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Friday, September 14, 2012

What’s the difference between old-style patronage and principal discretion in hiring? « Fred Klonsky

What’s the difference between old-style patronage and principal discretion in hiring? « Fred Klonsky:


What’s the difference between old-style patronage and principal discretion in hiring?

A second grader named Aaron once told me a joke.
“Hey Mr. Klonsky. What’s the difference between boogers and Brussel sprouts?”
“I don’t know, Aaron. What’s the difference between boogers and Brussel sprouts?”
“Kids will eat boogers.”
I thought of that joke this morning as I read Mark Brown’s column in the Sun-Times.


Fifth day. Logan Square. “Venceremos.”

On the fifth day of the Chicago teachers strike teachers, students and parents from a dozen northwest side schools gathered at the Logan Square Centennial Monument.
Organized by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and the CTU, the rally was a spirited demonstration of solidarity and community support.
Although the neighborhood’s alderman, Rey Colon, was one of the signers of an aldermanic letter demanding teachers return to work without a contract, parents continued what has been a signature of this strike: Their support for the teachers and opposition to the politicians.

My lunch with Illinois Representative Elaine Nekritz didn’t go well.

Democratic state House Representative Elaine Nekritz.
The afternoon CTU rally  yesterday was scheduled downtown at the Hyatt Regency at 3:00.
So I had a tight schedule. I wanted to attend at least part of the North Lake Shore Illinois Retired Teacher Association luncheon scheduled for noon at the Elks Club in Des Plaines.
All the local north suburban candidates for the November elections had been invited.
When I arrived I discovered that I had been seated between Democratic House Representative Elaine Nekritz and


Day four we went to Penny Pritzker’s hotel.

Penny Pritzker, former fund raiser for the Obama campaign and member of the Hyatt Hotel Pritzkers, is one of Rahm’s friends who sits on the Chicago Board of Education.
Hyatt has been the subject of a nearly three-year old labor dispute with Unite Here.
In Illinois, Penny Pritzker pays the same percentage of income tax as the women who make the beds in her hotels.


The Rag Blog interview.

An interview with Fred Klonsky:
Chicago teachers in red and on strike
If the city of Chicago wins this strike it will very likely give the green light to big cities such as Los Angeles and New York to go after teachers’ unions there.By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / September 13, 2012
Fred Klonsky, 64, retired in June 2012 after 30 years of working as an art teacher in grades k-5 in the public school system in Illinois.
He doesn’t go into the classroom to teach kids anymore, but he hasn’t retired from political