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Illinois launches financial probe into Chicago Public Schools
Source: Reuters
World | Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:51pm EST
Illinois launches financial probe into Chicago Public Schools
CHICAGO
The Illinois State Board of Education initiated an investigation Thursday into the “financial stability” of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a move that builds off Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s call for a state takeover of the cash-strapped district.
In a letter to CPS officials, Rauner’s appointed chairman of the state education panel, former state Senator James Meeks, and Illinois state Superintendent of Education Tony Smith set a March 4 deadline for the district to provide a litany of financial records, including three years worth of audits and financial projections, payroll data and “major contracts” that have received annual increases, among other things.
“Our sincere hope is that the forthcoming investigation will identify opportunities for actions to be taken that will improve the financial condition of Chicago Public Schools…and, most importantly, result in fiscal stability,” Meeks and Sanders wrote in their letter to CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool and Chicago Board of Education Chairman Frank Clark.
The nation's third-largest public school system, which is controlled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has a $1.5 billion structural deficit and has asked Illinois' gridlocked state government for $480 million to help pay the system’s pension contribution for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. But the request has languished amid the nearly eight-month budget stalemate between Rauner and Democrats who control the state legislature.
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Illinois launches financial probe into Chicago Public Schools
CHICAGO
The Illinois State Board of Education initiated an investigation Thursday into the “financial stability” of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a move that builds off Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s call for a state takeover of the cash-strapped district.
In a letter to CPS officials, Rauner’s appointed chairman of the state education panel, former state Senator James Meeks, and Illinois state Superintendent of Education Tony Smith set a March 4 deadline for the district to provide a litany of financial records, including three years worth of audits and financial projections, payroll data and “major contracts” that have received annual increases, among other things.
“Our sincere hope is that the forthcoming investigation will identify opportunities for actions to be taken that will improve the financial condition of Chicago Public Schools…and, most importantly, result in fiscal stability,” Meeks and Sanders wrote in their letter to CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool and Chicago Board of Education Chairman Frank Clark.
The nation's third-largest public school system, which is controlled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has a $1.5 billion structural deficit and has asked Illinois' gridlocked state government for $480 million to help pay the system’s pension contribution for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. But the request has languished amid the nearly eight-month budget stalemate between Rauner and Democrats who control the state legislature.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chicago-education-idUSKCN0VS0DB