FSCAC STANDS AGAINST GOV. BRUCE RAUNER

The Far South Community Action Council (FSCAC), concerned parents and Illinois State Representatives held a press conference recently at Corliss Early Stem High School, located on 821 E. 103rd St., to express concerns over a lack of funding for Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS’) education and after school programs. Photo by Christopher Shuttlesworth
The Far South Community Action Council (FSCAC), concerned parents and Illinois State Representatives held a press conference recently at Corliss Early Stem High School, located on 821 E. 103rd St., to express concerns over a lack of funding for Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS’) education and after school programs. Photo by Christopher Shuttlesworth

FSCAC STANDS AGAINST GOV. BRUCE RAUNER

illinois Governor Bruce Rauner delivered his 2017 budget address to the Illinois General Assembly on Feb. 15, 2017 at the Capitol in Springfield, and stated that his 2017 budget proposal would potentially bring, “economic changes [and] it will also focus on the fabric of our society – investing in schools, public safety, criminal justice reform and human services,” according to an Illinois

Government News Network press release. But the Far South Community Action Council (FSCAC), concerned parents and Illinois State Representatives held a press conference recently at Corliss Early Stem High School, located on 821 E. 103rd St., to show their

growing concerns with Gov. Rauner’s lack of funding in Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) education and afterschool programs.

“We are dreading the fact that while Gov. Rauner

has not signed the budget for the State of Illinois,he willingly wants to hold our children hostage and use our children for political pawns

for his agenda,” FSCAC Chairwoman Joyce Chapman said. “We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

According to a FSCAC press release, “the State of Illinois receives $11.3 billion dollars to fund public education, and yet, the Children of Chicago only receive 15% of the money to fund their education even though CPS children account for 20% of all students educated in Illinois.”

Chapman said 90 percent of children in CPS are black and brown. She said CPS needs 20 percent of funding for public education in Chicago and the FSCAC will continue to engage Illinois State elected officials along with the Governor’s Office in Springfield, letting their voices be heard to end racial discrimination against CPS students.

“Under Gov. Rauner, the State of Illinois has increased public education funding for pre-K- 12th [graders] by $700 million dollars,” Gov. Rauner’s Secretary of Education, Beth Purvis said. “The costs of the matter in which those dollars are distributed are through the Early Childhood Block grant and during last year in the school funding formula, part of the funding [plan] made sure it went to schools in the greatest financial distress.”

Purvis continued to say that it’s frustrating to hear that people are saying that Gov. Rauner is discriminating against students because the current school funding formula has been in place long before Rauner came in. From 2009-2015, the General Assembly and Former Governor Pat Quinn, cut the amount of money that every school received and the proration along was discriminatory as it damaged low income districts, she said.

While an Illinois State Budget has yet to come into fruition, Gov. Rauner stated during his 2017 budget address that, “We propose a record level of funding for our schools. We supported our K-12 schools at an unprecedented level in the last school year, and then we came back and did even more for this school year. Let’s begin to implement the recommendations of the school funding reform commission to make sure every child gets a shot at the American dream, no matter where they live. Let’s increase our general state aid and funding to other programs that [will] benefit all schools. Education is the cornerstone of our future and this investment will pay great dividends in the long run,” the Governor said in an Illinois

Government News Network press release.

State Representative of Illinois District 33, Marcus C. Evans Jr., said as a young man who was raised in CPS, he is still frustrated

and disappointed with Gov. Rauner’s actions in regards to public education funding for CPS students and says it’s an embarrassment that the state budget has yet to be passed.

“My grandmother used to have an old saying,” Evans said. “She’s from Como, Mississippi but she used to always tell people

‘don’t play with my kids.’ And he’s playing with our kids right now and I’m mad and frustrated. I can be articulate right now but I’m going back to Springfield to tell him to stop playing with the black and brown kids in my community.”

Carl West, a concerned parent, said that he hopes all of the state and local legislators come together to find an immediate compromise to make sure the proposed budget is passed to educate the children.

“It’s been proven time and time again based on decades of neglect within the Chicago Public Schools system that children of color are not valued in terms of quality education being delivered to them,” West said. “I believe that black and brown kids have been short changed and ignored. If more isn’t done to rectify these alarming statistics that we have, Chicago will continue to produce kids who are not qualified to compete globally.”

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