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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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capital spending

Facilities problems lost amid school closings controversy February 17, 2012 By: Andrew Broy Chicago has a school facilities problem. Among its more than 600 public school buildings, 224 are enrolled at less than 50% capacity, according to the legislative task force established to examine the issue. Many of these schools produce abysmal achievement results, and now CPS is attempting to manage its building inventory by taking certain school actions, including closing two underperforming, and under-enrolled, high schools, Crane and Dyett. Read More \| (2) Comments	Chicago lawmakers file bills to rein in school closings, class sizes February 06, 2012 By: Jim Broadway SPRINGFIELD - When Chicago catches a cold, the Illinois General Assembly coughs. The state legislature has been hacking like a two-pack-a-day smoker over school actions in the Chicago Public Schools—closings, phase-outs, changes in attendance boundaries and other moves that critics say are disruptive for students and the surrounding neighborhoods. (Find the district’s facilities plan online.) Read More \| (12) Comments
In the News: Charter agency's funding questioned December 16, 2011 By: Cassandra West A new government agency could boost the number of charter schools in Illinois. But the way the agency is financing itself raises questions, WBEZ reports. Read More \| (1) Comments	CPS to spend $659 million on school construction, renovation December 15, 2011 By: Sarah Karp As part of preparing a new $659 school construction and capital spending plan, officials used a new formula to determine school utilization. In the process, they determined that the district has 130,000 empty seats--a quarter of the seats available in schools throughout the city. That figure, a result of the district’s declining enrollment, shows the extent of building under-utilization throughout CPS. Yet when deciding how to invest their capital improvement dollars, Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley said Thursday that officials steered away from buildings that might be shut down in the next five to 10 years. Read More \| (2) Comments
Protesters shut down School Board meeting December 14, 2011 By: Sarah Karp Just as CEO Jean-Claude Brizard took to the podium to start a presentation at the December School Board meeting, in a booming voice, activist Adourthus McDowell tore into the proposed closure and turnaround of 14 schools, ending with the chant of “those are our children, not corporate products.” Read More \| (7) Comments

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