Number of half-empty Chicago public schools doubles, yet lawmakers want to extend school closing moratorium – Wirepoints
April 19, 2024
16 Comments
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Another article that does not even mention legislative pension benefit hikes to underfunded pensions, a practice which escalated after the pension sentence was added to the Illinois State Constitution on December 15, 1970. Just blame the taxing district (and / or state depending on the pension fund) and taxpayers for not contributing enough money to the pension fund, ignoring the legislative benefit hikes by the Illinois General Assembly and Governors that occurred while the taxing district (and / or state depending on the pension fund) was shorting the annual contribution to the pension fund and while the pension was underfunded.… Read more »
You are absolutely right. The only hope is for people like you and us to continue to pound on it until media wake up.