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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION 361
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend House Resolution 361 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the heading with the following: | ||||||
4 | "WHEREAS, The Illinois State Constitution provides that | ||||||
5 | the
fundamental goal of the people of this State is the | ||||||
6 | educational
development of all persons and that the State shall | ||||||
7 | provide for
an efficient system of high quality public | ||||||
8 | educational
institutions and services; and | ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, It is the intent and policy of the State of
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10 | Illinois as previously established by the General Assembly to
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11 | make the individual school in a school district the essential
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12 | unit for educational governance; and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Public School (CPS) system estimates
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14 | that it will have a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion for its
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1 | fiscal year 2014 budget; and | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, CPS indicates that it needs to close, co-locate,
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3 | and turnaround underutilized and underperforming schools in an
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4 | effort to attempt to close the estimated fiscal year 2014
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5 | budget deficit; and | ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, After providing a preliminary list of 129 schools,
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7 | and participating in a series of public meetings regarding the
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8 | schools on the preliminary list, CPS, on March 21, 2013,
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9 | announced proposed actions involving 114 schools; and | ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, A major factor contributing to the
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11 | underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of school
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12 | capacity; currently CPS has only about 1% fewer students than
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13 | it did in 1991 but has almost 100 more school facilities; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, On May 22, 2013, the Chicago Board of Education | ||||||
15 | voted to close 50 of the original 54 schools from the initial | ||||||
16 | proposed closing list, despite opposition and recommendations | ||||||
17 | against the closure of 13 schools being raised by hearing | ||||||
18 | officers, retired State and federal judges, hired by CPS to vet | ||||||
19 | the closing process; the hearing officers raised doubts about | ||||||
20 | the wisdom of the proposals, that the proposals were | ||||||
21 | insensitive to the needs and educational success of students | ||||||
22 | and 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 | ||||||
2 | overall school actions; and | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, The CPS school closing plan, which includes | ||||||
4 | actions affecting welcoming schools, turnaround schools, | ||||||
5 | co-locations, and school phase outs will impact 5,277 students | ||||||
6 | with disabilities, each of whom has an Individualized | ||||||
7 | Educational Plan; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, School closings often have profound ramifications
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9 | for the educational experience of students and the surrounding
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10 | community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
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11 | closed or negative actions take place, student academic
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12 | outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
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13 | increased as children have to travel farther and through
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14 | sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
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15 | confidence in the school system is shaken; and | ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, Public Act 97-238 called for significant | ||||||
17 | reporting changes for Chicago District 299 in regards to the | ||||||
18 | State programs included in the General Education and | ||||||
19 | Educational Services Block Grants for which CPS has failed to | ||||||
20 | adequately respond or provide required information; and | ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Public Act 97-474 called for the establishment of |
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1 | an "Educational Facilities Master Plan" for CPS that shall | ||||||
2 | provide community area, individual, and school master plans, in | ||||||
3 | addition to community analysis, facility needs, and district | ||||||
4 | requirements that CPS is required to report by October 1, 2013; | ||||||
5 | therefore, be it | ||||||
6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
7 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
8 | the intent and policy of the State of Illinois remains | ||||||
9 | educational success and well being of our children; and be it | ||||||
10 | further | ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, That we urge sensitivity to the perspective of | ||||||
12 | students, parents, community leaders, and local school | ||||||
13 | councils by the Chicago Public School system, and we urge CPS | ||||||
14 | to continue to actively engage all parties affected by the | ||||||
15 | school actions; and be it further | ||||||
16 | RESOLVED, That we urge CPS to honor its commitment to have | ||||||
17 | a 5-year moratorium on school actions as a result of the | ||||||
18 | passage of Public Act 97-1133, and we urge CPS to act in a | ||||||
19 | transparent manner and to fully engage the Illinois General | ||||||
20 | Assembly and all stakeholders, students, parents, and | ||||||
21 | community leaders in a process that is clearly delineated and | ||||||
22 | responsive to the perspective of all involved whenever it | ||||||
23 | engages in school actions; and be it further |
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1 | RESOLVED, That the Chicago Public Schools shall fully and | ||||||
2 | timely comply with the requirements of Public Act 97-238 and | ||||||
3 | Public Act 97-474 and provide information to families affected | ||||||
4 | by the school actions and the Illinois General Assembly on cost | ||||||
5 | savings from planned school closing, any extra security and | ||||||
6 | safety programs for students as well as equipment upgrades for | ||||||
7 | "welcoming" schools as passed by the Chicago Board of | ||||||
8 | Education; and be it further | ||||||
9 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
10 | presented to the City of Chicago School District 299."
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