Rauner, GOP leaders want state takeover of Chicago schools

CHICAGO -- Backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, top Illinois Republicans called Wednesday for a state takeover of the financially troubled Chicago Public Schools, which faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit that could lead to thousands of teacher layoffs and a possible strike in a matter of months.

Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno called the plan a "lifeline" for CPS and Rauner said it's a way to protect children and taxpayers, though Democrats quickly shot down the idea.

Radogno and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said the legislation would give the Illinois State Board of Education control over the nation's third-largest school district.They also noted GOP lawmakers may reveal a bankruptcy plan for CPS and the city of Chicago in the coming weeks, but didn't offer many details.

"What we're proposing is a lifeline," Radogno said of CPS, which has a massive unfunded pension liability. "We didn't come to this lightly, but the track record of Chicago and its public school system is abysmal."

The plan calls for the state schools superintendent, who is chosen by a governor-appointed board, to name up to seven members of an independent authority that would essentially replace Chicago's school board, which is chosen by the mayor.

They also would negotiate teacher contracts, although Republicans said the authority wouldn't be able to "unilaterally cancel or modify" existing agreements.

At least seven districts in Illinois have come under state management since 2003, including East St. Louis in 2012, which was fought by people in the struggling St. Louis suburb.

Rauner announced his support for the takeover not long after Radogno and Durkin's news conference, saying a new board and superintendent would "stand up for children and stand up for taxpayers the way the current administration has failed to do."

He also said that would include standing firm in negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union on a new contract rather than using state money to help CPS, as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has requested.

But Democrats -- who hold big majorities in both chambers of the Illinois Legislature, are allies of Emanuel and locked with Rauner on a long-overdue state budget -- blasted the plan almost immediately.

The Chicago mayor was at a conference in Washington, D.C., but his spokeswoman said Emanuel is "100 percent opposed to Gov. Rauner's 'plan'" and accused Republicans of "trying desperately to distract from their own failures."

"If the governor was serious about helping Chicago students, he should start by proposing -- and passing -- a budget that fully funds education and treats CPS students like every other child in the state," Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said.