Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Guzzardi's bill would limit charter expansion. Sends INCS into panic mode.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Guzzardi's bill would limit charter expansion. Sends INCS into panic mode.:

Guzzardi's bill would limit charter expansion. Sends INCS into panic mode.

Rep. Will Guzzardi calling for limits on the expansion of privately-run charters in IL

The charter hustlers at INCS are in panic mode. Until recently, they've been riding a wave of rapid expansion of privately-run charter schools even as seats in many of their charters remain unfilled and while hundreds of neighborhood public schools are being closed or severely underfunded.

INCS sent out a mass mailing Friday, warning their base that...

On Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at 2:00 pm, Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), will debate HB3567, a bill that will place a 10-year or longer ban on charter public schools across the state. This bill will limit the educational options of Illinois' families, and disproportionately affect communities currently without high-quality open-enrollment public schools. Thousands of children and families across Illinois need your help to stop this harmful bill.

The INCS letter is misleading. HB3567 doesn't place a 10-year ban (or any ban) on charters. It doesn't call for the closing of a single charter school in the state. Nor does it "limit the education options" of a single student. Rather, the bill is aimed at restricting the unlimited expansion of privately-run charters in districts that can't afford to build or operate them. The bulk of Illinois’ 857 school districts would not be affected. In 2016, ISBE reported 32 school districts on the financial watch list — the state’s worst rating — and another 61 a step above on the financial early warning list.

Lauren FitzPatrick, writes in the Sun-Times:

The bill introduced Friday by state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, would block the Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Guzzardi's bill would limit charter expansion. Sends INCS into panic mode.: