz clic aquí.

InFocus: Carlos Rivas

For Carlos Rivas, Lowell Elementary in West Humboldt Park has always been more than a school--it's a second home. His mom worked in the cafeteria. School staff, including noted music teacher Carmen Rivera-Kurban, mentored him. After some time away, graduating from Northside College Prep and Claremont McKenna College and teaching in Argentina as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, he came back to Lowell and worked as a security guard and teacher assistant there before going on to get his teaching certificate through Teach for America. As a newly seated board member, Rivas made Lowell the site of his first official school visit.

After earning his teaching license, Rivas joined the Noble Network of Charter Schools as a Spanish teacher and college adviser on their UIC College Prep campus. Later, he became an alumni counselor, helping Noble UIC graduates, many of whom were the first in their families to attend college, navigate academic, financial, and other challenges on the road to a bachelor's degree. "As I grew in my career, it became clear that I could lead systems-level change," he told his college alma mater last spring.

In 2022, Rivas joined the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) as its director of external affairs. He joined the inaugural cohort of ALL Fellows in 2024 and handily won a hard-fought, high-spending race for his seat, with 59% of the vote.

Rivas has put unusual sweat equity into board training for good governance. When Chicago Public Schools canceled its initial training for newly elected board members, Rivas stepped in and worked with ALL’s executive director, Bridget Lee, to create an independent training program. In July, he and board member Ellen Rosenfeld completed the School Board Partners National Policy and Governance Fellowship. In the second quarter, he led the board with the most questions during meetings.

Priorities. Rivas spoke candidly about his frustration with the notion that individual board members could act on their priorities when the budget is so tight and the appointed members still have a numerical majority. "I could say I want to support more dual-language schools, but really, what can we do when we're worried about [making] it through the school year financially?" Although he's happy that the "magnificent seven" bloc of independent board members held the line to prevent the school district from taking out a short-term, high-interest loan to pay a portion of the city's required contribution to a municipal pension fund that includes CPS staff, he's largely frustrated with how the board has operated so far in its first year. "I don't think things are going to change substantially until we have a fully elected board," he said.

For now, he's focused on supporting families and school leaders in his district and across the city. In October, he and Lee teamed up again, this time to hold a three-part training with members of the Multilingual Parent Council to help them understand how and when to take an issue to the school board. They worked through examples to decide when to take a problem to the school board, to the Local School Council, or to the principal. Rivas made it a point to attend all three sessions, "because when Mexican moms invite me to something, I show up," he said.

Federal Update: New Tactic to Dismantle ED

Yesterday afternoon, the Trump administration announced it would transfer oversight and administration of education programs away from the U.S. Department of Education to other agencies through interagency agreements. Through one of the agreements, the U.S. Department of Labor will take over much of the K-12 education work, including all parts of Title I. According to the fact sheet explaining this move, "With proper oversight by ED, DOL will manage competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate ED’s programs with the suite of employment and training programs DOL already administers. ED will maintain all statutory responsibilities and will continue its oversight of these programs."

Reaction: For a left-leaning D.C. hot take on the situation, check out the press release from New America, which decries these moves as "wasteful, lawless, and bad for students." In a LinkedIn post, former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings warned, "Moving programs from one department to another does not actually eliminate the federal bureaucracy and it may make the system harder for students, teachers, and families to navigate and get the support they need. These changes are also likely to make it much more complicated for states."

According to Whiteboard Advisors, an interagency agreement that would transfer the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services has been held pending legal review.