Chicago Ald. Will Burns (4th), chairman of the city council's education committee, has thwarted a resolution in support of a one-year statewide moratorium on the opening of new charter schools.
The resolution, introduced late last month by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) and endorsed by 42 council members, was kept off of the education committee's agenda on Monday.
Burns, who was appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to chair the education committee, is a charter school proponent and has received campaign contributions from pro-charter groups. Burns declined to comment on the resolution when questioned about it by DNAinfo Chicago.
In an interview with the news site, Sawyer said he "wasn't overly surprised" that the resolution was not on the education committee's agenda, adding that, "If it may not get heard, I'm happy I still got 41 other colleagues to indicate the importance of us looking at that."
"Even though it's not on the agenda, I think their voices have been heard," the alderman said. "We're just looking for some common-sense resolution to what's going on throughout the city."
Sawyer introduced the resolution as the cash-strapped Chicago school district considers new charter schools proposals, which could be approved by the Board of Education at its meeting later this month.