On Thursday, Feb.19th, I attended a meeting at Access Living re: proposed cuts to the CPS (Chicago Public Schools) Special Education budget. In the past, the ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) has given a special "block grant" of money to CPS to fund the Special Ed. program(including deaf programs). Presently CPS spends $888 million dollars/year on Special Ed.(69% of that is salaries and benefits for teachers and staff).
ISBE wanted to cut this block grant over the next three years for a total of $214 million dollars. This would mean that CPS would have to replace this money with money from other programs. If this happened, then CPS would have to lay off teachers and cut programs at hearing schools; the Teachers' Union would probably go out on strike; and there would be a "crisis."
This year, because of strong efforts of Access Living and Equip for Equality, ISBE will give the money ($53 million) to CPS. However, there is no gaurantee for the future. The meeting was meant to develop ways to keep the State of Illinois funding Special Education into the future. However, there are some HUGE difficulties:
1) The State of Illinois owes $15 BILLION dollars to school districts, universities, hospitals,not for profit agencies, etc. Also, the State of Illinois has a HUGE debt to pension funds that it MUST pay.(CPS owes its own teacher pension fund $500 million dollars!)
2) The State of Illinois legislators have done NOTHING to correct the above problems.
3) Whenever school districts decide to "save" money, who gets cut first? SPECIAL EDUCATION; children with disabilities!
4) In the past, CPS has NOT been a friend to children in Special Education.. Now that CPS is facing a problem, CPS wants all people with disabilities to help CPS! Whitney Young is a perfect example. Whitney Young High School was built with Special Education money from the federal government. Whitney Young was supposed to be a DEAF high school. CPS has done everything it can to get rid of the deaf: let all the deaf teachers go; keeps reducing the space for the deaf program. CPS says it has 29 deaf and hard of hearing programs in 28 Chicago schools.
Several years ago when there was another "crisis", CPS cut $25 million from the Special Education programs.
Maybe CPS is beginning to wake up. At the meeting, I told staff from CPS that many parents do NOT see CPS as a friend because of the way these parents are treated in IEP meetings.(Other people from disability groups told CPS the same thing!) If CPS wants people who are deaf and disabled to help CPS, then CPS has to start showing more respect to deaf people, people with disabilities, and families who have deaf or special ed children.
Everyone - school districts, universities, hospitals, not for profit agencies - are all screaming for help. The economy is a mess. The only way that really seems to be an answer is a hike in the rate of the State of Illinois income tax. Nobody wants to pay more taxes (By the way, even though I am a Catholic priest, I pay federal and state income tax, too.) We have to let our State Representatives and State Senators know that. However, at the same time, we have to tell these people in Springfield that we want no more FRAUD, HIRING INCOMPETENT PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT JOBS, CONTRACTS FOR GOVERNMENT WORK GIVEN TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF THESE LEGISLATORS.
As far as CPS, I am willing to support CPS, but I want CPS to show more concern for the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children. I want CPS to be more supportive of our deaf teachers. I want CPS to handle IEPs in a more professional way.