Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school board 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 was filed in Cook County Chancery Court on behalf of five Chicago Public Schools families, 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 Emanuel’s school district and Rauner’s administration. At an afternoon news conference at Lindblom Math and Science Academy, CPS officials said the lawsuit repesents a last-ditch effort for a district "on the brink."
"I want to reinforce the urgency of what’s happening today, and that this really is our last stand," CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said. "We have hoped for a legislative solution, and that has not happened. Therefore, we’re left with this as an option."
Complaint: Chicago school board sues state (pdf)Read the story
"We can wait no longer," said district chief Forrest Claypool said. "CPS is on the brink."
Beth Purvis, Rauner’s education secretary, said in a statement that the state is still reviewing the lawsuit.
"But it is important to remember that the bipartisan, bicameral school funding commission just issued its report, which recommends an equitable school funding formula that defines adequacy according to the needs of students within each school district," Purvis said.
She was referring to a recently released report by the Illinois School Funding Reform Commission that called for an increase of at least $3.5 billion in school money over the next decade. The report said more should be spent on districts with a higher population of poor students, but did not provide a detailed formula for state officials to use.
"The governor remains focused on moving forward these recommendations and hopes that CPS will be a partner in that endeavor," Purvis said in her statement.
Critics find multiple targets at CPS budget hearings Juan Perez Jr.
While Chicago Public Schools officials have been trading barbs with the state over the district’s budget woes, speakers at two public hearings Monday on the district’s latest budget plan found plenty to criticize on both sides.
The hearings at CPS headquarters, which followed $104 million in spending…
While Chicago Public Schools officials have been trading barbs with the state over the district’s budget woes, speakers at two public hearings Monday on the district’s latest budget plan found plenty to criticize on both sides.
The hearings at CPS headquarters, which followed $104 million in spending…
(Juan Perez Jr.)
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis characterized as"a fake fight between a Rahm and Rauner."
"So now they’re figuring out that schools are funded in a discriminatory manner?" Lewis said at a separate afternoon news conference. "How long have we had this conversation? We’ve been talking about this for years."
Lewis said CTU was not consulted on CPS’ intent to file a lawsuit, and she questioned why the union was not offered a chance to join it.
"Why didn’t they ask us, and talk to us about it? Because CPS does stuff on their own," Lewis said. "They don’t bother to think that we may have some value to them. We have been talking about this for a very long time. I am underwhelmed."
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," Claypool, said Monday 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."
The state has been accused of discrimination in its educational funding in previous lawsuits. In 2008, the Chicago Urban League said in a lawsuit that the state discriminates against families based on race. That lawsuit, which is pending, also cited the Illinois Civil Rights act.
In 2010, two Illinois homeowners said the state’s education funding system discriminates against taxpayers based on where they live.That lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
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.
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.
In her letter, Purvis accused CPS of trying to "arbitrarily create a crisis" with "a curiously timed and unfortunate announcement" of cuts that 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 "Gov. Rauner, just like President Trump, has decided to attack those who need the most help."
Claypool said on Tuesday that filing the suit in chancery court, he said, was meant to accelerate a potential injunctive ruling before the district takes on "even more painful steps" to balance its current budget.
"The clock is ticking, for our schools and our kids, and for CPS," he said.
Over at the CTU news conference, Lewis said she doesn’t trust CPS and has no faith in a governor who is leading a state without a budget.
Asked by a reporter if the union could rally around the lawsuit, Lewis paused.
"I had a bit of an eye-rolling moment there," she said with a dramatic sigh. "I’ll tell you: no. They don’t hold up their end of the bargain. I don’t trust them. I have no trust in what they do."
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @PerezJr
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