Pardon me for sounding paranoid, but it sure looks as though the three most powerful politicians in our universe are teaming up to drive our schools into bankruptcy.
Each year Chicago gets hundreds of millions of federal dollars—most funneled through the state—largely intended for schools with high concentrations of low-income students.
If you recall, last year Mayor Emanuel finally tried to make good on obligations to the Chicago teachers’ pension fund. Roughly $215 million of the contribution to the fund was to come from the state.
“Just like Trump, Rauner is going to score political points with his base by attacking Chicago,” Claypool told reporters. “It’s the easy thing to do.”
Former governor Pat Quinn and Rahm already tried to cut pensions. Several unions sued, and eventually they won both cases, as the Illinois supreme court unanimously and unambiguously ruled that it’s unconstitutional to cut pensions.
As such, Rauner’s hometown, Winnetka, taxes the hell out of its property—that explains why New Trier is one of the finest high schools in the state.
