Chicago Debate Commission

The mission of the Chicago Debate Commission (CDC) is to advance the academic success, life success, and community contributions of urban youth through our engaging, student-centered, and inspiring academic debate program. We meet this mission by providing students with the opportunity for on-their-feet active learning, peer dialogue and competition, while giving them a voice on public policy, political issues, and philosophical concerns.

For 16 years, the CDC has partnered with Chicago Public Schools, reaching thousands of students with the transformative power of debate. Our core program, the Chicago Debate League, is a high-impact educational program that develops students’ skills in reading, research, critical thinking, policy analysis, evidence-based argumentation, teamwork and communications, all through the mechanism of academic debate.

This year alone, the partnership is providing competitive debate programming to over 1,300 Chicago students in 71 middle schools and high schools. In addition, we are now working with CPS to bring debate techniques into the regular classroom—a program called curricular debate—with the potential to transform the learning of thousands more students through the powerful academic benefits of debate.

The Chicago Debate Commission is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.