June 22, 2018: In accordance with the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund (CTPF) Bylaws, following Trustee Bernice Eshoo's resignation due to retirement, the Board declared a vacancy in a Teacher Trustee position. The Vacancy Committee appointed by CTPF Board President Jay Rehak includes Trustees Lois W. Ashford (chair), Jeffery Blackwell, and Mary Sharon Reilly. The committee will evaluate candidates and make a recommendation to the Board at the next regular meeting on July 19, 2018. The individual appointed to fill the position will serve until this fall's annual election in November.
 
Candidate Eligibility
Any eligible active teacher may ask to be considered to fill the vacancy. A candidate for the Teacher Trustee position must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be a Member, other than a Principal/Administrator, as defined in 40 ILCS 5/17-106; and
• Have been assigned on a regular certificate for at least 10 years in the Chicago Public Schools or charter schools within District 299 (this includes anyone who is licensed and has worked in the Chicago Public Schools or Charter Schools for at least 10 years on a regular certificate, including as a substitute).

Applications
To apply for the vacant Teacher Trustee position, please submit a resume and a candidate statement to Charles A. Burbridge, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, July 6, 2018. The Vacancy Committee will meet prior to the next regular Board of Trustees' meeting to review applications and evaluate the candidates.

For my constituents with Medicare or Medicaid, please be aware you will be receiving new cards. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and replacing them with new identification numbers.

The new Medicare card will have a completely different and randomly assigned identifier that will be 11 characters long, containing a mix of numbers and uppercase letters. This is the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). CMS is also removing the gender and signature line from the new Medicare card. The MBI is confidential like your SSN and should be protected as personal health information.

Each MBI is unique and randomly generated, and the characters are “non-intelligent,” which means they don’t have any hidden or special meaning.

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We are excited to announce that Grow Your Own Teachers is now accepting applications for our Chicago area program, with a deadline of September 15.

Grow Your Own is a teacher pipeline program established to increase teacher diversity in Illinois public schools. GYO provides extensive support for students pursuing a career in teaching, in exchange for a commitment to teach for 5 years in high-needs public schools.

Supports that make a difference:

    Financial support for tuition assistance, and when needed, emergency expenses

    Academic support, with an Academic Coordinator who works with students to keep them on track to graduate

    Test prep for the TAP, ACT or SAT, as well as tutoring and other support to master class subjects

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SPRINGFIELD – Access to law enforcement’s controversial gang databases would be limited under a measure from State Senator Patricia Van Pelt that passed out of the Senate today.

“For years, law enforcement has been using gang databases with little oversight to how they’re used and who has access to the information,” Van Pelt (D-Chicago) said. “This measure will ensure that database information can’t be used in background checks for employment, housing, licensing and education, which has been one of the biggest problems with the database.”

The use of gang databases to track individuals labeled as suspected gang members has been called into question in recent months after investigative reports found that hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans have been added to gang databases.

“Gang databases should be used to crack down on crime, not prevent an innocent person from getting a job or an apartment,” Van Pelt said. “This is a commonsense solution to a problem that never should’ve existed in the first place.”

Within the demographic of young black men 20-29 years of age, 53,418 (up to 89 percent of population) are in the Chicago Police Department's gang database.

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