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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION 361

 
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, On May 22, 2013, the Chicago Board of Education
6voted to close 50 of the original 54 schools from the initial
7proposed closing list, despite opposition and recommendations
8against the closure of 13 schools being raised by hearing
9officers, retired State and federal judges, hired by CPS to vet
10the closing process; the hearing officers raised doubts about
11the wisdom of the proposals, that the proposals were
12insensitive to the needs and educational success of students
13and in some cases will place them in harm's way; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Over 30,000 CPS students will be impacted by
15overall school actions; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The CPS school closing plan, which includes
17actions affecting welcoming schools, turnaround schools,
18co-locations, and school phase outs will impact 5,277 students
19with disabilities, each of whom has an Individualized
20Educational Plan; and
 
21    WHEREAS, School closings often have profound ramifications

 

 

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1for the educational experience of students and the surrounding
2community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
3closed or negative actions take place, student academic
4outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
5increased as children have to travel farther and through
6sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
7confidence in the school system is shaken; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Public Act 97-238 called for significant
9reporting changes for Chicago District 299 in regards to the
10State programs included in the General Education and
11Educational Services Block Grants for which CPS has failed to
12adequately respond or provide required information; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Public Act 97-474 called for the establishment of
14an "Educational Facilities Master Plan" for CPS that shall
15provide community area, individual, and school master plans, in
16addition to community analysis, facility needs, and district
17requirements that CPS is required to report by October 1, 2013;
18therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21the intent and policy of the State of Illinois remains
22educational success and well being of our children; and be it
23further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we urge sensitivity to the perspective of
2students, parents, community leaders, and local school
3councils by the Chicago Public School system, and we urge CPS
4to continue to actively engage all parties affected by the
5school actions; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That we urge CPS to honor its commitment to have
7a 5-year moratorium on school actions as a result of the
8passage of Public Act 97-1133, and we urge CPS to act in a
9transparent manner and to fully engage the Illinois General
10Assembly and all stakeholders, students, parents, and
11community leaders in a process that is clearly delineated and
12responsive to the perspective of all involved whenever it
13engages in school actions; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That the Chicago Public Schools shall fully and
15timely comply with the requirements of Public Act 97-238 and
16Public Act 97-474 and provide information to families affected
17by the school actions and the Illinois General Assembly on cost
18savings from planned school closing, any extra security and
19safety programs for students as well as equipment upgrades for
20"welcoming" schools as passed by the Chicago Board of
21Education; and be it further
 
22    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1presented to the City of Chicago School District 299.