The following article was selected from the Internet Edition of the Chicago Tribune. To visit the site, point your browser to http://chicagotribune.com/. ----------- Chicago Tribune Article Forwarding---------------- Article forwarded by: Cayata Dixon Return e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-51971,FF.html ---Forwarded article---------------- City schools seek property tax boost By Ray Quintanilla Chicago Public Schools officials have proposed raising property taxes by $48.8 million, which would enable the nation's third-largest school system to submit a balanced budget for a sixth consecutive year. The 2002 budget represents the fifth time in seven years that the schools have sought to raise property taxes to the maximum allowed under the state's tax cap law, which holds property tax increases to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. The proposal amounts to an overall increase of 3.4 percent over last year. The proposal means homeowners would pay an additional $18 for every $100,000 of equalized assessed property value. Details of the system's $4.38 billion budget were released Tuesday, a day after the schools announced plans to eliminate 400 non-teaching positions, many of them in the central administrative office, to free up $22 million to hire hundreds of teachers in fall. Under the proposed budget, which must be voted on by the Board of Education before the fiscal year begins July 1, the system's $3.6 billion operations budget—which pays to run the system day to day—will increase by $49.5 million. Meanwhile, the system's $567 million capital budget—which pays to maintain and build schools—will shrink by about $21 million in the new fiscal year. Only about $200 million of that amount is new money, Vallas said. The rest is money that rolled over from the previous year. "I have to raise to the maximum," schools chief Paul Vallas said in releasing highlights of the budget. "When I go to Springfield in search of more money for our schools, the first thing those legislators want to know is whether I'm asking for everything I can get from our own taxpayers." The budget proposal includes: $200 million to pay for construction of seven new schools and four additions that officials had promised to build in recent years. $18 million to bolster reading in the 200 lowest-performing elementary schools. $5 million for a summer jobs program for 5,000 needy students who would assist teachers in the classroom as tutors or aides, or perform other support duties. $2.1 million to expand and renovate libraries. $1.5 million to assess and screen children coming out of juvenile detention centers and to fund a program that discourages bullying. $900,000 for an intensive summer reading program for students preparing to enter the 9th grade. Tim Martin, the system's chief operating officer, said the proposed list of new schools includes Anderson Elementary in Englewood; Cuffe Elementary in Auburn-Gresham; DePriest Elementary in Austin; Field Elementary in Rogers Park; Kelvyn Park High School in Kelvyn Park; Simeon High School in Chatham; and McNair Elementary in Austin. Kelly High School in Brighton Park, Moos Elementary in Humboldt Park, Murray Language Academy in Hyde Park, and Goudy Elementary in Edgewater are slated for additions, he said. Mayor Richard Daley said he backs the tax increase and wants additional funds earmarked for school infrastructure improvements. Daley also voiced concern that the schools may be circumventing the ban on social promotions by granting too many students waivers, effectively passing children who can't read at or near grade level. "The greatest injustice is to take a child who can't read and say, 'You have been here for a whole year and you are a nice person. I will [promote] you' without helping them," Daley said. In other developments, Board of Education President Gery Chico said the system plans to clear the way for the Golden Apple Foundation to run the system's first "contract school" called Wright Laboratory School. The elementary school, scheduled to open in the fall, would be staffed by master teachers and provide new teachers with training, he said. Tribune reporters Michael Martinez and Gary Washburn contributed to this report. ---------------------------------------------------- This is the CPS Mathematics Teacher Discussion List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
