Come on IL GOP, Support Charter Funding

 It's a step in the right direction for all our kids, downstate:

Since 80 percent of Illinois students are located outside the city of Chicago, more learning alternatives should be serving them from one year to the next. The special interests of the educational status quo must give way to the expansion of these schools of choice. Outside competition, with better practices and a new approach to education, should challenge the establishment schools that have been around for decades.

The Solution

• Abolish the arbitrary cap on charter schools for the entire state of Illinois.
• Equalize funding for charter schools across the state.
• Maintain strong charter school authorizing practices that minimize bureaucracy and focus on quality and accountability.

suburban or in the city:

...in 2010, seven of the ten highest-scoring non-selective high schools taking the ACT in Chicago were charter schools, even though they make up less than 10% of the Chicago Public Schools population.

Currently, charter schools receive 25% less than the traditional neighborhood public schools.

ChicagolandMomSquad ‏@ChicagoMomSquad

We have several Charter School families in the Mom Squad! Equal funding for public charter schools is important to quality education!

ChicagolandMomSquad ‏@ChicagoMomSquad

@RepArroyo @sarafeigenholtz @ilsenategop @ilsendems please vote YES on #HB4277 

We can not turn back the clock, GOP. Don't block the schoolhouse door of opportunity.

More, Chicago Tribune:

The application to the Gates Foundation, made jointly by CPS and stakeholders in charter schools, seeks $20 million to secure $100 million in funds for construction and renovation of buildings for charter schools.

Even with 60 new schools, charters would make up a smaller proportion of all schools at CPS than they do at some other large urban districts — in New Orleans, for example, about 70 percent of schoolchildren attend charters.