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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After more than 70 percent of O’Hare’s recently hired janitors voted in favor of 
Property taxpayers in Englewood were furious upon learning at a town
hall meeting Saturday that their tax dollars had contributed at least $44 million to the
Englewood Neighborhood Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District since it
rolled out in 2001. According to data from the CivicLab's TIF Illumination
Project, some $44 million of taxpayer dollars had funneled to the TIF district between 2001 and 2011.
A group of education activists boarded a bus to Springfield this morning to campaign for a moratorium on school closings in 
The Infrastructure Trust ordinance, a plan where private investors will fund public infrastructure, 
Wednesday’s City Council meeting was jam packed with policy and
ordinance proposals. See Progress Illinois’ cheat sheet for an update: