Saturday coffee.
Photo credit: Sarah-Ji Fotógrafa In a post earlier this week about the AFT convention in Detroit I suggested that one difference between it and the NEA RA was that no resolution in support of the CTU coming from the AFT was needed or was necessary. Maybe not. But they’re going to get to vote on [...]
Uncle Kenny and selective blindness. Reform Springfield.
Fred, Why is it that those in Springfield can see “no other way” to fix the pension issue Uncle Kenny didn’t create, yet not one person in a position to affect change talks about Illinois’ structural deficit and it’s regressive tax code that emulates only a rare handful of states that sport a flat tax? [...]
Rich Miller’s Uncle Kenny.
Rich Miller at CapitolFax: I spent some time at my Uncle Kenny’s house in Ashkum last weekend. We went to the Iroquois County Fair, which is like taking a step back in time. The fair hasn’t changed much at all since I was a kid. They still don’t allow alcohol on the clean grounds where [...]
CTU will bring a refreshing spirit to the AFT convention.
Two years ago Diane Ravitch spoke to the NEA Representative Assembly. Last year and this it was Joe Biden. Two years ago Bill Gates spoke to the AFT Convention. This year it will be Diane Ravitch. Nothing goes in a straight line, does it? As EdWeek’s Stephen Sawchuk points out, there are what you might call [...]
Illinois pension cuts are a tax on seniors. But Motorola gets tax breaks.
Eric Schmidt, of Google, which owns Motorola, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. When he announced yesterday that Motorola was moving to downtown Chicago from suburban Libertyville, the Mayor had a big grin on his face. Not me. It cost the taxpayers $100 million dollars in tax breaks over the next ten years to keep the [...]
“Ultimately we’re not done until there is educational justice in the city of Chicago.”
CTU VP Jesse Sharkey speaks to the rally Wednesday at the CPS board offices. The rally came the day following an agreement between the CTU and CPS that teachers will not teach a longer school day. 500 additional teachers will be rehired from the pool of CTU displaced teachers. More bargaining remains before a final [...]
The in box. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking that pension funds were diverted because Springfield politicians wanted to do something the majority of Illinois residents needed and elected them to do.”
Fred, “Because for over fifty years the state either hasn’t paid what they owed or used TRS funds to build bridges, roads and, ironically, schools without raising taxes.” I’m going to disagree with this as any politician in office now will tell you that we need roads and bridges and schools too, and your pension [...]
Pension talking points.
As we have battled for our pension rights over the past year, we have used the basic talking points provided by the IEA: Any changes to TRS must be constitutional. Any changes must bring financial stability to the system. Any changes must be fair to members. These have been good, but not enough as we [...]
Romney goes after the huge and growing US Anglo-Saxon voting bloc.
So you know I’m not exactly this huge Barack Obama fan. But then there is this story out of England where Mittens has started his foreign tour, which will end at the feet of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. One of his people is quoted: “We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and (Romney) feels that [...]
The pension cost shift.
For some strange reason known only to Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, he decided to try and explain how Chicago Public Schools are overfunded. It’s an argument too stupid to even get started on. But at the end of his blog post, Zorn mentions the pension cost swap in passing. This is a topic worth addressing. [...]
Were Chicago charter school operators the biggest losers yesterday?
Reading this morning’s newspapers (online, of course. I don’t buy those two rags) and reading the pundits, everyone is talking happy about yesterday’s announcement that the CTU and the CPS have reached a tentative agreement on the longer school day. CTU President Karen Lewis was very clear, however. There is a lot yet to bargain. [...]
Chicago teachers take a step forward. Rahm does a dance.
“It’s certainly a step in the right direction,” CTU President Karen Lewis said. “We have a long way to go before this contract is settled.” With that, the CTU announced a breakthrough in the historic negotiations with the Mayor on the issue of the longer school day. From the beginning the Mayor had promised he [...]
To Senator Kotowski health care for seniors is a sweetheart deal.
In a tweet responding to criticism of his active support for the pension cutting HB1447, Park Ridge Democratic Senator Dan Kotowski goes after state employees. Referring to retirees, seniors living on a state pension and receiving health care insurance subsidies, Kotowski says, “Nobody receives a sweetheart deal like that.” For a member of the Illinois [...]
Illinois House back in session August 17th. A pension bill might be on the agenda.
CapitalFax is reporting that the Illinois House might meet for a week beginning August 17th. Most of the media is reporting that the purpose of the session is to deal with another one of their members who is under federal indictment. But of more concern than one more crooked House member is HB1447. The bill [...]
No late night phone calls this time, Senator Kotowski.
Last May, Park Ridge Democratic Senator Dan Kotowski meets with District 64 teachers and promises to protect pensions. I have previously shared the story of a late Friday night phone call from Senator Dan Kotowski who attacked me for publishing a post saying he had voted for last year’s pension cutting bill, HB512. I had [...]
Aurora and Autism.
This morning I got an email from a colleague of mine at the school I just retired from. Fred, I am furious about this! Incredibly harmful coming from a dad of a child with Asbergers. I wrote to NBC immediately and said he should be fired finally! We work so hard to fight [...]
Tony at the Red Line Tap.
“If this global warming keeps up I’m gonna start charging you rent for that stool,” Tony said to me as I grabbed the one next to him. “Christ, Tony. It’s another three digit day.” I nodded to Marty. “Bring me something artisanal,” I said. “An Old Style okay?” she said. “As long as it’s cold. [...]
In box. Health care isn’t free now for retired teachers.
Fred: I think another area of clarification when explaining to others our pension benefits, is that a large number of state pensioners who were part of AFSCME, etc. do get free health care, we’re not part of that group. My neighbors and friends have no idea the difference between AFSCME, TRS, SERS, etc. and the [...]
Sunday links.
Join the CTU at the CPS headquarters, 125 Clark Street, Wednesday at 9AM. Diane Ravitch tells my pal Glen Brown, “I recognized that I have a mission to support teachers in a terrible time.” Chicago’s Lupe Fiasco explains it all to Bill O’Reilly. The Illinois Teacher Retirement System is a huge job creator in Illinois. Is the [...]
The in box. More pension bullet points.
Fred, Add these to your bullet points: Please MAKE SURE you CONTACT YOUR STATE REP. & SENATOR, ESPECIALLY USING THE SHORT & SWEET BULLET POINTS LISTED AT THE END!!! AND–TELL EVERY TEACHER YOU KNOW, TELLING THEM TO TELL EVERY TEACHER THEY KNOW to CONTACT THEIR Reps. & Senator!.TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS, RELATIVES & NEIGHBORS to CONTACT THEIR Reps. & Senators! Tell those (be polite but truthful!) who are [...]
The in box. Another summer camp story.
Fred, I went to summer programs for kids at St. Mary of Mount Carmel on the southside of Chicago in a Little Italy area. We were told to take care of each other, to give to the poor and to visit the sick – which we were all capable of doing as children. We were [...]
I have to fight for my rights in this state?
Bill Schorsch of the Letter Carriers Union and Jose Zamarripa of Laborers Local 681 join me as part of a panel on attacks on labor. “I think you’re wrong just to pick on the Democrats. The Republicans are worse.” The lady was sitting in the back of the meeting room at the Batavia Public Library [...]
