Number of half-empty Chicago public schools doubles, yet lawmakers want to extend school closing moratorium – Wirepoints
April 19, 2024
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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.
If you look at this as political theater, it makes sense. Our elected leaders pretend to solve a vexing problem like the public pension fiasco. The Tribune and other outlets report what their sources tell them without adverse criticism, leading readers to believe the claims to be accurate. The public is left to wonder when time after time, the Trib reports that the leaders they endorsed have solved some vexing problem, and soon the same reporters are writing about how these same leaders are working on solving the same problems those same reporters had recently led us to believe had… Read more »