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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION 361
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2 | WHEREAS, The Illinois State Constitution provides that the
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3 | fundamental goal of the people of this State is the educational
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4 | development of all persons and that the State shall provide for
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5 | an efficient system of high quality public educational
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6 | institutions and services; and | ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, It is the intent and policy of the State of
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8 | Illinois as previously established by the General Assembly to
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9 | make the individual school in a school district the essential
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10 | unit for educational governance; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Public School (CPS) system estimates
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12 | that it will have a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion for its
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13 | fiscal year 2014 budget; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, CPS indicates that it needs to close, co-locate,
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15 | and turnaround underutilized and underperforming schools in an
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16 | effort to attempt to close the estimated fiscal year 2014
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17 | budget deficit; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, After providing a preliminary list of 129 schools,
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19 | and participating in a series of public meetings regarding the
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20 | schools on the preliminary list, CPS, on March 21, 2013,
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21 | announced proposed actions involving 114 schools; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, A major factor contributing to the
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2 | underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of school
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3 | capacity; currently CPS has only about 1% fewer students than
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4 | it did in 1991 but has almost 100 more school facilities; and | ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, On May 22, 2013, the Chicago Board of Education | ||||||
6 | voted to close 50 of the original 54 schools from the initial | ||||||
7 | proposed closing list, despite opposition and recommendations | ||||||
8 | against the closure of 13 schools being raised by hearing | ||||||
9 | officers, retired State and federal judges, hired by CPS to vet | ||||||
10 | the closing process; the hearing officers raised doubts about | ||||||
11 | the wisdom of the proposals, that the proposals were | ||||||
12 | insensitive to the needs and educational success of students | ||||||
13 | and in some cases will place them in harm's way; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, Over 30,000 CPS students will be impacted by | ||||||
15 | overall school actions; and | ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, The CPS school closing plan, which includes | ||||||
17 | actions affecting welcoming schools, turnaround schools, | ||||||
18 | co-locations, and school phase outs will impact 5,277 students | ||||||
19 | with disabilities, each of whom has an Individualized | ||||||
20 | Educational Plan; and | ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, School closings often have profound ramifications
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1 | for the educational experience of students and the surrounding
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2 | community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
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3 | closed or negative actions take place, student academic
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4 | outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
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5 | increased as children have to travel farther and through
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6 | sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
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7 | confidence in the school system is shaken; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Public Act 97-238 called for significant | ||||||
9 | reporting changes for Chicago District 299 in regards to the | ||||||
10 | State programs included in the General Education and | ||||||
11 | Educational Services Block Grants for which CPS has failed to | ||||||
12 | adequately respond or provide required information; and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, Public Act 97-474 called for the establishment of | ||||||
14 | an "Educational Facilities Master Plan" for CPS that shall | ||||||
15 | provide community area, individual, and school master plans, in | ||||||
16 | addition to community analysis, facility needs, and district | ||||||
17 | requirements that CPS is required to report by October 1, 2013; | ||||||
18 | therefore, be it | ||||||
19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
20 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | the intent and policy of the State of Illinois remains | ||||||
22 | educational success and well being of our children; and be it | ||||||
23 | further |
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1 | RESOLVED, That we urge sensitivity to the perspective of | ||||||
2 | students, parents, community leaders, and local school | ||||||
3 | councils by the Chicago Public School system, and we urge CPS | ||||||
4 | to continue to actively engage all parties affected by the | ||||||
5 | school actions; and be it further | ||||||
6 | RESOLVED, That we urge CPS to honor its commitment to have | ||||||
7 | a 5-year moratorium on school actions as a result of the | ||||||
8 | passage of Public Act 97-1133, and we urge CPS to act in a | ||||||
9 | transparent manner and to fully engage the Illinois General | ||||||
10 | Assembly and all stakeholders, students, parents, and | ||||||
11 | community leaders in a process that is clearly delineated and | ||||||
12 | responsive to the perspective of all involved whenever it | ||||||
13 | engages in school actions; and be it further | ||||||
14 | RESOLVED, That the Chicago Public Schools shall fully and | ||||||
15 | timely comply with the requirements of Public Act 97-238 and | ||||||
16 | Public Act 97-474 and provide information to families affected | ||||||
17 | by the school actions and the Illinois General Assembly on cost | ||||||
18 | savings from planned school closing, any extra security and | ||||||
19 | safety programs for students as well as equipment upgrades for | ||||||
20 | "welcoming" schools as passed by the Chicago Board of | ||||||
21 | Education; and be it further | ||||||
22 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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1 | presented to the City of Chicago School District 299.
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