Vélez is a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant with a doctorate in education policy, organization and leadership, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a statement, Vélez said he brings his professional experience and lived experience as an Afro-Latino man who went to Clemente High School in Humboldt Park and now lives in West Englewood. His child attends a Chicago public school.

Not passing a budget would hurt the district’s standing with the state, according to school finance experts, and could even hurt CPS’ ability to make payroll.

What Chicago needs is not part-time, untrained Guardsmen, but an expanded federal law-enforcement footprint — with the most violent and habitual offenders prosecuted under tougher federal statutes. If cooperation is resisted, the U.S. Department of Justice should be prepared to impose its own public safety consent decree.

Sheila Bedi is a clinical professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic; It was in that role that Bedi drew the attention of a congressional committee for representing a pro-Palestinian group that shut down the road leading to O’Hare Airport last year. Bedi also served on the legal team for the family of Dexter Reed, who was shot to death by police officers in 2024 after Reed shot and wounded one of them during a traffic stop.

Among the 25 largest school districts by student enrollment, CPS has the third-most outstanding debt, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data for fiscal year 2023, the most recent available. It is also one of only three districts among the 25 largest where the debt has consistently exceeded annual revenue — a sign of financial instability, experts say. CPS is spending hundreds of millions in state aid meant to educate students on paying off debt instead.

Chicago’s finances were already on life support. Now, with a single piece of legislation, the state of Illinois has pushed the city closer to fiscal collapse—and put every American taxpayer at risk of footing the bill.

The letter to university officials detailed several examples of alleged incidents on campus that contributed to a possible hostile environment against Jewish students, including allegations of students posting “hateful messages of misinformation” to the College of Medicine’s Slack channel. Another example included allegations a that a College of Medicine surgeon posted online “comparing Israel to the Islamic State and repeatedly comparing Israelis to the Nazis.”

“Can progressives, no longer able to sidestep the stark budgetary realities that have been well understood now for months, make the tough decisions that those in the positions they hold are called upon to make when they seek these seats of responsibility?”