Committee on Education and Child Development meeting, September 9, 2024
- When: Mon, Sep 9, 2024, 10:00 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: Room 201A, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: Committee on Education and Child Development
- Video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1007015263
- Transcript: full text (13,360 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Education and Child Development, chaired by Alderperson Jeanette B. Taylor, held a subject matter hearing on sports programming and athletic facilities at Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District. Public commenters, including students and coaches from Dyett, Johnson College Prep, Richards Career Academy and Urban Prep, described the lack of football fields, injuries on poor surfaces, transportation burdens and safety concerns, while the Chicago Teachers Union called for a sports equity fund, higher coach pay and athletic trainers. CPS and Park District officials presented an inventory of fields, stadiums, tracks and pools, recent investments, and their reliance on TIF, aldermanic and private funds given CPS's 14.4 billion dollar deferred maintenance need. Members asked about field allocation, partnerships with professional teams, a field for Urban Prep and Dyett, needs assessments, and coach pay, and the chair asked CPS and the Park District to meet with alderpersons citywide within six months. No votes on legislation were taken.
Topics: school athletic facilities, football fields, CPS and Park District partnership, coach pay, professional sports team partnerships, capital funding, South and West Side equity
Agenda items discussed
- 15:20 Rule 59 remote participation for members: passed
- 15:38 Public comment
- 52:42 Subject matter hearing on sports programming and sports facilities at Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District: discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Jeanette B. Taylor (chair): Thanked students and coaches and said four of the five high schools in her community lack a football field, calling it a system failure rather than a school failure. (50:29); Asked how many high schools rely on Gately Stadium and noted Urban Prep has a lacrosse team without a field. (1:05:27); Asked the Park District how it decides which parks get fields. (1:06:51)
- Nicole T. Lee (alderperson): Asked whether CPS and the Park District have a strategic plan of sports facility needs and how sunsetting TIF funds will be directed. (1:15:03); Urged a faster needs assessment, restated the call for a Near South high school, and said TIF sunsetting may disadvantage the Park District. (1:17:13)
- David H. Moore (alderperson): Said alderpersons must agree on priorities and push the administration, since resources for parks and schools are limited and competing. (1:19:15); Said professional sports teams have not invested enough in surrounding communities and should do more. (1:22:18); Said Park District decisions favor communities whose residents attend board meetings and that alderpersons' advocacy for South Side residents should not be ignored. (1:24:20)
Exchanges between members
- 1:17:21 Alderperson Nicole T. Lee noted that the five schools present were just those in Alderperson Jeanette B. Taylor ward.
- 1:19:21 Alderperson David H. Moore said he agreed with the chair about professional sports teams investing in communities.
- 1:23:57 Alderperson David H. Moore cited Alderperson Nicole T. Lee lack of a high school as an example of how investments may go to parks instead.
- 1:26:49 Alderperson David H. Moore thanked the chairman for the opportunity to speak.
- 1:32:14 The chair asked Alderperson Marty Quinn whether he would go to Springfield to advocate for funding.