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Posted by Barton Lorimor
The estimated Chicago Public School deficit for next school year is $720 million, Mazany said. That’s up $20 million from just before his predecessor walked out the door in late November.
Mazany called for “shared sacrifice,’’ including from teachers. Their pay raises will cost $80 million but, Mazany said, any successor to him appointed after Rahm Emanuel is seated as mayor May 16 will have to decide whether to try to re-negotiate the teachers’ contract to trim that tab.
Roughly one-third of the deficit is in delayed state payments and decreased federal funding has CPS looking at a few options including one that could close schools that are “underenrolled”…
If approved, about 4,800 students would be affected by the moves, with around 700 of those changing school buildings in the fall, Mazany said. Up to 100 teaching positions could be eliminated, and eight principal positions would be lost in the short term, he said.
Despite one-time costs associated with the mergers, Mazany said, the district will see savings in the long run. He did not provide specific figures on the controversial measure, however, focusing instead on the district’s currently bleak financial situation. […]
Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, lambasted the board for not making the announcement earlier and not going to greater lengths to include the union in their decisions.
“What about a fair warning to our teachers and paraprofessionals, engineers (and) cafeteria workers who may lose their jobs?” Lewis said. “The board has a moral obligation to … stop these consolidations and closings. It’s a matter of trust, and trust is the true deficit that we face.
Some of the schools targeted for closure were already on the last to be phased out. WBEZ has the full list.
Unfortunately the problems aren’t limited to CPS…
* D300 votes 4-3 to lay off 363 teachers
* More layoffs imposed in Mokena School District 159
* School Board cuts 31 positions
* ‘Politics, ego and money’: District 189 could face state takeover
* Cahokia school district lays off 71 teachers, staff members
Meanwhile, the U of I has become the first public university of the year to jack its tuition…
Freshman starting in the fall at the Urbana-Champaign campus will pay $11,104 in tuition, though that figure can increase based on a particular major.
At the University of Illinois at Chicago, tuition will cost $9,764 annually. At the school’s Springfield campus, a general undergraduate credit hour will increase from $270.25 for freshmen in 2010 to $289 for freshman in 2011. Housing and mandatory fees approximately double the total costs for students.
Video of President Hogan…
It’s the first, but it likely won’t be the last as legislators look for places to cut from the budget. This one seems to have Quinn’s approval.
Related…
* Durbin warns of cuts to preschool funding
* A computer for every student?
* Teachers Question Spending At City Colleges
* Dispute at Columbia College has some instructors complaining
* As adjunct faculty numbers increase, many are calling for unions
* Coley leaving Scott Community College
* Tuition going up at U of I
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 12:03 pm
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university costs are out of control in this country. absolutely out of control.
Comment by bdogg Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 12:10 pm
$22 grand for a U of I education is really not that much. U of chicago is something like $55 grand/year. What they should consider doing is what some other states have done which is to make the school as expensive to out of state residents as a private school is to all students. for example american university a similarly ranked institution charges students $36k a year for tuition alone. Raising out of state rates to that level would help the school with their financial issues while also probably decreasing the number of out of state kids who apply (thus also decreasing competition for admission).
Comment by shore Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 12:30 pm
I’m a bit surprised about the related article about a computer for every student. I’ve heard about this kind of thing for colleges; but not for high school students.
“McCarthy there are a lot of concerns such as funding and dealing with broken or stolen devices, but she said those concerns can be handled with polices and procedures already in place.”
Computers are quite a bit different than books. They have massive value outside of the classroom. Whether or not having each student have a netbook is good for education or not, it definitely is going to take additional policies to make sure those netbooks don’t get stolen or lost.
Comment by Timmeh Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 1:07 pm
I think in this environment the CPS and its teacher’s unions are going to cut a lot and give a lot before they come to Springfield for any help with their deficit. I suspect you’ll have to see some TIF reform, as well.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 2:05 pm