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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 9h

We join 300+ disability rights orgs to raise alarm over mass layoffs at the Dept. of Education. Key offices are critical to protecting students with disabilities. These layoffs jeopardize laws & 50 years of progress.

ncld.org/department-o...

Department of Education Condemned for Ending Support for Students with Disabilities - National Center for Learning Disabilities

Broad Coalition of Disability, Civil Rights, and Education Organizations Call for Reversal of Layoffs at Department of Education October 14, 2025 – Washington, D.C. – A broad coalition of national, st...

ncld.org

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 11h

@sf.gazetteer.co @eddiekimx.bsky.social

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 11h

"Why is a company (Palentir) that makes millions tracking down immigrants for
ICE advertising at SFO?"

And why have they snaked their way into "free" school-based student mental health services across the US?

What we know: www.ilfps.org/keep_ice_big...

The banality of Palantir’s evil airport ad

Why is a company that makes millions tracking down immigrants for ICE advertising at SFO?

sf.gazetteer.co

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 13h

Anyone on Reddit? Follow us: www.reddit.com/user/ilfps

Check out ilfps’s Reddit profile

Explore ilfps’s posts and comments on Reddit

www.reddit.com

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 15h

"Without staff to administer and monitor the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the $15 billion in federal funding for special education may not reach the states, leaving millions of students without essential services and oversight."
actionnetwork.org/letters/aler...

Alert: Federal Special Education Staffing Gutted Putting IDEA Protections at Risk

Hundreds of employees in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) — including staff in both the Special Education Programs and Rehabilitative Services divisions — were laid ...

actionnetwork.org

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 20h

😩 www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

NCDHHS Partners with Hazel Health to Provide Virtual Mental Health Services for K-12 Students in North Carolina

/PRNewswire/ -- The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced students across North Carolina will soon have access to...

www.prnewswire.com

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 22h

Also Wake Co NC, Cleveland, Columbus…

@houstoncvpe.bsky.social
@edvoterspa.bsky.social
@strongflschools.bsky.social
@krisnordstrom.bsky.social
@honesty4ohioed.bsky.social

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 23h

Also! very much not just a Chicago problem bc the provider Hazel Health is in 19 states, 180 school districts—incl lots of biggest school districts in US: LAUSD, Jeffco CO, Fairfax Co VA, Philly, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Clark Co NV, St Louis (& signing contracts w states) www.hazel.co/schools/home

School Districts | Hazel Health

Hazel Health is the nation's #1 health care provider for K-12 students. We partner with school districts to deliver high-quality physical and mental health care services, supporting students through e...

www.hazel.co

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 23h

CPS “free” telehealth therapy services provider just merged with a Palantir-partner startup. (Yes, that Palantir!) Handing students’ most sensitive data over to Silicon Valley was never ok; and it’s just beyond bad now. Tell CPS to pause this contract! Details here: www.ilfps.org/keep_ice_big...

Text headline: Keep ICE’s Big Tech partners out of our kids’ counseling services!

Image: graphic in dark blue-green background of police figure holding giant magnifying glass that is casting light (ok, yes that should be a flashlight! sigh.) onto a computer monitor with an image of a doctor and a mobile phone with an image of a patient

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 1d

Take action on the devastating US Dept of Ed special education services staff cuts: sosarizona.org/restore-ed/ (thx to @sosarizona.org for the action link--it works for any state!)

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 1d

"Informal reports say only two senior staff now remain to oversee services for 8.4 million infants, toddlers, children, and young adults with disabilities...'There’s no one left to do the statutorily required work under IDEA.'” mrsfrazzled.substack.com/p/trump-is-g...

Trump Is Gutting Special Education

I was able to speak to someone from inside the latest reduction in force about what this means.

mrsfrazzled.substack.com

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 1d

‼️ 🧊 Keep ICE partners out of our kids’ Chicago Public Schools’ mental health services.

Reach out to your Board of Ed member and urge them to stop an automatic renewal of the Hazel Health contract.

Find them here: www.cps.edu/about/chicag...

Email addresses here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

IL-FPS learned this week that Hazel Health, a for-profit telehealth startup with a CPS contract to provide counseling services to HS students, merged with another tech startup, Little Otter, founded by a member of the “Palantir mafia”, alums of Peter Thiel’s notorious surveillance tech behemoth…😱+🧵

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

“Palantir is the corporate backbone of ICE that the agency is relying on for surveillance and deportations” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

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Reposted by Illinois Families for Public Schools

Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 2d

Organizing is essential. Courage is contagious. Social proof is persuasive.
People do the thing they think people like them do.

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 2d

My latest is the story of how my community has rallied to protect and defend our neighbors in recent days, as ICE has targeted the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. "This is not a story about a moment of victory, but a moment of being reminded of our power."

They Came for Our Neighbors. We Showed Up.

Before long, there were dozens, and then hundreds of people in the streets, watching and responding.

organizingmythoughts.org

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Reposted by Illinois Families for Public Schools

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

IL-FPS learned this week that Hazel Health, a for-profit telehealth startup with a CPS contract to provide counseling services to HS students, merged with another tech startup, Little Otter, founded by a member of the “Palantir mafia”, alums of Peter Thiel’s notorious surveillance tech behemoth…😱+🧵

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

“Palantir is the corporate backbone of ICE that the agency is relying on for surveillance and deportations” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Documents offer rare insight on Ice’s close relationship with Palantir

For years, little was known about the multibillion-dollar company that handles data for the US immigration enforcement agency. Now, a cache of emails, training documents and reports sheds light on how...

www.theguardian.com

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Subscribe and support here: organizingmythoughts.org/about/

About this site

Organizing My Thoughts is the official newsletter of writer and organizer Kelly Hayes. In this newsletter, you will find interviews, essays, must-read lists, and other musings about how we can take po...

organizingmythoughts.org

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

“So, some of us have elected to defend immigrants by stepping into zones of unsafety ourselves…This is a place where immigrants are loved, needed, and appreciated, and we will not give up members of our beloved communities without a fight.” — @mskellymhayes.bsky.social

Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

“Our city has been rendered wholly unsafe for immigrants, or for anyone who federal agents might profile as an immigrant. To get to work, to take their children to school, to move about their communities, immigrants in Chicagoland must engage with risk” organizingmythoughts.org/they-came-fo...

They Came for Our Neighbors. We Showed Up.

Before long, there were dozens, and then hundreds of people in the streets, watching and responding.

organizingmythoughts.org

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

“Our city has been rendered wholly unsafe for immigrants, or for anyone who federal agents might profile as an immigrant. To get to work, to take their children to school, to move about their communities, immigrants in Chicagoland must engage with risk” organizingmythoughts.org/they-came-fo...

They Came for Our Neighbors. We Showed Up.

Before long, there were dozens, and then hundreds of people in the streets, watching and responding.

organizingmythoughts.org

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Find your Chicago Board of Ed member here (www.cps.edu/about/chicag...) and then email them (email addresses bit.ly/writeCBOE ) asking them to review and then fix or, better yet, cancel this contract before it renews!

Find Your CPS Board Member Representative | Chicago Public Schools

www.cps.edu

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Handing students’ most sensitive data over to a company with deep ties to the tech broligarchs building the surveillance state at a time when Chicagoans are being hunted on our streets by agents of that same state is not ok. Free tech is never free, and that’s *especially* true in 2025.

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

tl;dr here? Chicago Public Schools' contract with Hazel Health must NOT be automatically renewed. The Chicago Board of Ed needs to review it, fix it, if that's even possible, and if it can’t be fixed, CANCEL it.

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Will recordings of teen’s counseling sessions eventually end up in a federal database?
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...

Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans

www.nytimes.com

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Which brings us back to Palantir. One of their major clients? ICE: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Documents offer rare insight on Ice’s close relationship with Palantir

For years, little was known about the multibillion-dollar company that handles data for the US immigration enforcement agency. Now, a cache of emails, training documents and reports sheds light on how...

www.theguardian.com

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Relatedly, in response to the Trump administration’s ramping up federal law enforcement and military presence in Chicago, CPS has highlighted Hazel as a resource for students experiencing anxiety & trauma, as communities across the city are terrorized by ICE’s secret police.

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Illinois Families for Public Schools @ilfps.bsky.social · 2d

Is CPS students’ data from online counseling sessions already being used to train AI algorithms? *Will* it be in the future because of Hazel’s merger with Little Otter?

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