Residents decry 46th Ward alderman’s rush to vote on Mayor Emanuel’s plan to divert $477 million away from Chicago public school classrooms to luxury Lincoln Yards deal.
CHICAGO—Just one week after taking a controversial Chicago City Council Zoning Committee vote to force a deal for a new police academy on the city’s West Side, 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman has scheduled another controversial vote for Thursday, March 7, on the proposed Lincoln Yards project. Chicago Public Schools parents, students and teachers today will call on Cappleman to cancel Thursday’s vote and let Chicagoans weigh in on this $1.3 billion decision when they vote in the April 2 run-off election.
“Our members and allies are standing up today because they refuse to have this plan rammed down their throats—a plan that will ensure the continued segregation of upper income newcomers that thrive off of the downtown economy,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said. “If we can afford billions of dollars for the mayor’s vanity projects, then we can afford billion of dollars for our classrooms and our schools.”
The tax increment financing (TIF) proposed for the $6 billion luxury development project will cost the city $1.3 billion and divert $477 million from Chicago Public Schools. Despite calls from residents and several aldermen to delay any further action on this massive project until after a new mayor and City Council members are elected, Cappleman has scheduled the vote for Thursday of this week.
WHO: Members of the Chicago Teachers Union, youth from the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, members of the Grassroots Collaborative and CPS parents.
WHAT: Teachers and parents will gather at the office of 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman to demand that he cancel the March 7 Chicago City Council Zoning Committee vote on the Lincoln Yards development, and instead, invest those funds in neighborhood schools.
Following the visit to Cappleman’s office, parents and teachers will march to join CPS students, other young Chicagoans and the #ReimagineChicago tour bus at a second location for continued demonstration calling on Cappleman to cancel Thursday’s vote.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 5 at 4:45pm
WHERE: 46th Ward Office, 4544 N. Broadway
VISUALS: Signage, classroom desks, the #ReimagineChicago tour bus
