In early March, Chance the Rapper decided to take the Chicago Public Schools funding crisis into his own hands (after a less-than-productive meeting with Governor Bruce Rauner) and donated $1 million to the Chicago Public Schools Foundation to fund "arts and enrichment programming" throughout the city. During a press conference announcing the donation, Chance challenged local businesses and corporations to help him raise money for CPS, setting up a donation program through his nonprofit organization Social Works.
Today, Chance held another press conference at Paul Robeson High School in Englewood to announce that the Chicago Bulls have contributed an additional $1 million to his fund. According to Chance, he's raised $2.2 million for Chicago Public Schools thus far, including donations from Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun, comedian Hannibal Buress and local trampoline park Sky Zone.
The Grammy-winning rapper also announced the formation of the New Chance Arts and Literature Fund, which will partner with local arts education advocacy group Ingenuity to find CPS schools that are in need to art programs.
“We all individually play roles in the betterment of the kids in Chicago… we can all get really involved here,” Chance stated before once again urging individuals to make donations that will help the city's underserved youth. With the Illinois state budget still in indefinite limbo, Chance's continued vocal (not to mention financial) support of the Chicago Public Schools system is serving an important role, by keeping the topic under public scrutiny.
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