SJ0020 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0020 LRB096 10872 NHT 21106 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Local School Councils were established under the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, as a vehicle for parent, community, teacher, and student empowerment in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS); and

WHEREAS, Local School Councils are part of the late Mayor Harold Washington's legacy of accessibility and accountability to the public; and

WHEREAS, Local School Council members are publicly elected, and Local School Councils stand as a national model for local site management and democracy in public education; and

WHEREAS, Research by Designs for Change on 144 schools that have made consistent improvement over the past 15 years indicates that Local School Councils have been a critical component to school improvement in the City of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Research by the Consortium on Chicago School Research summarized that "the vast majority of LSC's are viable governance organizations that responsibly carry out their mandated duties and are active in building school and community partnerships."; and

WHEREAS, There is no research that suggests that Local School Councils are not effective vehicles for local school leadership; and

WHEREAS, There is significant public sentiment that there is insufficient institutional support for Local School Council support and development; and

WHEREAS, Research by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization chronicles the negative impact of central office decisions on the education of low-income children when community wisdom is ignored; and

WHEREAS, Recommendations from 2 major studies have called for more support for Local School Councils; and

WHEREAS, There are major initiatives sponsored by community-based and non-CPS organizations that provide models for support and training of Local School Councils; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support the empowerment of Local School Councils as effective local, publicly-elected decision-making bodies in the City of Chicago and will sponsor subject-matter hearings on the needs of Local School Councils to ensure their continued success.