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TODAY
YESTERDAY
CPS fired my friend Xian Barrett and 2112 others.
Sun-Times: CPS calls teacher’s mom to tell him he’s getting laid off BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Education Reporter lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com July 19, 2013 12:18PM Gage Park High School teacher Xian Barrett learned Friday morning he was one of 2,113 Chicago Public Schools employees losing his job from his mother. Why the principal called his emergency contact instead of his primary number, he isn’t sure
Glen Brown: Can the state of Illinois declare bankruptcy.
By Glen Brown. Can the State of Illinois declare bankruptcy so it can renege on its public pension obligations? No, the State of Illinois cannot (no matter what Illinois Senator Mark Kirk and others have said previously). Though the State’s liabilities continue to increase, and the State of Illinois has a cash-flow problem, bankruptcy is not an option. Why? Bankruptcy would destroy the State of Il
Mark Stefanik: Shout it from the rooftops. Our pension is not the problem.
Shout it from the rooftops. THE PENSION IS NOT THE PROBLEM. Louder. Let them hear you in Chicago. THE PENSION IS NOT THE PROBLEM. Louder. Let them hear you in Springfield. THE PENSION IS NOT THE PROBLEM. Louder. Let them hear you in DC, New York, LA. THE PENSION IS NOT THE PROBLEM. The potential bankruptcy of Detroit provides a summer Friday news cycle feeding frenzy. One can expect the usual toxi
The in box. Chicago fires 2,000.
From NBC news: More than 2,100 Chicago Public Schools employees could be laid off Friday morning, bringing the total number of pink slips to 3,000 in two months. CPS officials said Thursday they will notify 1,036 teachers and 1,077 non-teachers of the layoffs. “As a former principal and teacher, I share the frustration felt by many of our principals, teachers, and parents about the difficult decis
The in box. Detroit bankruptcy and public pensions.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Detroit filed for bankruptcy Thursday afternoon, becoming the nation’s largest public sector bankruptcy. The move could slash pension benefits to city workers and retirees, and leave bond holders with only pennies on the dollar. The bankruptcy was filed by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and approved by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. Snyder said the financial condition of the city left
JUL 18
The in box. John Dillon on ALEC.
Illinois Chairperson for ALEC “Happy Birthday, ALEC: Your BFF, Senator Kirk Dillard. ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is coming to town to celebrate its 40th birthday! Are you invited? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be there.* There’ll be some legislative movers and shakers there. Representative Darlene Senger, Senator Christine Radagno, and Representative Tom Cross:
Mark Stefanik: It’s a baking hot day in Chicago. My kind of CPS.
By Mark Stefanik. It’s a baking hot day in Chicago. I know better than to ask Mom to take us to Rainbow Beach. That’s a 90 minute ride across the South Side with 2 transfers on the CTA. Lucky for me there’s Kelly High School’s indoor pool. My friends and I grab towels from our apartments, cut through the alleys, wait impatiently for the light at Archer and California, and dash up the school steps
JUL 17
The in box. IEA joins the rally against ALEC.
http://www.ieanea.org/2013/07/17/be-part-of-the-alec-un-welcoming-committee-aug-8/ A national organization that helps develop and promote legislation attacking public education, middle class families and unions is meeting in Chicago next month. Attendees at the meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) need to hear from you. ALEC is holding its 40th Anniversary Conference, brin
The in box. “Fight Over Chicago School Closures Goes to Court This Week.”
Our team takes on their team. Go team. Fight Over Chicago School Closures Goes to Court This Week.
In box. “My response to Chancellor Dennis Walcott’s email to NYC DOE staff.”
Great letter. Pass it on. My response to Chancellor Dennis Walcott’s email to NYC DOE staff.
Jim Broadway on prospects for COLA cut proposal.
Pension Update: Speaking of clips, the “We Are One Illinois Coalition” has posted a brief video explaining its position on public pension reform – and urging citizens to contact legislators on behalf of SB 2404 ”with no amendments.” Meanwhile, the conference committee on SB 1 – a horribly harsh model of pension reform favored by Quinn, Madigan and the Republican causes of the House and Senate – ha
Hearings Tuesday on lawsuits against CPS school closings.
Hearings begin today on two lawsuits seeking to block the Chicago school board’s decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program, with officials from the district and parents expected to testify over four days. Hearings today on lawsuits against CPS school closings.
JUL 16
Mark Stefanik: Don’t drink the kool-aid about our COLA.
From Mark Stefanik: We’re all in this together. I welcome Anonymous on COLA to your blog, Fred, because the word needs to get out. COLA is not a raise. To equivocate the two renders a fallacious argument. A raise is an increase in your wages or salary, reflecting an employer’s valuation of your worth. It is a reward; it is an incentive; it ‘raises’ your purchase power. Work better and live bett
NEA’s Van Roekel urges DOJ action on Trayvon’s murder.
A message to activists from NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. TAKE ACTION Sign the NAACP petition to the Department of Justice.CLICK HERE › Trayvon Martin was a teenage boy with a full life ahead of him. Our job as educators is to nurture our students, to give them a sense of safety and normalcy, to provide a foundation of knowledge and never-ending inspiration to each and every child. We te
We’re retired. Not dead. Bob Lyons responds.
Bob Lyons is a retired teacher an member of the Illinois Teacher Retirement System (TRS) board of trustees. Yesterday a reader questioned the defined benefit retirement system with, among other arguments, the claim that old people don’t spend as much as active working people. Lyons responds. Both the government and several universities did studies to determine the CPI differences between the elde
JUL 15
The in box. Why a 3% COLA?
Fred, Why is the COLA rate higher than the inflation rate? Seems it should track inflation, or a little less since retired folks don’t, in theory, spend as much $ on the things that have historically driven inflation. You are getting more of a raise in income than working folks. That is not what a pension is supposed to be about. -Anonymous Anonymous, I’m not sure what you mean by “what a pen
ALEC, The authors of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, is meeting in Chicago. The Chicago Federation of Labor invites us to protest ALEC.
Message from the Chicago Federation of Labor. Be there Thursday, August 8 to protest outside of the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC] 40th Anniversary Conference in Chicago August 7-9. ALEC is bringing state politicians to Chicago to push a dangerous agenda that rewards greedy CEOs at the expense of middle class families and our public schools and puts our safety at risk. Forty years of
We Are One: Urgent. Contact the Gang of Ten. No to Diet Cola.
The We Are One coalition of state public employee unions sent out this urgent message today regarding a possible behind-closed-doors agreement for a cut in retiree COLA. The pension conference committee has held three public hearings, and public employees and retirees have filled committee rooms to overflow capacity each time in support of a fair pension solution. But the committee remains stacke
Follow up to Saturday Coffee. Never trust oral histories. The truth about Jesse Kincaid, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
. When I did this past Saturday Coffee post, I wrote about Taj Majal and Jesse Lee Kincaid playing at my high school back in ’65. I mentioned that Taj and Jesse had split and Taj went on to join Ry Cooder in a band called The Rising Sons. Never trust 45 year old oral histories. Jesse’s brother Quentin Guerlain writes to tell me that I got (some of) it wrong. Fred and all, The Ash Grove was quite
Illinois just deputized 300,000 George Zimmermans.
I never get used to this stuff. I’m not surprised by it. I’ve seen too much. I know too many people. Marched too often. Or maybe not enough. Too many funerals. The last couple of years I have written mainly about teaching, unions and pensions. I get it that many readers of this blog follow me for that reason. But this is not a one trick pony. Maybe some of the readers just ignore what I have
JUL 14
Oh no. Not Zorn on pensions again.
Back in May of 2012 Tribune star columnist (a low bar indeed) engaged my pal Glen Brown in an exchange over state public employee pensions. At one point the conversation turned to the issue of the Illinois Constitution. Our state constitution guarantees public employee pensions. But Zorn thought Glen took too hard a position on our Constitutional claim. Even though he admitted he knew very little
Pension song.
. Please Don’t Steal My Teacher’s Pension by Glen Brown (an emulation of John Prine’s “Please Don’t Bury Me”) G C Woke up this mornin’, wrote another essay G D about sustainability G C And that unfunded liability, of our State’s pensions G D G And tha
JUL 13
Another unsatisfied customer.
Mr. Klonsky. Are you kidding me? Have you watched ANY of this trial??? Obviously not. You do a great disservice by posting a picture of a 12-year-old. Martin was nearly 6 feet tall, hardly the little boy being portrayed. Please remove me from your blog. Judging from this post you do not consider all angles before stating your opinion. Sad. -Anonymous Dear Anonymous, Sorry. I don’t bother
Saturday coffee.
. We’re going to catch Taj Mahal when he is in town on Tuesday night. Taj is doing two shows at The City Winery. We’re catching the early one and then heading out Wednesday for a two-week road trip. Going to see Taj perform is like visiting with an old pal. When I was a student at Fairfax High School in LA back in ’65, Taj and joined up with a singer, Jesse Lee Kinkaid as a folk-blues duo in Bost
The Madman takes care of his friends.
How do we know that Illinois public employees are not friends of Democratic Party Chairman and Speaker Michael Madigan. Because The Madman takes care of his friends. And while he has been leading the charge on Senate Bill 1, a bill that would for all intents and purposes destroy the public pensions of nearly 800,000 workers in Illinois, he has been busy writing memos for pay raises for his friend