On February 14, 2017, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and five parents of CPS students filed a two-count Verified Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, Injunction and Other Relief (Complaint) in the Circuit Court of Cook County seeking to end the State of Illinois’ discriminatory education funding scheme. Plaintiffs bring their claims under the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, 740 ILCS 23/1 et seq., which prohibits the State from utilizing “criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination because of their race, color, [or] national origin.”
The lawsuit’s defendants are responsible for perpetuating and/or administering the State’s unlawful education funding, and include Governor Bruce Rauner, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), ISBE Chairman Reverend James Meeks, ISBE Superintendent Dr. Tony Smith and Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
Background
On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court decided the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Facing the realities then present in American public education, the Supreme Court concluded “in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” Id. at 495. Although Brown’s historic holding is rightly celebrated, more than 60 years later, the reality is that a child’s race continues to dictate whether she or he will receive a good education or something far short.
Chicago’s predominantly African American and Hispanic children still suffer from stark educational inequalities. The State of Illinois maintains two separate and demonstrably unequal systems for funding public education in the State: one for the City of Chicago, whose public school children are 90% children of color, and the other for the rest of the State, whose public school children are predominantly white.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of CPS students are African American, 47% are Hispanic, and 6% are other students of color (for a total of approximately 90% children of color), and only 10% are white. In contrast, for Illinois children attending public schools other than CPS, 58% are white, only 12% are African American, 21% are Hispanic, and 9% are other students of color. Among public school students in Illinois, an African American child is 11 times more likely than a white child to attend CPS, and a Hispanic child is 9 times more likely than a white child to attend CPS.
Count I — Disparate Funding
In Fiscal Year 2016, the State spent 74 cents to educate Chicago’s children for every dollar the State spent to educate the predominantly white children outside Chicago. Combining all sources of funding from the State, in Fiscal Year 2016, the State spent $1,604,828,661 on CPS. The State spent $9,012,574,633 on all other school districts. CPS, therefore, received just 15% of the State’s $10,617,403,294 in education funding, despite having nearly 20% of the students, according to Fiscal Year 2016 Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) enrollment records.
Unless enjoined by this Court, the disparity will continue. In Fiscal Year 2017, the State is projected to spend $9,571,937,253 in total on other districts, and $1,734,345,898 in total on CPS. As a result, CPS again will receive just 15% of the State’s $11,306,283,151 in education funding, despite having nearly 20% of the students. And the State’s discriminatory funding is expected to get even worse.
Count II — Disparate Pension Funding Requirements
Illinois also imposes a separate and demonstrably unequal pension funding obligation on CPS. The State assumes the primary responsibility for funding pensions on behalf of every school district in Illinois – except CPS. For example, in Fiscal Year 2017, Illinois’ statutory funding obligation requires CPS to spend $1,891 per student on Chicago pensions. Over the same period, non-Chicago school districts spend only $86 per student on pensions.
In Fiscal Year 2017, CPS’ statutory funding obligation to the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund amounts to approximately 35% of CPS’ total teacher payroll. By contrast, in Fiscal Year 2017, non-CPS school districts will contribute only 1.5% of total teacher payroll to the Teachers’ Retirement System.
Relief Sought
Plaintiffs are not asking the Court to dictate how the State should distribute its educational funds or asking the Court to reduce teachers’ pension benefits. Rather, Plaintiffs ask the Court to declare unlawful the State’s separate and unequal systems of funding public education in Illinois and to enjoin Defendants from perpetuating a system that discriminates against Plaintiffs.
…Adding… A history of school funding lawsuits in Illinois is here.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis released the following statement in response to Chicago Public School’s lawsuit:
“We have just received the lawsuit and are reviewing it.
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.
The Governor remains focused on moving forward these recommendations and hopes that CPS will be a partner in that endeavor.”
When asked if he supported term limits, Kennedy said, “I think that it’s really important that people have faith in their government, and they don’t have that now. They want term limits wildly in order to restore that faith; and if that’s the price of getting people to believe in government, then I would embrace term limits.”
With that answer we asked him about the longest serving House Speaker in the country: Michael Madigan. We asked Kennedy if after more than 28 years as House Speaker was it time for a change in leadership?
“Every year he’s up. Let’s say every session he needs to earn the support of his members,” said Kennedy. “I think that’s between him and his members. I think the issues in this state are firmly on the governor’s shoulders. I don’t think the speaker or the legislature is the root of all evil. I think the governor’s refusal to negotiate a budget is.”
*** UPDATE *** No need to edit this mess. From the WREX interview as posted by the ILGOP…
We’ve covered politics a long time, and all’s fair in … well, mostly war. But interestingly — and disappointingly — Kennedy pretty much took a pass on critiquing the performance of House Speaker Michael Madigan, though specifically asked.
Indeed, it’s not the Republican right but the Democratic left controlling the Legislature that has overseen the loss of people, jobs and investment and the erosion of services for the most vulnerable in Illinois. Democrats are responsible for drawing the maps and the gerrymanding that has guaranteed most races in Illinois now go uncontested. It’s Madigan himself who steadfastly has blocked redistricting reform. Arguably it takes an especially willful brand of denial to overlook Madigan’s contribution not just the last two but the last 30 years to putting Illinois at the bottom of the nation’s barrel.
If we may offer some unsolicited advice to Kennedy, to J.B. Pritzker who is reported to be mulling a bid, to any other Democrat who aspires to be governor: You’d be hard-pressed to find a politician more unpopular than Madigan in these parts, and in Illinois that’s saying something. There’s a reason the vast majority of counties in Illinois outside Cook have gone red in a lot of these statewide and national races.
We get the reluctance of Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls to cross the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, among the conflicts the Speaker has. We’d just say that real leadership requires courage, which includes standing up to someone who’s been around too long and has gained too much power, to this state’s ongoing detriment.
* OK, now on to Bob Daiber, who announced his campaign in Edwardsville yesterday. I happened to be in town anyway, so I went to the event and asked a few questions…
MILLER: Do you think that the speaker should be negotiating non-budget items as part of a package?
DAIBER: Well, I don’t, I don’t, I think that’s the big hangup right now with the governor. I think most of the governor’s items that he has on the table he says he won’t pass a budget ’til he has these other reforms. So, um, I think the issue at stake in drafting a budget has to be budgetary items, not items that are not directly related to the line items.
MILLER: But they are doing that in the Senate. Do you support that?
DAIBER: Yes, I do.
MILLER: Do you support the plan?
DAIBER: Well, there are certain parts of what the Senate, I don’t agree with 100 percent of it, OK? But I agree with their compromise and the collaboration because they’re trying to move the state forward. So, I’m not gonna oppose any effort to get a budget because we need one so bad.
Bruce Rauner barnstormed his way to the governor’s office by promising to “shake up Springfield.” Now it seems he has a new mantra: Don’t rock the boat.
A bipartisan cartel of Illinois’ longest-serving and most tone-deaf politicians are plotting what they call a budget “grand bargain.” Unsurprisingly, the lynchpin of the proposal is a mega income tax increase. The plan contains few fixes to our broken state government.
Translation: We pay more for the same old, same old.
Once upon a time, this was the kind of thing Gov. Rauner would rail against. Career politicians cutting deals that perpetuate, rather than eradicate, Illinois’ deep-rooted problems.
Rank and file members of the Illinois House of Representatives, including:
· Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-14),
· Representative Deb Conroy (D-46),
· Representative Laura Fine (D-17),
· Representative Christian Mitchell (D-26),
· Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-57),
· Representative Carol Sente (D-59),
· Representative Litesa Wallace (D-67),
· Representative Emanuel Chris Welch (D-7), and
· Representative Sam Yingling (D-62)
are eagerly anticipating the Governor’s annual budget address. The Illinois Constitution requires the Governor to present the General Assembly with a balanced budget every year, and requires that the members of the General Assembly — including rank and file members — approve a budget.
For the last two years, however, leaders in Springfield have created a toxic political discourse that has prevented a budget from being enacted. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents are increasingly alienated by the political process and are quickly losing faith in government.
“For the last two years, the so-called budget negotiations conducted by leaders in Springfield have been dominated by toxic political rhetoric from two conflicting camps: the Governor and the Speaker,” said Representative Sam Yingling. “Rank and file House members have been left on the sidelines of a debate that has more to do with ego and political games than the needs of our constituents.”
The lack of a state budget under Governor Rauner has harmed Illinois’ economy and has lead to the steady decrease of the state’s credit rating. To make matters worse, the backlog of unpaid bills has steadily risen during the budget impasse, reaching nearly $11 billion by the end of 2016.
“The impact of the last two years without a state budget has been devastating on the families and communities in my district,” said Representative Chris Welch. “Without a responsible budget, children and families in my district do not have access to vital, life-saving services. Students at our community colleges and public universities seeking higher education — an education that serves as a stepping stone to the middle class — are not certain that they will be able to complete their degree programs. Illinois businesses are left without a trained workforce.”
“I look forward to hearing Gov. Rauner fulfill his constitutionally prescribed role of presenting my colleagues and I with a balanced budget that prioritizes working families and the most vulnerable,” said Representative Litesa Wallace, “The last 2 years have gravely impacted those who need their state government the most—whether it’s a disabled individual attempting to maintain their independence and dignity or a working family just trying to make ends meet as they pay for their child to attend child care or college — they deserve a full budget. Again, I look forward to the governor prioritizing the people of Illinois with his Budget proposal. ”
Rank and file members of the house are awaiting the Governor’s balanced budget proposal, scheduled for Wednesday February 15th at noon, and are eager to be independent voices for the people of their districts as they debate the proposal offered by the Governor.
“Actions speak louder than words. These legislators are now trying to cover up the fact that they ceded all control to Mike Madigan last month when they voted to again make Mike Madigan the Speaker of the House. If House Democrats wonder why rank-and-files legislators have little say over the workings of the Illinois House, they should look in a mirror.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
In an outrageously ironic press release, nine House Democrats today issued a statement today complaining that “Rank and file House members have been left on the sidelines.”
Yes, that’s what House Democrats are claiming just weeks after voting to give Mike Madigan a 17th term as Speaker and passing Mike Madigan’s “rules” which give him total power over the Illinois House.
Kelly Cassidy, Deb Conroy, Laura Fine, Christian Mitchell, Elaine Nekritz, Carol Sente, Litesa Wallace, Emanuel Chris Welch, and Sam Yingling all voted to crown Mike Madigan.
