RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) was established in Chicago to represent the interests of Chicago's Latino population by providing advocacy and promoting social awareness of the challenges that population faces; and
WHEREAS, in 1998 UNO established the UNO Charter Schools Network (UCSN) to provide education directly in Chicago's Latino communities; and
WHEREAS, UCSN currently operate 16 charter schools, serving over 8,000 children; and
WHEREAS, UCSN and UNO have maintained a contractual arrangement whereby UNO owns the school properties, provides management services and receives compensation from the network it founded; and
WHEREAS, that contractual relationship is now questioned by UCSN, which has ceased payments to UNO, thereby threatening its parent organization's ability to perform all of its community services; and
WHEREAS, UNO may be required, for financial reasons, to sell off as many as five of its school properties in order to maintain its financial viability; and
WHEREAS, the separation of UNO from UCSN could lead to closing of some UCSN schools, thereby disrupting the education of children currently enrolled through dislocation, the time and cost of travel, and the uncertainty of moving into a new school; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interests ofthe Latino population ofthe City of Chicago that UNO and UCSN maintain their current management structure and relationship; now, therefore,
Ray Suarez Ray Colon
Alderman, 31st Ward Alderman, 35th Ward
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Mayor and members ofthe City Council ofthe City of Chicago, call on the Chicago Board of Education to maintain the current management structure of the UNO Charter Schools Network, and we call on UNO and UCSN to collaborate for the benefit of the children, families and communities served by the UCSN; and<-\