When Chicago Public School students were forced to stay home for ten days because of an illegal Teachers Union work-stoppage after the Holiday break, parents across the city were understandably upset, angry and confused about why their children could not go to school when other schools in their communities were open and had been open, even during the worst days of Covid. The failure of Chicago leadership to open schools even after receiving more than $1.5 billion from the federal government in the past year became the subject of national news.

The CDC and medical experts said in-person schooling was safe, the media attacked the school closures, and even the president of the United States called upon the city of Chicago to reopen schools.

Meanwhile, there are thousands of great educators and education providers in Chicago who can and are ready to help more students get educated regularly. We sought to help their families, immediately, to give parents the opportunity to choose the education that best meets the needs of their own kids, both now and into the future.

The Chicago RESCUE grants, part of the STOP Awards, were launched within days of the January 2022 Chicago schools crisis to quickly grant funds to schools and educators ready to serve. This initiative was created by education advocate Janine Yass in partnership with the Center for Education Reform (CER).

Applications were accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis through January 14th, and award announcements have been made daily to public and private education institutions who have capacity and interest in expanding quickly to meet the needs of new students. Grants will continue to be made until the five million dollars in the fund are exhausted.  For more information about the STOP Award why it’s important and what it stands for, visit the STOP Award FAQs.