Chicago Public School students and teachers have taken to the streets in recent weeks, pleading with state and city lawmakers to find new revenue to prevent deep cuts to public education. Parents aren't standing on the sidelines, either. The Raise Your Hand coalition, a new and growing group of parents representing over 250 schools in Chicago, lobbied hard in Springfield these past two months to preserve level funding for education in the state's FY 2011 budget.

With those negotiations now basically completed, the group is turning their attention to the city budget, which the CPS board will scrutinize during a June 23 meeting. Yesterday, the group delivered a letter to Mayor Daley's office requesting a meeting to discuss the district's multi-million dollar deficit. The coalition even attached a copy of our 2009 article analyzing the amount of TIF money that's diverted each year from schools. Read it below:

Raise Your Hand Coalition letter to Daley