My Blog

Tag: CPS

  • Pensioners Take Note, Municipal Bond Storm Coming

    [B]ut California too is now starting to hand it to bondholders. Cities in California are now testing the limits of bankruptcy law, and not paying the debt nor the payments for retirees to the state system. Thus this article describes how the state retirement system (CALPERS) is suing to demand payment, and saying that retiree…

  • CPS Pays Parents for Good Behavior

    Blatantly stolen from Second City Cop: Is the lure of a $25 gift card enough to persuade a parent who’s not involved in their child’s education to get involved? Seventy Chicago Public Schools that have struggled to engage parents are about to find out. At Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request, Walgreen Co. has agreed to provide…

  • What Kid’s Need in Schools (that they’re not getting)

    Every person in any career should spend 90 minutes in a classroom at least one time in a school year, sharing their stories and setting an example for the students,” he said. “It’s part of giving back. These kids generally don’t see enough examples of why education is important or who they could be or…

  • CPS Debt Downgraded

    A leading bond-rating agency has downgraded the Chicago Board of Education’s debt in the wake of the settlement of the Chicago Teacher’s Union’s recent strike. Moody’s Investor Service had already downgraded the Chicago Public Schools’ bond rating outlook to “negative” from stable in July, and cited Thursday the rating agency’s “view that the district will…

  • East Coast Liberals: Smartest Students in CPS are the Gang Leaders

    …  Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker and former New York Gov. David Paterson — who spoke Tuesday morning about recidivism and racism at a panel hosted by Stroock law firm — say. During the talk, Paterson observed the smartest students in the Chicago Public School system are the gang leaders because they’re giving kids what…

  • Quick Pension Analysis

    Ok, so I was getting asked about this the other day both in person and in the comments about why the pensions are really in such bad shape and what the latest GASB positions mean to the funds.  GASB first. GASB Changes I did some poking around and the recent GASB changes really mean nothing.…

  • One Word for CPS Teachers: Save

    Save. Save as much money as you can. Live well below your means. The pension time-bomb is coming. One of the most vexing problems for Chicago and its teachers went virtually unmentioned during the strike: The pension fund is about to hit a wall. The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund has about $10 billion in assets,…

  • Wealthy Donors Work to Improve Schools

    The union and HuffPo object: Stand for Children is a non-profit education reform group advocating for the inclusion of standardized test scores in teacher evaluations, charter schools and decreased teacher union power. Over the past three years, the group’s political action committee has raised more than $4 million and doled out more than $1 million…

  • CTU Deal Will Lead to School Closings & Layoffs

    Four years of up-to-the-limit property tax increases for Chicago homeowners and businesses. Closing scores of under-enrolled and underperforming schools. Thousands of layoffs of teachers and other school staff. More cuts to the central office. That’s what could await the Chicago Public Schools, thanks to the tentative agreement between teachers and the district that is expected…

  • Chicago Teachers Fear Wave of School Closings

    Striking Chicago teachers fear that once they approve a new contract with the school district and end their strike, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will go ahead with dozens of school closings because of falling enrollment and poor academic performance. via Reuters. Really?  Well what do they think the mayor should do when the city is shrinking…