More Woes

As if CPS neighborhood schools aren't suffering enough, now comes word that a good number of charter schools are going to feel the coming financial axe that seems very likely. Remember, charters are still public schools that receive their funding much like the traditional neighborhood schools. The big difference is that charters are privately run.

And that fact, private operation, is a bit of a problem. For example, some of the expenses encountered by a charter, not borne by neighborhood schools, are fixed and have to be paid. Such is the case with building leases that are set in stone and HAVE to be paid.

As Andrew Broy of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools said of the impending budget cuts, "Several dozen schools [charters] would be pushed over the brink. Mr. Broy did not give examples but they are bound to be the smaller ones and those with a single campus.

Whether one is a proponent of charters or not, the coming budget cuts are bound to hurt everyone. No one will be spared when they are talking per pupil budget cuts beyond 25%.

All of this is at a time when the availability and need for teacher and student resources is critical. Where this all ends is anyone's guess.

Dick