Full Text of HR0814 103rd General Assembly
HR0814 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HR0814 | | LRB103 40845 LAW 73779 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, Article X of the Illinois Constitution states | 3 | | that, "A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the | 4 | | educational development of all persons to the limits of their | 5 | | capacities. The State shall provide for an efficient system of | 6 | | high quality public educational institutions and services. | 7 | | Education in public schools through the secondary level shall | 8 | | be free."; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The community of Austin on Chicago's West Side is | 10 | | 84.2% African-American and has a population of approximately | 11 | | 100,000, with more than 30% under the age of 19; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Austin Community Academy High School was a public | 13 | | 4-year high school in the Austin neighborhood; during the | 14 | | mid-twentieth century, the high school was considered one of | 15 | | the best in the Chicago area; in later years, however, it | 16 | | suffered from low test scores, low attendance, and student | 17 | | violence, leading the Chicago Public School (CPS) system to | 18 | | begin phasing it out in 2004, ordering the school to stop | 19 | | admitting new freshman; the high school's last graduation was | 20 | | held in June 2007, and the phase-out was completed by the end | 21 | | of summer; its successor, Austin Community Academy, was open | 22 | | for one year before it was shut down by Mayor Richard M. Daley; | 23 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, West Side residents have faced inequalities for | 2 | | decades, including drug arrests, the savings and loan crisis | 3 | | of the 1990s that lost billions for bank customers, the 2008 | 4 | | financial crash, and the closure of 50 schools under Mayor | 5 | | Rahm Emanuel in 2013; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, A WBEZ-Sun-Times investigation showed the school | 7 | | closures largely did not deliver on the promises that students | 8 | | would be better off elsewhere at new, improved schools or that | 9 | | their old school buildings would be overhauled; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, A Chalkbeat investigation showed that roughly | 11 | | one-third of the students who attended closed schools | 12 | | transferred out of CPS entirely; due to families leaving CPS | 13 | | after the closure of their students' schools, the usual | 14 | | channels for local high schools withered; at the time, | 15 | | families and advocates expressed concerns that the school | 16 | | closures would exacerbate displacement and disinvestment in | 17 | | segregated Black neighborhoods; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, According to the CPS's Annual Regional Analysis, | 19 | | 58% of high school students on the West Side attended school | 20 | | outside of the district's region in the 2022-23 school year; | 21 | | of those leaving the West Side for high school, the majority | 22 | | head to the Far Northwest Side and Near West Side; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Currently, the West Side is home to three smaller | 2 | | schools, Austin College & Career Academy High School, | 3 | | Frederick Douglass Academy High School, and Michele Clark | 4 | | Academic Preparatory Magnet High School, which have a combined | 5 | | student body of less than 800 students; by comparison, the | 6 | | former high school previously had a total attendance of 6,000 | 7 | | students; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, It is widely felt that these three schools do not | 9 | | adequately serve the entire student population of the Austin | 10 | | community and that, if CPS leaders do not create more high | 11 | | school seats in the West Side neighborhood, more youth will | 12 | | end up on the streets of Chicago's toughest areas; local | 13 | | residents have no public option for high school, forcing | 14 | | students to either travel long distances, apply for selective | 15 | | magnet schools to which they have little chance of acceptance, | 16 | | or drop out of school entirely; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, CPS is increasing the Equity Grant program from | 18 | | $50 million this year to $55 million next year to stabilize | 19 | | funding for smaller and under-enrolled schools, mostly on the | 20 | | South and West sides; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The families and students of Chicago's West Side | 22 | | deserve access to equal educational opportunities, and |
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| 1 | | establishing one traditional area high school will assist in | 2 | | the fight to end racism in education, mass incarceration, and | 3 | | senseless death due to violence; therefore, be it | 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 | | we urge the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and all | 7 | | stakeholders to work together to support Michele Clark | 8 | | Academic Preparatory Magnet High School and to build a new | 9 | | traditional neighborhood high school in the Austin | 10 | | neighborhood on Chicago's West Side to help meet the needs of | 11 | | the tax-paying families in those communities; and be it | 12 | | further | 13 | | RESOLVED, That we urge Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and | 14 | | Governor JB Pritzker to support, in every way possible, the | 15 | | establishment of a traditional high school in the Austin | 16 | | neighborhood on Chicago's West Side; and be it further | 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | delivered to the Chicago Board of Education, Chicago Mayor | 19 | | Brandon Johnson, and Governor JB Pritzker. |
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