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 In a letter to CPS officials, Rauner’s appointed chairman of the
state education panel, former state Senator James Meeks, and
Illinois state Superintendent of Education Tony Smith set a March 4
deadline for the district to provide a litany of financial records,
including three years worth of audits and financial projections,
payroll data and “major contracts” that have received annual
increases, among other things.
“Our sincere hope is that the forthcoming investigation will
identify opportunities for actions to be taken that will improve the
financial condition of Chicago Public Schools…and, most importantly,
result in fiscal stability,” Meeks and Sanders wrote in their letter
to CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool and Chicago Board of
Education Chairman Frank Clark.
 The nation's third-largest public school system, which is controlled
by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has a $1.5 billion structural deficit and has
asked Illinois' gridlocked state government for $480 million to help
pay the system’s pension contribution for this fiscal year, which
ends June 30. But the request has languished amid the nearly
eight-month budget stalemate between Rauner and Democrats who
control the state legislature.
Before the school system borrowed $725 million in the municipal
market earlier this month, Rauner and his GOP legislative allies
called for legislation that would authorize a state takeover of CPS,
which is not permitted under existing state law. The governor also
backs legislation to permit the district to declare bankruptcy,
which would enable it to restructure many of its debts. Democrats
have vowed to block those initiatives.
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A CPS spokeswoman said much of the information being sought by the
Rauner Administration is publicly available, and renewed criticism
that the governor single handedly drove up borrowing costs on the
district's recent bond sale as a result of his bankruptcy push.
"The last time Governor Rauner offered his financial advice for
Chicago Public Schools, Chicago taxpayers were forced to pay even
more for our bonds, and we cringe at what his latest venture could
cost our children,” CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a prepared
statement.
(Reporting By Dave McKinney, additional reporting by Karen Pierog;
Editing by Michael Perry)
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