the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 1, 2016
When Chicago Public Schools first announced its school budgets, officials claimed that there would be no cuts to the classrooms. That was soon revealed to be a lie–the budgets cut 140 million dollars from students in the classroom.
The cut was hidden, because the Board stopped counting Special Education funding separately from the rest of a school’s budget–so it looked like schools were getting more money. Now, instead of Special Education funding coming from the central budget, each school is responsible for coming up with the money on its own. If there is not enough, schools have to take money away from their general education programs to make sure special education has what is legally required.
It’s a disgusting attack, forcing schools to rob Peter to pay Paul, and giving principals an incentive not to take special education students in the first place.
Students need fully funded schools, not cheap budget tricks!