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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION 361

2    AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend House Resolution 361 by replacing
3everything after the heading with the following:
 
 
4    "WHEREAS, The Illinois State Constitution provides that
5the fundamental goal of the people of this State is the
6educational development of all persons and that the State shall
7provide for an efficient system of high quality public
8educational institutions and services; and
 
9    WHEREAS, It is the intent and policy of the State of
10Illinois as previously established by the General Assembly to
11make the individual school in a school district the essential
12unit for educational governance; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The Chicago Public School (CPS) system estimates
14that it will have a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion for its

 

 

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1fiscal year 2014 budget; and
 
2    WHEREAS, CPS indicates that it needs to close, co-locate,
3and turnaround underutilized and underperforming schools in an
4effort to attempt to close the estimated fiscal year 2014
5budget deficit; and
 
6    WHEREAS, After providing a preliminary list of 129 schools,
7and participating in a series of public meetings regarding the
8schools on the preliminary list, CPS, on March 21, 2013,
9announced proposed actions involving 114 schools; and
 
10    WHEREAS, A major factor contributing to the
11underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of school
12capacity; currently CPS has only about 1% fewer students than
13it did in 1991 but has almost 100 more school facilities; and
 
14    WHEREAS, On May 22, 2013, the Chicago Board of Education
15voted to close 50 of the original 54 schools from the initial
16proposed closing list, despite opposition and recommendations
17against the closure of 13 schools being raised by hearing
18officers, retired State and federal judges, hired by CPS to vet
19the closing process; the hearing officers raised doubts about
20the wisdom of the proposals, that the proposals were
21insensitive to the needs and educational success of students
22and in some cases will place them in harm's way; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Over 30,000 CPS students will be impacted by
2overall school actions; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The CPS school closing plan, which includes
4actions affecting welcoming schools, turnaround schools,
5co-locations, and school phase outs will impact 5,277 students
6with disabilities, each of whom has an Individualized
7Educational Plan; and
 
8    WHEREAS, School closings often have profound ramifications
9for the educational experience of students and the surrounding
10community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
11closed or negative actions take place, student academic
12outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
13increased as children have to travel farther and through
14sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
15confidence in the school system is shaken; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Public Act 97-238 called for significant
17reporting changes for Chicago District 299 in regards to the
18State programs included in the General Education and
19Educational Services Block Grants for which CPS has failed to
20adequately respond or provide required information; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Public Act 97-474 called for the establishment of

 

 

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1an "Educational Facilities Master Plan" for CPS that shall
2provide community area, individual, and school master plans, in
3addition to community analysis, facility needs, and district
4requirements that CPS is required to report by October 1, 2013;
5therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
7NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
8the intent and policy of the State of Illinois remains
9educational success and well being of our children; and be it
10further
 
11    RESOLVED, That we urge sensitivity to the perspective of
12students, parents, community leaders, and local school
13councils by the Chicago Public School system, and we urge CPS
14to continue to actively engage all parties affected by the
15school actions; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we urge CPS to honor its commitment to have
17a 5-year moratorium on school actions as a result of the
18passage of Public Act 97-1133, and we urge CPS to act in a
19transparent manner and to fully engage the Illinois General
20Assembly and all stakeholders, students, parents, and
21community leaders in a process that is clearly delineated and
22responsive to the perspective of all involved whenever it
23engages in school actions; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That the Chicago Public Schools shall fully and
2timely comply with the requirements of Public Act 97-238 and
3Public Act 97-474 and provide information to families affected
4by the school actions and the Illinois General Assembly on cost
5savings from planned school closing, any extra security and
6safety programs for students as well as equipment upgrades for
7"welcoming" schools as passed by the Chicago Board of
8Education; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to the City of Chicago School District 299."