The bluff worked in Detroit. The city filed for bankruptcy, along with the schools, and state taxpayers bailed the whole thing out. It’s astonishing to me that Chicago hasn’t gone bankrupt yet (oops, I mean actually filed for bankruptcy). When Detroit went under we all assumed other cities would follow, and Chicago was on the shortlist.
The State of Illinois is using smoke and mirrors to say they have a balanced budget. They do not. When the day of reckoning comes everyone at the CTU is going to get a serious haircut.
You ask "why?" earlier in the piece, and in my opinion, the answer to that question, in our political, professional, and personal worlds is always this: money.
Why would you think that relying even more on federal money is the way to solve this issue when you’re seen the federal government using funding to extract political concessions and rule like a federal crown? Wake up. We have to solve our problems within the city and state.
How can Chicago possibly ask for more money with the recurring publicly about its maintaining numerous near empty schools at great unnecessary expense? The optics of signing such legislation would surely kill Pritzker’s chances for higher office.
The school district is in a position where it is increasingly needing to go to the state for additional resources. Imagine you’re a state lawmaker and a lobbyist comes to you saying we need more money for Chicago Public Schools. How can you feel good about that decision when you have a school spending $93,000 per student per year and it’s only 3% utilized. The emptiest big-city school in the country. It hurts the district’s ability to advocate for itself at the state level.
What precedent does CPS passing "unbalanced budget" based on revenue that doesn't currently exist set for future budgets of all the other +800 school districts, +9,000 units of gov municipal taxing bodies, etc, etc in state? Won't they all want to do the same? What is permitted by state laws, if any?
Had to look it up: The Cloward–Piven strategy is a political strategy outlined in 1966 by American sociologists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. The strategy aims to utilize "militant anti poverty groups" to facilitate a "political crisis" by overloading the welfare system via an increase in welfare claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income and "redistributing income through the federal government".
The bluff worked in Detroit. The city filed for bankruptcy, along with the schools, and state taxpayers bailed the whole thing out. It’s astonishing to me that Chicago hasn’t gone bankrupt yet (oops, I mean actually filed for bankruptcy). When Detroit went under we all assumed other cities would follow, and Chicago was on the shortlist.
Austin's extensively quoted in very good J. Shea/ Bond Buyer article on CPS budget mess (https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/chicago-boe-passes-2027-budget-awaits-state-funding)
Is Chicago Policy the same as Illinois Policy?
Just a bag of right wingers trying to break the democratic majority in Chicago.
If only we were so lucky
The State of Illinois is using smoke and mirrors to say they have a balanced budget. They do not. When the day of reckoning comes everyone at the CTU is going to get a serious haircut.
Thanks for the perspectives.
You ask "why?" earlier in the piece, and in my opinion, the answer to that question, in our political, professional, and personal worlds is always this: money.
Why would you think that relying even more on federal money is the way to solve this issue when you’re seen the federal government using funding to extract political concessions and rule like a federal crown? Wake up. We have to solve our problems within the city and state.
How can Chicago possibly ask for more money with the recurring publicly about its maintaining numerous near empty schools at great unnecessary expense? The optics of signing such legislation would surely kill Pritzker’s chances for higher office.
How empty schools hurt the district’s ability to get more resources, from a recent interview (In the news: https://www.thelastward.org/p/how-chicago-stops-voters-from-deciding)
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The school district is in a position where it is increasingly needing to go to the state for additional resources. Imagine you’re a state lawmaker and a lobbyist comes to you saying we need more money for Chicago Public Schools. How can you feel good about that decision when you have a school spending $93,000 per student per year and it’s only 3% utilized. The emptiest big-city school in the country. It hurts the district’s ability to advocate for itself at the state level.
What precedent does CPS passing "unbalanced budget" based on revenue that doesn't currently exist set for future budgets of all the other +800 school districts, +9,000 units of gov municipal taxing bodies, etc, etc in state? Won't they all want to do the same? What is permitted by state laws, if any?
Sounds like more Cloward-Piven plan activities
Had to look it up: The Cloward–Piven strategy is a political strategy outlined in 1966 by American sociologists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. The strategy aims to utilize "militant anti poverty groups" to facilitate a "political crisis" by overloading the welfare system via an increase in welfare claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income and "redistributing income through the federal government".