The Chicago Public School system has recently been doing poorly. With the system being in billions of dollars in debt, it has failed its students, faculty, and staff. Not only is it in debt, but it fails to give its students proper educational benefits. Without schools having the proper financial resources, they will fail to have the proper resources the students need in order to have a better educational system.
A couple of years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to close many schools in the area which implemented the damage of the students' education. Due to this, classrooms were filled with more students and resources were lessened.
The CPS system has had the Chicago Teachers Union and students go on strike many times. In the most recent year, teachers went on strike due to CPS wanting to take their pensions to help repay for the debt. In result of this, many teachers have been fired.
Recently, Governor Bruce Rauner has vetoed Senate Bill 2822, which "Requires the State to contribute the amount of $215,200,000 to the fund for fiscal year 2017."
Coming from CPS, I understood the importance of having gone to a school that suffered due to a budget cut. It was difficult because that meant that many programs and extracurricular activities had to be cut from the school. It was also important that the school budget their money wisely for events and other activities.
The Illinois budget crisis has immensely affected the public school system. Money that is supposed to be for education funding is unequal, giving it the perfect opportunity to lack in better benefits for teaching.
Without the resources to fund the education system, students may be losing their ability to go on to college or start a career. Many students in CPS face many challenges which may include homelessness, poverty, family and financial issues, and emotional/mental issues. A lot of people do not understand how difficult it is to go to a public school in the city of Chicago. For the students that have come from these backgrounds, it is important that they are being provided with the adequate resources to make sure they thrive in these unsafe, harmful, and challenging communities. To do so, we need to make sure that Illinois is properly and equally funded. Please contact your State Representative and encourage them to override the veto.
To learn more about the bill please visit: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2822&GAID=13&GA=99&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=96133&SessionID=88
To contact your State Representative and Governor Rauner please visit: http://actnow.io/fVSCv3P
CPS advises to," Look up and call your State Representative to thank them for their prior vote in favor of equal funding for Chicago schools – and ask that they vote again to override the governor’s veto and preserve the resources promised to our students. Our representatives have been strong advocates for our students, and we want them to continue fighting on their behalf. While you’re there, you can also use the site to call Governor Rauner. His reckless decision jeopardizes Chicago’s students, and he needs to hear that the CPS community won’t stand for it."
