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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Illinois State Constitution provides that the
3fundamental goal of the people of this State is the educational
4development of all persons and that the State shall provide for
5an efficient system of high quality public educational
6institutions and services; and
 
7    WHEREAS, It is the intent and policy of the State of
8Illinois as previously established by the General Assembly to
9make the individual school in a school district the essential
10unit for educational governance; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Chicago Public School (CPS) system estimates
12that it will have a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion for its
13fiscal year 2014 budget; and
 
14    WHEREAS, CPS indicates that it needs to close, co-locate,
15and turnaround underutilized and underperforming schools in an
16effort to attempt to close the estimated fiscal year 2014
17budget deficit; and
 
18    WHEREAS, After providing a preliminary list of 129 schools,
19and participating in a series of public meetings regarding the
20schools on the preliminary list, CPS, on March 21, 2013,
21announced proposed actions involving 114 schools; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, A major factor contributing to the
2underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of school
3capacity; currently CPS has only about 1% fewer students than
4it did in 1991 but has almost 100 more school facilities; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Nearly 50,000 CPS students will be impacted by
6overall school actions; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The CPS school closing plan will impact 6,479
8students with disabilities, each of whom has an Individualized
9Educational Plan; and
 
10    WHEREAS, School closings often have profound ramifications
11for the educational experience of students and the surrounding
12community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
13closed or negative actions take place, student academic
14outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
15increased as children have to travel farther and through
16sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
17confidence in the school system is shaken; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20we urge the Chicago Public School system to actively engage
21parents, local school councils, educators, and communities

 

 

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1affected by the proposed school actions prior to taking final
2action on any schools; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That the Chicago Public Schools system is urged
4to provide information to families affected by the proposed
5school actions and to the Illinois General Assembly on cost
6savings from planned school closings, extra security and safety
7programs for students, as well as equipment upgrades for
8"welcoming" schools prior to final action on the school
9closings issue by the Chicago Board of Education; and be it
10further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12delivered to the City of Chicago School District 299.