- Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Media
- Jesus “Chuy” Garcia opposes Mayor Emanuel’s use of social impact bonds.
Outside a south-side child care center, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia yesterday blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s use of social impact bonds to fund an expansion of prekindergarten in Chicago.
The investors only make money if certain targets are met. The targets in the pre-K program are increased readiness for kindergarten, improved third-grade literacy, and reduced need for special education services—all of which would save the city money while earning it for the investors as well. A key in such programs are the specific benchmarks. Critics of the Chicago pre-K effort maintain the benchmarks are too low.
The benefits of pre-K are undermined by chronic absenteeism, which is particularly common among students from high-poverty neighborhoods, according to a 2014 report by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.
