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Monday, September 9, 2013

9-9-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:





Kicking corporate butt. DFER gets taken to school.
  Joe Williams of Democrats for Education Reform. The truth is that when the shill for corporate reform, Joe Williams of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), attacked my brother and me (and the Shanker Institute Director Leo Casey) with some childish macho name calling the other day, I was surprised. Neither Mike nor I have paid much attention to Joe, the PR guy for corporate reform, in years.


Ten minute drawing: Rahm on Letterman tonight.


The main stream media: Guzzardi has gotten their attention.
When Democrats vote against the interests of their constituents, there should be no safe seats. Take the issue of teacher pensions. A majority of Illinois House Democrats voted for SB1, a horrible bill that cuts the contractual and constitutional promises to teacher retirees. When these red-dog Democrats voted to gut pensions, many teachers went looking for candidates to primary the incumbent Dem


Anniversary of the Chicago teachers strike.
  Marshall High School. Chicago west side. September, 2012. Photo: Fred Klonsky


Illinois retired teachers are in the dark about their health coverage.
TRIP is the Teacher Retirement Insurance Program. For those on Medicare, it can function as the supplemental insurance. For those teacher retirees not old enough or who do not qualify for Medicare (Yes. Many Illinois teachers do not qualify for Medicare) it is their sole health insurance. It may come as a surprise to some, it does not come free to teachers. We pay most of the premium. Active teac


Bill Daley and Bruce Rauner to run a unity ticket for Illinois Governor?
  Millionaires Bruce Rauner and Bill Daley. Somebody jokingly tweeted the other day that millionaires Bruce Rauner and Bill Daley were going to run a unity ticket for governor. Like Superman and Clark Kent, they may be the same guy. As the joke goes, have you ever seen them together at the same time in the same place? Sneed says Rahm back his best friend Bruce Rauner. But I don’t know. Even Repub


The in box. Jay Rehak on the truth about Chicago teacher pensions.
  Jay Rehak, Presiden of the board of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. SunTimesx I want to set the record straight about the problems at the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund. CTPF is a $9.5 billion plan that serves 59,000 Chicago Public School (CPS) and charter school teachers, administrators and retirees. We do not contribute to or receive Social Security benefits, so this plan is our retirement

9-8-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Sunday reads. Don’t bomb Syria.  Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, 2002. “War is not an option.” Call your representatives. Concerned about Syrian children? Here is an alternative to bombs. Bernie Sanders is a skeptic on Syria. Protesters for peace. Skeptical? We don’t believe a word you say. Gener