Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats. « Fred Klonsky

Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats. « Fred Klonsky:

Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats.

by Fred Klonsky

The following commentary is from the Southland Star. It is written by my good friend and colleague, Jerry Mulvihill, a 5th grade teacher in my old school district. Jerry lives in Alsip, is a former school board member, public school and union activist and father of two students in Southland public schools. 
Legislators have reconvened in Springfield to again attempt to fix the state’s spiraling budget deficit. Central to their focus will undoubtedly be a Madigan-led pension reform package.
Madigan (D-Chicago) has spelled out his recipe for pension reform often in the media, saying that it must include eliminating the “free lunch for local school districts.”
That refers to his proposed “cost-shift” plan, which would place responsibility for financing the Teachers’