Illinois GOP Sees Takeover, Bankruptcy for Chicago Schools
- Proposal comes amid partisan stalemate over state's budget
- Democratic Senate President says it's `not going to happen'
Chicago’s public school system should be taken over by the state and potentially file for bankruptcy to escape from its debts, Illinois Republican leaders said, escalating the partisan political clash over its mounting financial strains.
The Chicago Board of Education, the nation’s third-largest district, is under fiscal siege because of soaring pension obligations. Its teachers union is threatening to strike, layoffs are looming, and without changes its operating deficit is projected to reach $1 billion a year through 2020. Christine Radogno and Jim Durkin, the state’s top Republicans in the legislature, outlined a proposal Wednesday that would allow the state to take control and even push the system, charged with educating almost 400,000 students, into Chapter 9.