Soto's bill passes unanimously (Updated)A watered-down version of a House bill calling for a one-year moratorium of school closings and transformations in Chicago Public Schools passed yesterday with a unanimous 118-0 vote. Championed by Rep. Cynthia Soto and numerous Chicago-area educators, parents and organizations, the Chicago School Facilities bill, better known as House Bill 363, will move on to the State Senate...For some the bill's passing is a huge victory in the on-going battle against Renaissance 2010, an initiative started by Major Daley in 2004 to increase the number of high-quality schools in Chicago by 2010 through a process of turn-arounds, closings and phase outs.
Soto had to remove some of the stronger components of the bill to get it passed, including a one-year moratorium on school closings that would have voided the school board's February 25 decision to close 16 schools. Valencia Rias, a spokeswoman for Designs for Change, said in a February press release they would fight to reintroduce those protections in the Senate.
Many protest the initiative's tactics, claiming it displaces children without fairly evaluating the school. (Chicagoist)Also see: PURE Catalyst Chicago Public Radio Community Media Workshop
For some reason, Chicagoist took down their story on the Soto Bill. Do you know why?
ReplyDeleteEven though the bill was stripped of it's most important provisions, I still think it was a great victory for the community. Hopefully, those provisions, which will impose a moratorium on further closings, can be written back into the senate version.
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