Catherwood LibraryILR School

To avert bankruptcy of North Chicago schools, the Illinois State Board of Education hired the former CEO of Chicago schools, Paul Vallas, to consult and recommend a strategy going forward. The recommendation, which cost $311,000, was to close almost half of the schools and layoff 39% of the teachers. The recommendation has received significant pushback from the teacher?s union which criticizes the high cost of hiring an out-of-state consultancy. The state school board says that the choice was justified because of the Vallas Group?s expertise and technical resources. The union also decries continual recommendations to doing more with less, while facing increasing class sizes and higher test thresholds.