November 26, 2012Dear Legislator:The Lawndale Alliance respectfully requests that you reject the Chicago Public Schools
’
requestfor an extension on public disclosure of the list of CPS schools to be closed, from December 31,2012 to March 31, 2013. We ask that, instead, you introduce legislation calling for a moratoriumon school closings until CPS can finalize its 10-year master facilities planning process, pursuantto Public Act 097-0473. The draft is due December 31, 2012, and the final plan is due July 1,2013.1.
The current guidelines and so-called process through which CPS schools are closed,opened, turned around or transitioned is flawed and our children are collateral damage.As a result of public outrage concerning school closings, 32 of Chicago
’s 50 aldermen
signed on to a resolution asking the Chicago City Council Committee on Education andChild Development to hold a public hearing on the matter. (see attached) The hearingwas held on November 20, 2012, and none of the questions the aldermen raised in theresolution were answered satisfactorily. Barbara Byrd Bennett, the Chicago PublicSchools
’ CEO,
did not show up. Neither Frank Clark, the chairman of the recentlycreated Chicago Public Schools Commission on School Utilization,nor most staff
members who were present , had the institutional knowledge to provide answers to basicquestions. These included questions regarding the differences in funding formulas forcharter schools versus traditional, contract and turnaround schools; the methodology forcoming up with the list of school closures and whether or not charter schools would beincluded.Current CPS board policies do NOT hold charter schools and district schools accountableto the same standards and sanctions regarding performance and utilization. Poorlyperforming and under-utilized charters are given more leniency than their district schoolcounterparts. Aldermen raised a number of questions regarding the ambiguity with whichthe guidelines for school actions were written and how they seemed to exclude charters.None of the CPS representatives could give definitive answers. The Aldermen werereferred to the CPS website several times during the hearing.City Council chambers were filled with parents, activists, educators and other membersof the general public. In spite of the fact that many members of the audience signed up totestify and prepared written remarks, we were not allowed to make comment. When weexpressed disapproval and asked why the audience was not allowed to participate, the
4111 West 21
st
PlaceChicago, IL 60623773-521-3137
Chairman, Alderman La Tasha Thomas ignored us. At one point, she even made a faceat the crowd.The Chicago Public Schools Commission on Utilization is hosting its first public meetingon November 26, 2012, from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, and no members of the public will beallowed to provide testimony.2.
As we connect the dots in the local media and published reports, it becomes apparent thatthe decisions to close Chicago Public Schools are being driven more by corporateinterests rather than market and demographic factors. There have been a number of articles written in local media concerning retired venture capitalist Bruce Rauner
’
sproposal to assemble a group of investors to purchase old CPS buildings to lease them tocharter schools.The District has identified $15 million that could be made from selling
surplus properties. Chicago Public Schools is a participant in the Gates Compact,which
calls for the development of 60 new charter schools in the City of Chicago and ensuringthat charters receive equal funding from local school districts. Published news reportshave indicated that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation typically requires schooldistricts to close or improve (turnaround) the bottom performing 25% of public schools
and prioritize theturning over of public buildings to charters in high need areas. It should be noted that Chicago would be participating in a $20 million pool with 9 othercities, and could get an award ranging from $2 million or less to $7 million, most of which would go to fund charter schools. The District would also be eligible to competefor up to $20 million in capital funding to offset construction costs for new charterschools. Chicago could get a maximum of $27 million from the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation. Putting this in perspective, Chicago Public Schools
’
operating budget is$5.73 billion, and it is not unusual for school construction costs to range between $26million and $60 million.
Throwing entire African American communities into furtherdisarray with long term negative consequences in exchange for LESS THAN ONEHALF OF ONE PERCENT of CPS budget IS NOT a fair exchange.
3.
For years, CPS has used school performance as a criterion for closing traditionalneighborhood schools. Neighborhood schools were forced to close, while lowerperforming charters in the same community are allowed to continue to operate. We arenow at a point that we have data to show that there is essentially no difference betweenthe performance of charters as a group and traditional neighborhood schools. Nearly athird of all charter schools are performing at the lowest levels, and school performance isno longer a stated criterion for school closures. Reform groups and charter operators areclamoring for CPS to close poorly performing neighborhood schools while advocatingfor poorly performing charters to remain open. Unfortunately, CPS is more likely tolisten to the reformers than rank and file parents and community residents. While we donot advocate for school closings, we do think that charters and traditional schools shouldbe held to the same standards and consequences for poor performance.
4.
Over the years, CPS has saturated communities with declining populations with charterschools, without really looking at the underlying demographics to demonstrate whether ornot there would be long term population growth to support the neighborhood school andthe new charter school. We have a situation where nearly 100 new schools have beencreated, with no evidence of demand, except the mysterious charter school waiting liststhat have never been made public. During the teachers strike we read accounts in thenewspapers how charter school operators had open slots. It is clear that this problem of under-utilization could have been avoided with proper planning.5.
CPS is using the budget deficit as cover to justify closing over 100 schools, saying thatthey could save up to $800,000 a year for every school they close. This represents a littlemore than 8% of the current $1 billion budget deficit. Assuming that these closureshappen at a rate of 20 schools per year, this translates into about 1.5% of the budgetdeficit this year. At the same time, newspaper articles indicate that CPS plans to build60 new charter schools. Most of the under-utilized school buildings will be rented tocharters, or sold to investors, who will then rent to charters. Generally speaking, themoney that charters will use to rent the buildings will come from the same per studentstate funding that CPS is already using to support utility and other facility costs. Whatwe will more likely see is a shift in line items in the CPS budget. Rather than seeingthese costs reflected in building maintenance expenses they will more than likely beincluded in the contract cost for charter schools. As you know, these costs are notitemized.6.
CPS has not been forthcoming with the public about school closures. In fact they seem tobe working more closely with charter operators like UNO, than they are with their owncommunity advisory councils when it comes to facilities planning. For example, asrecently as the earlier part of November, we read articles that quoted CEO Barbara ByrdBennett as saying there is no list of school closures. We were on Facebook and saw acopy of a letter from Juan Rangel the CEO of UNO, suggesting that attendees for a
private screening of Won’t Back Down advocate for a parent trigger law that will force
schools to close, be turned around or taken over by a charter school if half the parentsfrom the school sign a petition. He had a list of over 80 schools that presumably couldbe targets. Twelve of the schools are based in North Lawndale. This may not be anofficial list, but they got data from somewhere to indicate that these schools were introuble. CPS needs to work more closely with its community advisory councils to sharedata that will help them give more informed advice on school closings.7.
In 2010, the State Legislature created the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force toensure a research driven facilities plan developed with significant community input. TheTask Force includes the CPS Chairman, CEO and youth representative, along withmembers of the Legislature and community groups. Illinois law requires a 21-day publiccomment period and a draft of proposed guidelines by November 1. CPS was latereleasing draft guidelines and much of the public comment process is being completedonline or via phone conference. To the best of our knowledge, no public hearings arecurrently scheduled. This flies in the face of the intent of the law, as many people do nothave access to the internet or are unable to participate in a massive conference call.
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