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Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued
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Author:  badrogue17 [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

Chicago's school board, on behalf of several Chicago Public Schools families, sued Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Illinois State Board of Education on Tuesday, accusing the state of employing "separate and unequal systems of funding for public education in Illinois."

The lawsuit, which CPS said was filed in Cook County Chancery Court, asks that the state be barred from distributing state aid in "a manner that discriminates against plaintiffs."


"The state treats CPS's schoolchildren, who are predominantly African-American and Hispanic, as second-class children, relegated to the back of the state's education funding school bus," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also asks that the state's "separate and unequal" pension funding obligations — one for CPS and one for the rest of the state — be found in violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act.


Tuesday's lawsuit is the latest fight in the ongoing battle over education funding between CPS and Rauner's administration.

The district announced the lawsuit as Rauner discussed the state budget on Facebook Live a day prior to the governor's annual budget speech.


A response from Rauner's office was not immediately available.

CPS officials have frequently said that legal action, in addition to budget cuts and borrowing, are among the options to close budget gaps left by shortfalls in expected state assistance.

"The problem is that the State of Illinois, deliberately and through racial discrimination against our kids, gives Chicago a fraction of the dollars that are given to everyone else in the state. That is the issue," CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said on Monday's during heated public hearings over the district's most recent budget cuts.

"You want to know where the money is? Hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in equal treatment," Claypool said.

The lawsuit repeats the district's long-held argument that CPS receives 15 percent of the state's education funding, despite having nearly 20 percent of the students. According to the lawsuit, 90 percent of CPS students are "children of color," while in the rest of the state "public school children are predominantly white."

CPS is in the midst of instituting mid-year budget cuts for the second year in a row. The district has put in place four furlough days, a $46 million school spending freeze, $18 million in potential cuts to independently-operated schools and the elimination of $5 million in training programs to make up for the unrealized assumption that state lawmakers would send $215 million to the district's annual budget.

Rauner vetoed a measure in December that would've provided that money, saying Democrats went back on a deal that tied the aid to broader changes to the state's employee retirement system.

Budget cut protest
Chicago Public Schools student Sabah Hussain protests budget cuts Feb. 13, 2017, in front of the Thompson Center. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The sparring between Rauner's administration and CPS played out again last week in dueling letters addressed to parents of students at the financially troubled district.

State Education Secretary Beth Purvis accused CPS of trying to "arbitrarily create a crisis" with "a curiously timed and unfortunate announcement" of cuts including a spending freeze that forced principals to re-engineer their budgets in the middle of the school year to give up as much as half of unspent money sitting in accounts for non-personnel costs.

Those cuts, Purvis said, were laid out even as lawmakers work on proposals that include more money for the system.

CPS parents also received a letter from Claypool, who wrote that "Governor Rauner, just like President Trump, has decided to attack those who need the most help."

"If it wasn't for the governor we would be on our way forward, instead we're on our way backwards and we have to reverse that again," Claypool said at public hearings on Monday.

"Because of Gov. Rauner, we have to fight again, we have to organize again, we have to organize a grassroots effort between now and the end of the session to get the basic, fundamental equality that our kids deserve."

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Author:  chaspoppcap [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

I wonder if this was from a Chicago teacher?

Image

Author:  denisdman [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

Out of curiosity, what percentage of the states tax revenues come from Chicago residents? If it is greater than 15%, then it is a completely valid point. Chicago has 22% of the state's residents, so it is likely that it pays in more than 15%.

Author:  badrogue17 [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

denisdman wrote:
Out of curiosity, what percentage of the states tax revenues come from Chicago residents? If it is greater than 15%, then it is a completely valid point. Chicago has 22% of the state's residents, so it is likely that it pays in more than 15%.

Doesn't CPS spend more per pupil than a lot of suburban "good" schools ?

Author:  denisdman [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

badrogue17 wrote:
denisdman wrote:
Out of curiosity, what percentage of the states tax revenues come from Chicago residents? If it is greater than 15%, then it is a completely valid point. Chicago has 22% of the state's residents, so it is likely that it pays in more than 15%.

Doesn't CPS spend more per pupil than a lot of suburban "good" schools ?


Well the lawsuit alleges that the state sends 15% of its school spending on Chicago students, while they represent 20% of children. The state is tribal, so it makes more sense to send money in proportion to what each tribe pays in.

I've looked at per pupil spending before, and it is a wide range even among the suburbs.

Regardless the State is broke on every level.

Author:  Psycory [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

badrogue17 wrote:
denisdman wrote:
Out of curiosity, what percentage of the states tax revenues come from Chicago residents? If it is greater than 15%, then it is a completely valid point. Chicago has 22% of the state's residents, so it is likely that it pays in more than 15%.

Doesn't CPS spend more per pupil than a lot of suburban "good" schools ?

I would not be surprised as that is the case in Philly and the Burgh in PA. Embarassingly more per pupil for the 'education' they receive - mainly it is show up and get a B...then they get to my school and fail out in the first semester or place in classes lower than they should. I once had a student at orientation who took - and got a B - AP Calculus and they placed in to the equivalent of high school algebra. :shock:

Author:  chaspoppcap [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

everything I find says around 48% but they always couch it as the metro/Cook county area.

Author:  Ogie Oglethorpe [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

CPS is a joke and provides the textbook example of why this country desperately needs school choice.

Author:  denisdman [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

Based on data on the NIU site, it looks like CPS spends about $15k per kid vs. a state average of $13k. On the CPS site, I took their data on the budget and divided by the number of student and it came to $14.3k per pupil.

To be fair, Chicago is much more expensive than the rest of the state.

Author:  Juice's Lecture Notes [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

What is the real estate tax portion of CPS funding, if any? Shouldn't Chicago land be the most heavily taxed in the State, perhaps not requiring--theoretically--as much state assistance as, say Danville or Sandwich?

Author:  denisdman [ Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

Juice's Lecture Notes wrote:
What is the real estate tax portion of CPS funding, if any? Shouldn't Chicago land be the most heavily taxed in the State, perhaps not requiring--theoretically--as much state assistance as, say Danville or Sandwich?


It's right on their site 2.9B local, 1.6B state, and 830M Federal.

Author:  Bagels [ Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rauner shakin' up Springfield and gettin' sued

Chance the Rapper tries to shake things up and fails

http://consequenceofsound.net/2017/03/c ... l-funding/

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