Last week, Chicago native Chance The Rapper met with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss the state of Chicago Public Schools after Rauner vetoed a bill that would have provided $215 million in funding towards the school system back in December. After the meeting, the 23-year-old artist told reporters that he was "a little bit flustered" as a result of the sit-down with Gov. Rauner, and also said that he felt that "[the meeting] went a little bit different than it should have." Gov. Rauner gave a standard politician's answer to reporters after the meeting, saying that he and Chance agreed to talk more, and that he "hope[s] we can come to a good solution." Chance, clearly frustrated by the political red tape, decided to make a major move of his own to help Chicago's Public Schools yesterday.
Chance The Rapper announced in a press conference that he would be donating $1 million to Chicago's Public Schools, in an effort to help the struggling school system. In the press conference held at Chicago's Westcott Elementary School, the three-time Grammy winner said, "Our kids should never be held hostage because of political positions." He went on to say that he and fellow Windy City native Common would speak on the phone in order to discuss further funding.
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Chance also reiterated how frustrated he was with Gov. Rauner, saying that the governor should "do his job" and that Gov. Rauner gave the "vague" answers during their meeting. Chance characterized the talks as unsuccessful in the press conference, and was especially frustrated at the fact that Chicago Public Schools would have to be let out 13 days early if they do not receive the proper funding.
In addition to providing funding to CPS, Chance also updated his website with a link to support CPS on the homepage.
Kudos to Chance for supporting Chicago Public Schools.
