Chance the Rapper announced on Monday that he would donate $1 million to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system.

Chicago Tribune reports that as the city’s funding crisis continues to threaten a shorter school year for some 400,000 students, Chance, who hails from Chicago, said he hopes his donation will be “a call to action” for others to help the troubled school system “for the interest of the children.”

“This check is a call to action,” he said at a press conference held at Westcott Elementary School. “I’m challenging major companies in Chicago and across the United States to donate and to take action. The students have spoken and would like corporations to invest in them as we have invested in their businesses.”