Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:
Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
The talented Mr. Biss.
By The Associated Press Posted Apr. 18, 2014 @ 5:30 pm CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois officials have worried for months that state pension reforms will push employees to retire early. But they say language inadvertently placed in pension law may provide even stronger incentive. Avijit Ghosh is a senior adviser to university President Robert Easter. He said at a trustees’ meeting Friday
Mark Stefanik. It’s easy to speak up for teachers.
Cook County Clerk David Orr. - Mark Stefanik is a middle school Language Arts teacher and frequent contributor to this blog. Full Disclosure: I was raised in a strict Irish Roman Catholic household. I married a Jewish girl (best decision of my life). I am an agnostic. I have been rich in cultural blends for over 30 years. At this time of year, Passover and Easter dominate our family calendar. I t
Keeping retirement weird. Stopping the Tom Foolery.
Joe from New Jersey commented on my blog about Governor Christies diversion of public employee pensions, “ummm, NJ is a blue state you nincompoop. Christie has done more for the pension system than the last three DEMOCRAT governors combined!” I explained to Joe that Illinois was also a blue state and that stealing public employee pensions was a bipartisan crime. But I was flabbergasted by Joe’s u
YESTERDAY
Walter Esler. So what does this tell us about Squeezy?
When Rauner lies to us, we write it off. - Walter Esler When someone like Rauner lies to us, we write it off. He thought we were stupid. We caught him. It’s okay. We now know not to trust him. Both sides learned. The second time he lies it’s more serious. He lies, knowing we’ll catch it. It’s a way of expressing his contempt for us. Still, it’s okay. He’s a Republican. Contempt for civil servants
Anonymous. “You just want more, more and more.”
Fred, Let me see if I have this right-you want to tax people more even though you are prohibited by the state constitution from doing so, but pensions can;t (sic) be changed because the constitution says they can’t be. I get it, a one way street. People would go for this if you lowered property taxes, sales taxes, fees etc and took Illinois off the list of most highly taxed states, but you just wa
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Farewell letter.
With Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Cartagena, Colombia. 2011. In 2011 Anne, our good friend Nathalie and I traveled to Cartagena, Colombia. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a home there. It is a walled compound by the sea. Locals complained how he rarely stayed there, although every tax ride somehow found it’s way to it. “He lives there,” the driver would say. But he rarely did, preferring Mexico City, Havan
Peter Dowd. Rauner is no regular guy.
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) released an editorial cartoon created by attorney J. Peter Dowd with the law firm of Dowd, Bloch, Bennett & Cervone, which represents the CTU and other unions and their pension and health funds. Regarding the illustration, Dowd said: “I was inspired by the blatant hypocrisy of Bruce Rauner. For the Republican primary he started out as the successful businessma
Sean Burns. Fair tax.
Yesterday the IEA’s Sean Burns and I had a phone conversation about the status of the Fair Tax initiative. A fair tax in Illinois would end the current situation where someone like Ken Griffin, Forbes Magazine’s richest man in Illinois is taxed at the same rate as a Wal-Mart Associate. Sean is the go to guy on the IEA on this issue. “We are short a few votes, Fred. And time is short.” “Send me w
APR 17
Chris Christie’s pension theft in New Jersey. Nation-wide pension theft needs a nation-wide response.
Some of my friends from elsewhere around the country try to tell me that the pension theft that is going on in Illinois is a local issue. It’s not. The stealing of public employee pensions is a national effort calling for a national response. Each state and municipality may have it’s own local characteristics. In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie is diverting state pension funds to his politica
GTCR is Rauner’s Baine Capital. So Squeezy gives him a state contract. Shaking up Springfield?
The Better Government Association is reporting this morning: Bruce Rauner, the Republican challenger for governor, stands to profit from a lucrative state contract awarded last year by the administration of his opponent on the November ballot, Gov. Pat Quinn, records show. Rauner formerly headed GTCR LLC, a Chicago private equity firm in which he still holds a stake as an investor. In any other s
APR 16
Aware of awareness.
My post this morning has prompted readers to share their experiences, both with evaluation and Special Needs. I’m interested in hearing more. Fred, I saw similar demonstrations of administrative incompetence many times. Before SB7, it was bad enough, but at least there was some protection. I heard of one bilingual math teacher getting one of those evaluations. The 3rd grade students came in, the c
Ben Joravsky tells us where the pension money went. And who spent it.
- Ben Joravsky The year was 2004—and what a glorious time it was! We were in the midst of a fabulous real estate bubble that sent property taxes flowing into the city’s coffers like champagne at an Emanuel fund-raiser. Amid the good times, a few wealthy friends of then mayor Richard Daley threw a lavish party in the Pritzker Pavilion at the recently completed Millennium Park. “Women wearing serio
Jannike Johnson. More Awareness.
Fred, I teach students with Autism at my middle school. It was a brand new program this year. I am still waiting for the district to fully fund it with the supplies I ordered a year ago June on the supply form they gave me. And that fully engaged part was funny. I have found that administrators that were not SPED teachers have no idea of what autism is or what it looks like. I have had students si
Awareness.
Banners went up and banners came down. Some were professionally printed. Some were hand-made by students on long white sheets of butcher paper. April was a busy month for banners. Shoe-horned in around Spring Break was Poetry Appreciation month and Autism Awareness month. This is about Autism Awareness month. Our school had lots of kids with Autism. For reasons of cost and efficiency, for years w
APR 15
SB 1 Lawsuits (Updated April 14, 2014)
SB 1 Lawsuits (Updated April 14, 2014) 1. We Are One Illinois Coalition (WAOI) Filed: January 28, 2014 Location: Sangamon County Plaintiffs: o WAOI o 5 TRS active teachers o 3 TRS annuitant teachers o 3 SURS active members o 3 SURS annuitant members o 9 SERS active members o 2 SERS annuitant members o Seek to represent class of actives and annuitants from TRS, SURS and SERS Defe
David Orr. Cut TIFs. Not pensions.
Cook County Clerk David Orr says we should place a moratorium on TIFS rather than cutting public employee pensions or raising working family’s property taxes. A recent report, by the Washington-based group Good Jobs First, said that TIF funds surpass Chicago’s pension liabilities. The amount of money the city’s TIFs diverted in 2012 ($457 million) was more than its pension costs ($385.8 million)
Union Democracy. Part II.
The microphone is missing. A symbol of democracy in the IEA. Photo: Jerry Mulvihill. Jerry Mulvihill, a fifth grade teacher and IEA RA delegate tried to bring up the issue of the NEA and IEA’s support for the Common Core. But IEA President Cinda Klickna shut off the debate. There was no need for debate, she explained. The leadership had taken a private poll of 500 of the 130,000 IEA members and s
APR 14
A question about Bruce Rauner’s third grade teacher for my readers.
Hi Fred, I heard Bruce at the IEA-RA say that he loved his 3rd grade teacher and his third grade teacher loved him. I assume that he was home schooled. I say this because I tried to find out which elementary and high schools he attended and could not find anything. Apparently, his formal education started at age 18. Nothing about his K through 12 experiences on any googled websites including Wiki
Union democracy.
Alex Caputo-Pearl will likely be the next UTLA President. IEA President was re-elected for another three-year term this past weekend at the IEA Representative Assembly. Nobody else ran. Some current and former leaders of our union will point to that as a sign of strength. Just as they declare that opposition to leadership policies are the results of naysayers. It is an odd vision of union democra
APR 13
Mark Stefanik. A week filled with irony.
- Mark Stefanik is a middle school language arts teacher and frequent contributor to this blog. It continues to be a week filled with irony. Today’s episode stars former IEA President Bob Haisman who is, once again, outraged at Fred Klonsky’s voice in IEA affairs. Let’s get something clear, Santa. Cheerleading for the impotence and mismanagement of our union’s policy-makers after the most recent
Sunday reads.
On April 12, 1983 Chicago elected Harold Washington as mayor. Charter schools are an investment opportunity. Corporate school reformers lover choice, right? Not really. DFER’s summer camp for corporate school reformers. Chicagoland. Whites only. Fox discusses race and politics. You have made public employees and retirees scapegoats of another insidious pension reform bill that will never resolve
APR 12
Jannike Johnson. We want a strong union. A caucus is a great idea.
Fred, I don’t live in Illinois, have never even visited the state, and I’ve never met you. But I follow your blog religiously, because your blog has a ring of truth to it. I live in Seattle and am a member of the Seattle Education Association, as well as a caucus within SEA, called Social Equality Educators. We are not anti-union, but definitely believe our union should be taking a different stanc
Bob Haisman. “Mr. Klonsky. You are amazing.”
- Bob Haisman is ex-president of the IEA. Mr. Klonsky you are amazing. IEA has a great day and all you can talk about is what we didn’t debate (as if there was some IEA leadership plot) and the IEA should have Anti- IEA Leadership Caucus! President Cinda Klickna has a great day…the IEA has a great day and that is your only comment!? Gheez! IEA has an Anti-leadership, ANTI -IEA Caucus and you are t
Keeping Retirement Weird. Not at the RA.
One of the good things about losing the state-wide election for IEA RA Retired delegate is that this morning I am on the back porch sipping coffee and munching on buttered toast, rather than at the Hilton downtown. The press rarely covers this yearly event. They were all there yesterday because of the first face-to-face meeting between Bruce Almighty and Squeezy. This morning there are columns on