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* From today’s Q and A with Gov. JB Pritzker…
Q: So you were in Japan when Mayor Brandon Johnson made his decision to get rid of his school board members, and you were with the Senate President and the Illinois House Speaker. Did you have discussions with them about whether there should be legislative action to try to prevent this from happening in the future?
Pritzker: We did not.
Q: Would you like to see some legislative action to kind of take away some of that control that the mayor has to do that?
Pritzker: That’s not something we’re currently discussing. I think there’s a lot to be worked out still, as you know, by the mayor with CPS and the CEO of CPS.
Q: What was your reaction when you saw that happen?
Pritzker: I mean, I think my first reaction was, boy, the time difference is pretty big. It’s hard to get ahold of anybody you know to get kind of on the ground reaction as it was happening. But I, yeah, I think, look, it’s a challenging environment. I think when there are shortfalls in a budget for schools, and you know, where I think some of the one-time money that came into schools was spent in an operating budget. It’s going to be almost impossible to overcome without finding efficiencies within the budget. And we’re, of course, going to continue to increase funding from the state level, as we have every year. And so I hope that CPS will be able to find its level as a result of the work that we’ll do, but, you know, very importantly, the work that they’ll do on the ground in Chicago.
…Adding… Washington Post…
Thousands of people have been hired at the Chicago Public Schools over the past few years, fueled by $2.8 billion in federal covid relief funding. Now the money is gone, but no one wants to reduce the workforce, and an ugly budget fight has plunged one of the nation’s largest districts into a financial and leadership crisis. […]
“This is what it looks like when you burn a district down,” said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. “It is a level of dysfunction that feels beyond destabilizing, enough to make people lose confidence in the system.” […]
While the mayor faults Martinez for failing to lobby the state for more money for the schools, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has said that Johnson never personally asked him for more. In any case, Pritzker has shown no willingness to provide the funds.
“I don’t think that that’s the job of Springfield, to rescue the school districts that might have been irresponsible with the one-time money they received,” the governor told Capitol Fax, an Illinois political newsletter. “Poor fiscal management on the part of a local government is not necessarily the responsibility of Springfield.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 11:33 am
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My mayor made this bed of nails and thumb tacks for himself and my governor is letting him lie in it (and so is his maybe now former mentor Preckwinkle). Good. Tme to learn how to govern Mr. Mayor.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 11:52 am
=“I don’t think that that’s the job of Springfield, to rescue the school districts that might have been irresponsible with the one-time money they received,” the governor told Capitol Fax, an Illinois political newsletter. “Poor fiscal management on the part of a local government is not necessarily the responsibility of Springfield.”=
As it should be. CPS added “thousands” to their payroll with covid money. Adding legacy costs with one time funding is the epitome of irresponsible.IT sounds to me like CPS needs to do some significant cost cutting.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:04 pm
One of the most telling aspects of the CPS funding issue is you don’t see Chicago legislators standing with the Mayor and CTU calling for more state funding. Their silence is deafening.
Comment by Telly Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:05 pm
===“This is what it looks like when you burn a district down,”===
===“It is a level of dysfunction that feels beyond destabilizing, enough to make people lose confidence in the system.”===
I think we’ll be seeing this quote again, many times, on the airways and in mailboxes. Devastating.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:10 pm
But if the government can bail out Ford, it can bail out CPS. Problem solved. /s
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:10 pm
===“This is what it looks like when you burn a district down,”===
If Bruce Rauner had said this a bunch of CTU members in red tshirts would’ve marched on Winnetka.
Comment by Ferris Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:20 pm
But if the government can bail out Ford…
Ford still makes a quality product people are happy with.
Comment by It's Just a Pill Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:24 pm
Using one time money to increase staff is ignorant and shouldn’t be rewarded by a bailout. There are always numerous efficiencies in any large bureaucracy. Find them.
Comment by Just a Citizen Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:33 pm
The mayor is making his own problems, and keeps piling on more problems. The latter I’m not entirely sure he is aware of.
He can’t pontificate about how he was elected to make sweeping changes himself to justify his decisions, and then in almost the same breath place the responsibility of managing school funding onto the state instead of himself.
You are either a leader, or you are not. Only portraying yourself as a leader when it suits your personal needs is the opposite of leadership.
I don’t see this getting better. In order for things to change the mayor needs to have a come to jesus moment. Except he clearly thinks he’s already had one.
His worst enemy right now is himself.
It is nice to watch JB turn this back onto the mayor by figuratively saying “This is what you wanted, now you have it. It’s all on you now.”
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:34 pm
Why did Stacy Davis Gates and CTU get behind Brandon Johnson’s Bears proposal when they knew schools needed help after the CTU pushed to spend covid dollars on operations, not just operations but expanding operations costs? There are two potential answers. 1) Incompetence; 2)Incompetence and narcissistic arrogance.
Comment by pragmatist Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:35 pm
- If Bruce Rauner had said this a bunch of CTU members in red tshirts would’ve marched on Winnetka. -
That makes no sense.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:47 pm
CPS’s history of wasting money is so awful it makes some City departments look well-run by comparison. J.B. might be a Dem, but he’s a rich Dem, and he knows CPS has been, and is, badly mismanaged from top to bottom.
Comment by thisjustinagain Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:51 pm
===But if the government can bail out Ford===
Ford didn’t need the bailout.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 12:53 pm
==If Bruce Rauner had said this a bunch of CTU members in red tshirts would’ve marched on Winnetka.==
A lab director from Georgetown said that, not the Governor. Rauner wasn’t a victim.
Comment by supplied_demand Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 1:08 pm
==CPS’s history of wasting money is so awful it makes some City departments look well-run by comparison==
CPS is not a “city department”. It is its own taxing body, similar to the Park District.
Comment by low level Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 1:12 pm
==until it’s a blatant disaster==
The Mayor is purposely trying to make it a disaster because he thinks that will force the state to give him more money. Right now JB is calling his bluff.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 1:36 pm
=Right now JB is calling his bluff.=
I know that. That’s why JB’s got to stay away and let Johnson own it. Until Johnson completely falls on his face in spectacular fashion, he’s dangerous and will take everyone down w/ him.
Comment by Jim Jimbo Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 1:40 pm
“Poor fiscal management on the part of a local government is not necessarily the responsibility of Springfield.”
In other words, poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on my part.
Comment by City Zen Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 1:43 pm
==pragmatist==
It is my hunch/educated guess CTU and Mayor got onboard with new Bears stadium because 1) It would align with what building trades want (big projects, many jobs) and 2) Would resolve a looming deficit City will have to cover in final years of Daley’s old stadium bonds backed by hotel taxes. Just a guess though.
Comment by ChicagoBars Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 2:20 pm
===It’s going to be almost impossible to overcome without finding efficiencies within the budget===
This must be what the Governor is doing by leaving many thousands of funded positions vacant throughout the state. He’s “found efficiencies.” He should probably address that these “found efficiencies” in government work always impacts service level inadequacies and when the state fails to fill positions it creates stressful and deadly work conditions.
===to rescue the school districts that might have been irresponsible with the one-time money they received===
The unstated part of the Governor’s position is, “what about the kids?”
We’re not talking about closing an unprofitable Subway franchise. We’re talking about laying off teachers, increasing class headcounts, and closing schools.
Ignoring the primary stakeholder or the victims of bad policy seems to be developing into a pattern in his administration. Closing a prison without regard for what happens to the prisoners when they’re transported and what impact this has on their ability to participate in programs at Statesville or the impact it has on their families visiting.
Of course this only matters to Pritzker’s political future if he wishes to pursue anything other than a third term as Governor and I’m not sure he’d enjoy the work of a US Senator.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 2:28 pm
Thank God we have a deputy mayor for education to help solve these intractable problems.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 2:38 pm
==.IT sounds to me like CPS needs to do some significant cost cutting.==
Bruce, how’s Florida?
Comment by SWSider Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 2:40 pm
One man’s “ineffeciences” is another man’s essential government program. Chicago voters don’t want to close schools. They are committed to spending money (at certain schools per pupil spending) is way beyond what the suburbs spends. It’s a collective choice. Tax revenue will have to be gotten somewhere. Schools cost money. Money doesn’t grow on trees.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/11/30/why-does-this-west-side-high-school-only-have-33-students/
Comment by Steve Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 2:48 pm
=Bruce, how’s Florida?=
LOL, all evidence to the contrary.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:12 pm
Drive around most inner-ring suburbs and you will find shuttered school buildings. They were mostly built in the 50’s and 60’s to educate the baby boom. When the birth rate leveled off and enrollment in those districts dropped, some schools were closed and consolidated. It wasn’t racist. It was simple math. At some point, fewer kids means fewer schools. CPS and CTU are gonna have to surrender to this reality.
Comment by TNR Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:12 pm
I’m not thrilled with Brandon Johnson’s tenure as mayor and surely he’d have done it if he could, but this current CPS budget shortfall has to be primarily blamed on Lori Lightfoot, right? She was the one on the 5th floor when CPS used these COVID funds, no?
Comment by ZC Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:31 pm
“primarily blamed on Lori Lightfoot”
You don’t become mayor with the situations you want. You become mayor with the situations which exist.
Sure, Lightfoot has responsibility for how the balance sheet looks.
However, she’s gone. Now the current mayor is responsible for the response his office will have to this situation.
So far, he’s doing terribly.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:41 pm
@Candy
Then you find the kind of money that Chicago is talking about since what you wrote seems to indicate you disagree with the Governor’s stance. You can whine all you want. It doesn’t change the facts of the situation.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:52 pm
One time funds = tech for remote learning. Fixing up schools. Catching up on deferred maintenance. What else? Hiring thousands of people makes me shudder.
Comment by 44 Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:56 pm
==Chicago voters don’t want to close schools. They are committed to spending money (at certain schools per pupil spending) is way beyond what the suburbs spends. ==
Tell me you aren’t from Chicago without saying you arent from Chicago…
Comment by low level Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 3:56 pm
===primarily blamed on Lori Lightfoot===
Stacy Davis Gates and MBJ before he was Mayor would have screamed bloody murder if MLL did not spend the COVID money on new teachers, social workers, ect. They wanted the Mayor’s Office, but now do not want the responsibility that comes with the office.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:03 pm
Pritzker is lucky that Johnson’s team is so amateur.
Rahm’s team would have pointed out that CPS has fewer teachers per student and fewer administrators per student than the state average. Compared to the rest of the state, CPS has a lean headcount, per school report cards.
Karen Lewis would have pointed to one school that has a very, very high administrator-to-student ratio: it bears Pritzker’s name.
Yep.
Pritzker College Prep has one administrator for every 106 students.
The state average is 140.
The district average is 159.
Boy, do I miss Karen Lewis.
Comment by Balthus the Just Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:04 pm
I, a Chicago voter, would like to close severely underutilized schools whose building operations alone are draining the taxpayer.
Either that, or redraw school boundaries based on the 2020 census so there’s not egregious discrepancies with 10% utilization or 110% utilization.
Comment by LastModDemStanding Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:07 pm
- Ignoring the primary stakeholder or the victims of bad policy seems to be developing into a pattern in his administration. -
These stakeholders have the ability to increase revenue without involving the state. Start there.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:10 pm
===Closing a prison without===
That was a federal judge’s order.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:14 pm
There is no easy fix. The one time funds were used to add long term staff.
It is an easy fix, raise property taxes.
The Mayor has a mandate he is a lover, elected to love the people of Chicago. They will love his raising of their taxes to pay for his wants to give them the love they elected him to give.
Comment by Frida's Boss Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 4:56 pm
Ugly campaigning for the Chicago Board of Education in District 2.
The Chicago Teacher Union endorsed candidate, Ebony Deberry, is attacking her principal opponent (Bruce Leon) by labeling him a “Republican” just like Brandon Johnson attacked Paul Vallas in the mayoral run-off election.
Coincidentally, Bruce Leon is the Democratic Committeeperson of the 50th Ward. Deberry tried to link him to Bruce Rauner and Project 2025. A Deberry mailer made Leon appear to be Batman’s nemesis, the Penguin, complete with a monocle and a top hat.
Comment by Gravitas Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 5:27 pm
Adding staff to CTU is just plain nuts, at this point. Basically, any school which has a utilization of 20% of less should be closed and consolidated, and the kids can go to a combined school with more opportunities for sport, music, art and a librarian. Use the savings to give raises.
For those whiners who say it’s too onerous for the kids, the kids around me go to St Ignatius, Walter Payton, Mount Carmel, Whitney Young, and other schools far from their homes. They go on CTA and Metra.
Comment by Old IL Dude Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 5:58 pm
===Then you find the kind of money===
Someone mistakes me for the Governor of Illinois, Mayor of Chicago, a Chicago School Board member, or any other elected official that has this kind of obligation.
===That was a federal judge’s order. ===
Fair correction. I was not accurate to the facts and let my feelings for how the administration approached that legal process override that they were ultimately complying with a judicial order.
Though if DCFS is any indication perhaps the administration is selective in how enthusiastically they respond to judicial orders.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Oct 21, 24 @ 6:50 pm