Even as CPS opens more new schools, children with special needs have a tougher time finding options. Placements in private therapeutic schools are scarce, and some charters are reluctant to enroll them.
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Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
By: John Myers / May 05, 2010
After a lengthy debate on the House floor, lawmakers voted 48-66 against state Sen. James Meeks’ controversial school voucher bill. The plan would have granted private school tuition vouchers of about $3,300 to perhaps as many as 46,000 students in some 50-70 low-performing and overcrowded Chicago schools.
House sponsor Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Worth) technically postponed the bill for later consideration. But lawmakers will have little time in this session to return to the matter. They must now turn their attention to the 600-pound gorilla in Springfield: passing a state budget before the end of the week.
After a lengthy debate on the House floor, lawmakers voted 48-66 against state Sen. James Meeks’ controversial school voucher bill. The plan would have granted private school tuition vouchers of about $3,300 to perhaps as many as 46,000 students in some 50-70 low-performing and overcrowded Chicago schools.
House sponsor Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Worth) technically postponed the bill for later consideration. But lawmakers will have little time in this session to return to the matter. They must now turn their attention to the 600-pound gorilla in Springfield: passing a state budget before the end of the week.
In a last plea for support, Joyce concluded debate by asking his colleagues to imagine they were on a bus traveling toward a more perfect solution to the state’s underperforming schools. Out the window, he said, they could see children drowning. “Do we stop the bus, get out and try to save as many as we can,” he asked. “Or do we keep going on the promises of what may come?”
But lawmakers who voted against SB2494 raised a number of concerns, including access for special education students at private schools. Others worried about the ability of low-income families to pay for tuition with insufficient vouchers, or for families to find ways to get their children to private schools without transportation support.
Rep. Art Turner (D-Chicago), whose district includes several of the low-performing schools in question, opposed the measure forcefully. He spoke at length about promising efforts in his community’s charter schools and the need to propagate best practices in his district’s struggling traditional schools. He also said there was simply a lack of Catholic schools in his district today. Like others, he worried about drawing top students out of the traditional schools and demanded action on more pressing school needs. “If we want to do something, let’s mandate preschool,” he said, for example.
In the end, too many groups lined up against SB2494. Rep. Monique Davis, the second to last speaker, at one point rattled off a list of supporters—mostly religious groups and parochial schools—followed by a much longer list of detractors.
Moreover, many of the bill’s finer points were poorly understood by school officials, let alone lawmakers.
For example, Joyce and others said the vouchers would top out at roughly $3,700 by today’s funding levels. But budget officials with the Illinois State Board of Education told Catalyst that the actual calculations would yield a $3,300 voucher. Even CPS officials were still working with their legal department to better understand exactly how many overcrowded schools would be eligible for the voucher plan. Lawmakers repeatedly said the bill would affect about 30,000 students. But a Catalyst analysis found that perhaps as many as 20 overcrowded schools would become eligible, depending on the way CPS defined overcrowding. Such a change would have granted voucher eligibility to nearly 16,000 additional students.
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Let's cut the crap! Vouchers are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Silly seeing folks crying for vouchers, knowing the record for helping the most needy falls way short of the mark! Such dramatics is useless when we know that the folks who would run such program would be incompetent on top of it! Glad reason won out!
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Solid research shows that vouchers a failure on helping the most needy!
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Access Living wants to thank all of the members of the House that spoke up for students with disabilities during the debate. In many respects the debate itself represented a very serious discussion about the many, many problems of CPS. The CPS should think about the many critical comments that were made during the debate in relationship to the short coming of Chicago's schools and the fact they came from both Republicans and Democrats, black and whites, hispanics, voucher supporters and opponents.
Lastly readers of this blog should realize that both Republicans and Democrats voted against their own leaderships to oppose this bill, because on its merits it did not deserve to be approved.
Rod Estvan
Access Living of Chicago
Utter nonsense
So if special needs students require additional funds in public schools, why couldn't that be applied via a voucher to private schools as well?
Make another bill that provides a $10,000 voucher for special needs students or something.
The complaints here are just a smokescreen to keeping the education monopoly in tact. We can "think" about the shortcoming of public school for another 100 years, but no one ever fixes anything by keeping the current corrupt system in place.
JBP
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Responding to John Powers
The reason no additional funds for special education services for students placed into private schools was in the bill, was first the Illinois General Assembly was not willing to put out the money, and second the majority of private schools want no special education obligations what so ever.
The Illinois State Board of Education is under federal law required to record all students educated in private schools who have disabilities, so these schools can recieve under federal law what is called proportional shares of federal funds. This record is kept in what the Non-Public Registration Enrollment and Staff Report. Readers can see these reports by going to:
http://www.isbe.net/research/htmls/np_entity.htm
Using this State of Illinois captured data we learn that last year there were 255 private elementary schools within the city of Chicago. There were only 562 students in these schools who had disabilities .
The majority of these schools had zero students with disabilities reported to the State of Illinois, for example Univ Lab School listed zero disabiled students. Saint Williams School had 8 students with disabilities enrolled and Saint Mary Star of the Sea also a Catholic School had zero. Rev Meeks school Salem Christian Academy had zero. Out of 255 private elementary schools in Chicago only 36 schools had any students with disablities enrolled in them, in other words only about 14%.
As part of my job here at Access Living I often work with families of students who have disabilities who either want a private school education or have a student who has a disability who is being asked to leave a private school because the school can not support the student's disability. The Cathloic elementary schools that will work with students who have disabilities are really very few, but there are some. In most cases parents have to pay additional fees for what limited services they can get in these schools. Most students recieve no more than 40 minutes per week at the public elementary school closest to the private school under the proportional share rule.
I do not think private schools as a group are hostile to students with disabilities, they are however not willing to absorb the costs of these students, nor are most families able to pay addtional fees for services.
In both Milwaukee and Cleveland the private schools also wanted nothing to do with being required to accept public voucher students who had disabilities even with additional funds attached to them.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Then provide the money
Absolutely incorrect Rod,
The Archdiocese of Chicago has already clearly stated that they would welcome special needs students with appropriate funding. This bill was not a special needs funding bill, but one could have been passed if the legislature wanted to.
JBP
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
who like Stroger, got his job through Daddy, wanted this voucher bill so badly? The schools in his area of Mt. Greenwood and Beverly would have been immediately declared overcrowded. Vouchers woold then go to parents who would use them in the Catholic Schools, that Joyce gets his votes from. (Which one does he belong too?) Same for Meeks--There is a reason why our Founding Fathers made church and state seperate. This is a classic example. Joyce will get lots of donations because of this move. Good thing it did not pass.
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
many parents have had to pull their special needs children OUT of Chicago Catholic schools because they were told that their children could NOT be serviced or helped in that catholic school. These are parents who can afford the tuition too!
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Why are you here?
To know love and serve god in this life so we can be with him in the next.
I had to learn that in second grade at catholic School over 50 years ago.
The sisters did a pretty good job of brainwashing us. Or do you call that education?
They were also very adept at physical punishment .But along with the dogma they made
us remember some pretty important facts like 6x6=36 so I will Forgive them for all the rulers they broke
over my hands. The sisters knew that there were things we just had to remember. Long ago I made my
peace about those brutal methods, because it worked for me. But every year after 5th grade it seemed
the dumb kids were gone, I mean counseled to go to a school where they could get help for their
problems, which I know now to be learning disorders. Those of us who survived knew our stuff
but a lot of kids were just cast aside. My widowed mother sacrificed a lot so that me and my
brother could get a good education so I realize how a voucher would have helped her, but
nobody can ever convince me ANY private school would not cherry pick students
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
I would suggest that John look at the data I have provided a link to, there is no evidence that the Archdiocese is requiring its schools to accept students with disabilities. Some do, most do not accept students with more severe disabilities than mild ADHD without associated behavior issues.
John please provide the readers of this blog with a statement from any offical of the Archdiocese School system to the effect that they would accept all students with disabilities in their schools with associated funding. No such statement was put into the record during the debate on SB2494. Rep Joyce stated during the debate he was assured by the private schools that all students would be accepted, but he entered no clear documentation of that into the record, which he could have done. This was in reponse to Rep Davis who raised the issue of private schools selectively admitting voucher students when she noted there was no admissions standard in SB2494. Rep Joyce admitted based on the language of the bill each private school could apply its own admissions standards to the voucher students.
There was no requirement in SB2494 that students with disabilities be accepted by any private school, in fact the bill contains this language that the private schools "not discriminate on the basis of race, color , or national origin under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964". When Rep Kevin Joyce was asked during the floor debate whether the non-discrimination clause encompased disability and sexual orientation, he admitted it did not.
If one examines the non discrimination policy of Archdiocese Schools, and you can do this by going to it website, you will read the following:
"130.1. Policy Archdiocesan schools admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students in these schools. Archdiocesan schools do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, or national and ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, loan programs, athletic or other school-administered programs." The policy intentionally does not mention disability.
There are a few Archdiocese schools that really attempt to accomodate students with non-severe disabilities. I have nothing but praise for these few schools.
There was no amendment proposed by any lobbyist for the Archdiocese to allow for addiitional funding for students with disabilties. I have no doubt Rep Joyce would have put forward such an amendment for the Archdiocese of Chicago if there had been one written.
The bill as amended was a comprehesive funding bill for vouchers, it stated it was for "Qualified education expenses ... reasonably incurred on behalf of a qualifying pupil for the services of a
participating nonpublic school . . ." There is no question special education funding could have been written into the bill, there is also no question that private schools in Chicago did not request that it be included in SB 2494.
Rod Estvan
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
About 700 students gathered in front of Chicago Public Schools headquarters Wednesday to protest district budget cuts that are estimated at about $368 million(out of the so-called $600 million deficit) and CEO Ron Huberman's pay raise for next school year. Ron Huberman said last night on the 9 pm Foxs news station that he has taken a pay decrease every year that he has been CEO for the Chicago Public Schools. Ron Huberman also said that every CPS non-union employee who makes over $50,000 per year would be taking a 7% decrease in pay next school year because they will be taking 21 unpaid furlough days (including Ron Huberman). Here is a list of Ron Huberman CPS leadership team salaries for next school year and the salaries of CEO Arne Duncan's leadership team for the 2008-2009 school year: Ron Huberman, CEO, $230,000.00 (Arne Duncan, CEO, $204,000.00); Diana Ferguson, CFO, $205,000.00 (Pedro Martinez, CFO, $165,000.00); Alicia Winckler, CO of Human Capital, $205,000.00 (Ascencion Juarez, CO of Human Capital, $157,000.00); Barbara Watkins, CEO, ? (Barbara Watkins, CEO, $183,750.00);Arshele Stevens, CIO, see financial & personnel implications (Robert Runcie, CIO, $170,500.00); Robert Runcie, CAO, see financial & personnel implications (Marion Hammonds, CAO, $170,000.00); Debbie Duskey, CSSO, see financial & personnel implications (Renee Mitchell, CSSO, $156,000.00); Adam Case, COS, see financial & personnel implications (Bryan Samuels, CFO, $156,000.00) Pat Taylor, COO, $165,000.00 (not filled, COO, $143,000.00); Chief Area Officers, $151,131.43 (Area Instructional Officers, $144,000.00); Meliiolu Steele, AMPS Officer, $151,131.43(?); Eilean Rudden, Deputy Director OSS, $151,000.00 (Deputy Director OSS, $145,709.31); Michael Stelle, DOS, $150,000.00 (?); Sara Kremsher, CPO, $149,874.00 (no such position); Jaime Guzman, NSCEO, see financial & performance implications (Joshua Edelman, NSCEO, $145,000.00); Monique Bonds, COCO, $140,000.00 (?, COCO); Adrienne Hiegel, PMO, see f&pi ( no such position); James OReilly, PMO, see f&pi (no such position); Jerusha Rogers, CCPO, see f&pi (?); Alan Anderson, DCEO for Human Capital, see f&pi (?); and Donald Fraynds, EDO for School Turnaround, see f&pi (Donald Fraynds, EDO for School Turnaround, ?). Ron Huberman said he has cut central office employees "to the bone" at the last board meeting. P.S.- District 299 bloggers, please feel free to fill in the blanks or make any corrections. Thanking you in advance
Just got off the phone
With the Social Justice director at the Archdiocese. He confirmed what is well known (outside of opponents of school choice): The Archdiocese serves many special needs children now and would gladly serve more, if funds were made available.
You can make up all the red herrings you want. The fact is that special needs kids are being miserably treated in public schools, just like other students who are confined their by the education monopoly.
And of course the constituents in Joyce and Meeks would benefit from vouchers. That is what good politicians do...benefit their constituents, only this time at less cost to the taxpayers.
JBP
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
As the rush to expand charter schools accelerates, fueled by private foundations pushing public policy and public money in this direction, stakeholders and observers should pause to consider the overall mediocre record of charter schools thus far.
Despite evidence that charter schools don’t do a better job than traditional public schools in improving student achievement, the zeal to siphon public money away from traditional public schools has not abated.
Charter supporters argue that a market-based “choice†model increases competition and will improve education. This has led a number of people with little experience in educating children to establish charters touting innovation and efficiency yet showing little educational progress.
While there are charter schools led by visionary, experienced educators with a true commitment to improving achievement in poor communities of color, they are few and their programs have often proved difficult to replicate.
Education policy and politics that place a premium on charter schools in the face of scant evidence of their success compromise student learning and risk greater segregation and stratification of schooling.
The lessons drawn from research on charter school outcomes strongly caution against blindly jumping on the charter school bandwagon.
Natalie Gomez-Velez
Flushing, Queens, May 3, 2010
The writer, associate dean for academic affairs at CUNY School of Law, served on the New York City Panel for Educational Policy and on the New York State Board of Regents.
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Thank you, lord. This issue is just dead for now, which should be a real wake up call for all involved. The plan was not to give a "rebirth" to the lowest performing schools, it was to dispose them. What clever idea, ensure their failure and then discard them.
Charter Schools are so unpopular
Charter Schools are so unpopular that there is a waiting list of 365,000 nationwide for admittance. Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, nobody wants to go there anymore, the place is too full.
Seriously, does anyone really think the same "education professionals" who deliver us the current wrecked system know better than the parents of the 365,000 students waiting for admittance?
JBP
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Tell the truth, JBP. You work for UNO and smell a buck. Charter schools prey on struggling communities and people of color by selling a promise that's never delivered and diverting the people's money into private, and in Chicago always specific and unscruplous pockets. If you really care about the community, help fix public education. Let me guess, you'd rather cheer about the failures and play the blame teachers game?
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
Waiting list, schmaiting list. I'm not impressed. The bar for getting to the point of a waiting list is very low for any selective enrollment school, especially in so many of the overcrowded neighborhoods of Chicago.
My neighborhood school on its own would have a waiting list over 1,000 if we selected students and controlled for enrollment and class sizes like charters do. Instead, we are required by state law to enroll every single student that walks through the door resulting in class sizes in the mid-40s from 7am to 4:30pm.
Besides, everyone knows by now that education research is clear; charters and neighborhood schools perform pretty much the same.
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
One Two Three
I would like to congratulate you on including most of the “Talking Pointsâ€
Those who do not know what they are talking about use in regards public schools.
First I am sorry Nothside Prep ( which has surpassed all catholic schools in Chicago
In almost every academic area) does not have a waiting list. But neither has Payton,
or Whitney Young.
These classic examples of educational monopoly have created wonder in a lot of pious
minds. But I really like this statement you posted
“With the Social Justice Director at the Archdiocese. He confirmed what is well known (outside of opponents of school choice): The Archdiocese serves many special needs children now and would gladly serve more, if funds were made available.
You can make up all the red herrings you want. The fact is that special needs kids are being miserably treated in public schools, just like other students who are confined their by the education monopoly.â€
You see the flagship public high schools I listed play the same game as all the catholic schools. Sure,
They serve some special needs children, but only those with certain disabilities. I bet they have as many EMH
and BD students as the parochial schools ,which are not many. Selective enrollment schools all
get to cherry pick students. And please do not blame the public schools for the sins of the school board.
Then fund it
I'll get it in writing if you want, but I am assured that the Archdiocese will accept as many kids (including special needs) as the state will pay for.
First and foremost, the State would have to pay for that education. The State refuses to pay for it at private schools and waste their money at government school confining kids for 12 years till they can offload them....50% of the time without graduating.
The government schools are a function of the school boards. You don't get one without the other.
JBP
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
As a Catholic school lifer from elementary to grad school in Catholic educational institutions, don't BS us with the holier than thou BS regarding meeting the needs of the most needy. Catholic schools differ in quality from the most inept schools to some very good schools. When we get a doozy, we ship them off or is the new word "counsel" them off to neighborhood schools.
Layoffs at CPS??
What is the final numbers on CPS layoffs. We lost 5 good teachers yesterday, they got "clicked" off while others with "connections" got to stay..the connected had less years???? What is the story on layoffs...is the Catalyst going to get us some numbers????
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
The layoffs are not solely based on seniority. They are partly based on the status of the teacher's certification, their endorsements and in some cases, their performance. I am sure some people have "connections" but it is just as likely that some just didn't have the kind of endorsement or enough endorsements needed. Or maybe they didn't keep up with their certification.
Meeks' voucher bill falls short in House vote
actually you are completely wrong in this case!! two were bilingual certified and we need them for our spanish speaking school. i dont want to argue...but you dont know what you are talking about!!!
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