A bill to put a to put a temporary moratorium on school closings
advanced in the Senate Education Committee Tuesday, however it was
“shelled” and all language was stripped out, according to a spokeswoman
for Sen. William Delgado (D-Chicago), the legislation’s chief sponsor.
The bill, SB 1571, was changed because the votes in the committee weren’t all there for its approval and its language needed to be strengthened.
Lawmakers were also feeling the heat of getting bills out of committee by this week’s deadline, the Associated Press reported.
Stacy Davis Gates, legislative and political director for the Chicago Teachers Union, which sent members
to Springfield to testify on the moratorium’s behalf, said stripping
the language was a “legislative maneuver,” because if it stayed in
committee, it would be dead.
“The biggest part is it’s alive,” she said. “Had everything stayed in as is, it probably wouldn’t have gotten out.”
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Standing outside one of the schools slated for closure, Chicago
Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis had heated words for Mayor
Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Board of Education today.
In the wake of an 
A coalition of North Lawndale leaders and education advocates
released an alternative plan to school closings today, including a
comprehensive community strategy to provide wraparound services and
capacity building for schools targeted for closure.
The Chicago Sun-Times is 
A group of education activists boarded a bus to Springfield this morning to campaign for a moratorium on school closings in 
lthough the 47th ward appears to be safe from potential school
closings at the end of the academic year, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th ward) and
other education panelists at a North Side forum last night said all
Chicago communities would feel the impact of shuttered neighborhood
schools.