Rauner And State Republicans Propose Chicago Public Schools Takeover

By aaroncynic in News on Jan 20, 2016 10:15PM

Illinois Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow an appointed oversight board to take control of Chicago Public Schools and pave the way for the schools to declare bankruptcy.

While actual legislation has yet to be proposed, Republicans are drafting two bills they say they’ll introduce within a week, according to
the Sun-Times. “What we are proposing is a lifeline,” said Sen. Rep. Leader Christine Radogno. “We don’t feel like we’ve had a good look at what’s going on in Chicago Public Schools. Everything is sort of inbred in terms of the political system.”

Gov. Bruce Rauner also said that state involvement in CPS would make it easier to “take on the teacher’s union.” According to the Tribune, Rauner said:

“The mayor is afraid of them. He's not taking them on. He caved in the teachers strike 41/2 years ago, and he's sending the message right now, he's going to give them what they want and then say, state pay for it. We are not going to let that happen.”

According to Radogno, the proposed board would allow the state Board of Education to remove the current Chicago Board of Public Education and replace it with an “independent” body until it “determines that CPS is no longer in financial difficulty.” The new board’s members would allegedly have backgrounds in education and finance and some members could even be local.

Republicans and Rauner were roundly criticized by nearly everyone with a stake in CPS, putting various people normally at odds on the same side. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office called the proposal a distraction. “With just a few weeks to go before delivering a second budget address without having passed his first budget, it's clear the Republicans in Springfield are trying desperately to distract from their own failures,” said spokesperson Kelly Quinn.

The advocacy group Raise Your Hand said that Rauner’s plan is the “opposite of what quality public education school systems look like. In a press release, Huu Nguyen, a CPS parent and leader with the group, said:

“The last thing our Chicago school children and teachers need is for Gov. Rauner to finally achieve his vision of turning our schools into an educational gladiatorial pit where small networks of privately managed schools compete for scarce resources.”

The CTU also took a swipe at Rauner for his ham-fisted proposal while failing to pass a state budget. “A call for Springfield to assume responsibility of the finances of Chicago Public Schools is a non-starter when state government has so far been unable to assume responsibility for its own budget,” the union said in a statement.

Senate President John Cullerton said there was no way the proposal would gain traction. Calling the move “mean-spirited” in a statement, Cullerton said:

“The unfair treatment of pension systems by the state is the immediate cause of CPS’ financial problem. That situation ought to be addressed rather than promoting this far-fetched notion that the state is somehow in the position to take over Chicago schools.”