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Chance The Rapper Announces Arts & Literature Fund & $1M Donation From Chicago Bulls

By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 31, 2017 8:15PM

Chance the Rapper announced on Friday that $2.2 million have been raised for Chicago Public Schools since his first $1 million gift, and that he is creating a new new Chance Arts and Literature Fund to help with distribution. The Chicago Bulls have also pledged $1 million to fund CPS, Chance announced at the press conference, at Paul Robeson High School in Englewood.

"As a parent and a proud CPS graduate, I'm committed to helping ensure children have quality learning experiences," he said, joined by roughly a dozen students.

Chance is partnering with local arts organization Ingenuity to launch the fund. The team is "developing a process" using data to identify schools that most need arts programming. But he added that the donations he raised would go to all sorts of supplies , not just music. "Don't marginalize me," he said.

Chance also announced the next 12 schools that would be allocated money. He also urged corporations and individuals to continue pledging donations, also.

Chance announced earlier this month that he will donate $1 million to Chicago Public Schools. He made the announcement at a press conference at Westcott Elementary School, the first school named as a $10,000 recipient from Chance and his non-profit organization, SocialWorks. Three days later he announced nine more CPS elementary and high schools that would receive a $10,000 donation.

Chance said, "Gov. Rauner, do your job," at the presser on March 6. He had met with the governor the week prior to discuss funding for CPS, but he left "frustrated" and said subsequent discussion over the weekend produced no results. When asked on Friday, Chance said he has not spoken with Rauner since the first donation announcement.

Rauner vetoed a $215 million CPS-funding bill in December, claiming that state Congressional Democrats had not done enough to provide broader pension reforms. Chicago Public Schools hit Rauner and the Board of Education with a lawsuit last month that alleges discriminatory funding practices.