Full Text of HR0361 98th General Assembly
HR0361enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION 361
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois State Constitution provides that the
| 3 | | fundamental goal of the people of this State is the educational
| 4 | | development of all persons and that the State shall provide for
| 5 | | an efficient system of high quality public educational
| 6 | | institutions and services; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, It is the intent and policy of the State of
| 8 | | Illinois as previously established by the General Assembly to
| 9 | | make the individual school in a school district the essential
| 10 | | unit for educational governance; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Public School (CPS) system estimates
| 12 | | that it will have a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion for its
| 13 | | fiscal year 2014 budget; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, CPS indicates that it needs to close, co-locate,
| 15 | | and turnaround underutilized and underperforming schools in an
| 16 | | effort to attempt to close the estimated fiscal year 2014
| 17 | | budget deficit; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, After providing a preliminary list of 129 schools,
| 19 | | and participating in a series of public meetings regarding the
| 20 | | schools on the preliminary list, CPS, on March 21, 2013,
| 21 | | announced proposed actions involving 114 schools; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, A major factor contributing to the
| 2 | | underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of school
| 3 | | capacity; currently CPS has only about 1% fewer students than
| 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
| 2 | | community, as numerous studies have shown that when a school is
| 3 | | closed or negative actions take place, student academic
| 4 | | outcomes are negatively impacted, safety concerns are
| 5 | | increased as children have to travel farther and through
| 6 | | sometimes dangerous territory, and parental and community
| 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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