Funding Woes

The CPS Board of Education met yesterday and aside from approving the new teachers contract, members were faced with an onslaught of those who feel the Special Education needs and funding arrangement is a mess. As the Chicago Sun Times reported, 'individual schools were given a 4 percent reduction in 2016-17 special needs money than last year.' And many LSC people (local school councils) were none to happy with the move.

Why? Schools were given the ed. services money, mixed in with the general education funding. The idea by the CPS brass was that this move was needed, in part, to deal with the movement of special ed students. The rules allow schools to make their case, through an appeals process, to recover the lost 4 percent.

Here's where parents are coming from. They feel that by mixing educational services funds with general education funds, it pits two groups of students against one another. The parents, lots of them, don't think this is fair to any group. By the way, it puts plenty of pressure on the administrations in each school.

To me, it seems of the age old 'shell game,' Where the heck is the pebble under the shell or will we ever know if the pebble is under any of the shells?

Stay tuned.

Dick